Any long term Ativan users who successfully c/o to valium?

Are there any long term ativan users who have successfully c/o to valium before beginning to taper or are still in the middle of a c/o?  I have asked this question under different posts with only a couple of responses.  Those that did respond, do not get me wrong, I appreciate all the information and concern you have given me, but I would like to hear from others who are/were in my situation. That is the purpose of this forum.

My questions are:  If you were an ativan user and c/o to valium, how much ativan were you originally taking daily and how much valium did you c/o to. Also, how long did the c/o take and what were your experiences during the c/o ( success or failure and why). Please, any and all replies are welcome. 

jojo, I haven't seen your previous posts. Sorry.

I was on 1.5 mgs of Ativan and crossed to 15 mgs of valium. I followed Ashton's Schedule (it's Schedule 8 in Chapter II of her manual). This schedule is for a c/o from 3 mgs of Ativan, but I just cut it in half.

It worked very well. I crossed over in 6 weeks.

What I noticed was a TREMENDOUS sedation from the addition of valium. I felt that I was falling over my feet. But that calmed down and I go used to it.

I also noticed that on the last substitution, I was so agitated by the last bits of Ativan (don't know why . . . maybe I was in w/d from A) that I stopped the Ativan and went early to all valium.

Once I was on all valium, I followed her reduction schedule all the way down to 5 mgs of valium, but then for some reason, the cuts became too big. I thought I was home free and got badly "in the weeds", struggled, then had to go to a DLMT about 4 mgs. I never really recovered from getting into the weeds, so my (unasked for) advice is to listen carefully to your body and if you think you are having s/x, to slow down. Starting a DLMT is, in my opinion, a great idea when you get to a low dose like 5 mgs. Then you can really control your taper.

Good luck, jojo. I'm sure others will chime in.

Katz

Katz, your story is almost identical to mine. I also followed the Ashston schedule 8 and have cut it in half. As you, I also planned a 6 week c/o and am in week 5. The sedation, as you say, is TREMENDOUS and with only .5 mg of ativan left to substitute, my agitation level has skyrocketed.

When you went early to all valium did the agitation calm down any? I ask, because with a little over a week left of the c/o I would seriously consider to go completely over to the valium. Being fairly new to the forum, I'm not quite sure I know what you mean by "in the weeds"?  I thank you sooo much for this reply. Your experience is so close to my own that just hearing this from you has calmed me down significantly.  Could you please reply to my questions in this last paragraph?

Thank you so much again. This kind of help and understanding is why I joined this group to begin with. I hope to some day pass along what I have learned through my own experience to others who are just starting this journey, and like myself are lost and frightened early in this process. :smitten:

When you went early to all valium did the agitation calm down any? I ask, because with a little over a week left of the c/o I would seriously consider to go completely over to the valium.

Yes, jojo, when I got all over to Valium, my agitation disappeared! Ativan was never a good drug for me -- the interdose w/ds were very bad. And I got used to the valium sedation, which also disappeared.

And if I were you, I would chuck the Ativan and go all over to V. No need to put up with the agitation which is probably the last of the Ativan w/ds. You are so close to the last c/o anyhow.

I remember I was sitting patiently I my car (I had a Board meeting to attend) feeling squirrely with my Ativan crazies, when I decided to hell with this Ativan and rolled down my window and threw the pill out in the (county gov't!) parking lot. I then took whatever equivalent amount of valium. No more blasted Ativan.

Ah, "in the weeds". That's a nasty place where you never want to be. The land of rotten s/x. Mine were benzo flu, monster headaches, nausea and dizziness. I let these creep up on me, saying I'll feel better tomorrow, but I never did. And they were caused by mindlessly following Ashton once I got all crossed over and not paying attention to what I was feeling. At the lower doses -- lower than 6 or 8 mgs -- I needed to slow down. I must have held for 3 months before I started down again from 5 mgs. And then it was on a DLMT at a snail's pace. Oh, brother.

It is a frightening process. I totally get that. And no one person's experience is the same as anyone else's. We're all sort of stumbling around in the dark. But I'm happy to pass on my experiences to anyone who might profit from them. I probably made every mistake there was to make.

Good luck!

Katz

Thanks Katz 

This explains a lot of what I have been feeling. It is astounding that our stories are so very similar from the starting drug, dosage, c/o and s/x.  The only thing I have had that may be different from you is that I have had the ringing in my ears for months.  This started way before I started to c/o and still continues intermittently every day.  Thanks for all the information and taking the time for me.  Do you mind if I message you from time to time with other questions that may arise?

Thanks again will all my heart

JoJo

Ha ha, I forgot tinnitus. Probably because it started way back, perhaps in 2011 or so. But it seems I've had it forever. It's like a sizzle in my head, and it has NEVER gone away. However, I really don't notice it unless something draws it to may attention, it's so much a part of me.

So . . . another way in which our stories are similar. But I sure hope yours goes away!

I read somewhere that benzos are "ototoxic" which makes sense, but the article I read did not state if/how that toxicity lessens. Oh well, for me it is what it is.

Sure, you can message me. 

Be well,

Katz