taking etizolam 1.25mg, crossing over to bromazolam

I came off Etizolam 3mg last year by tapering with Zopiclone which I found easier to taper with. much less symptoms than Etizolam which was horrible to come off and I jumped too quickly....stupidly. I ran out of Zopiclone and couldn't access anymore. I couldn't sleep so I started up with Etizolam just to get some sleep. Before I had tapered to 1mg of zopiclone and no etiz for 3 months. So now I am taking 1.25mg Etizolam to sleep and want to cross over to Bromazolam which I think may be easier to taper with because it has a longer half life. Anyone has any experience or advice with this I would be grateful.I realise that this is probably not an ideal drug to taper with but this is all I have without medical assistance.......which I am not keen on. I can cope with most of the withdrawal effects, but the dizziness in the evening and the insomnia is the worst for me.

Thanks for any advice you have. XX

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Hi roselilly,

 

I plugged in your dose of 1.25 mg etizolam into a calculator and it came up with an equivalent dose of bromazolam of 6.25, here is the link I used.  benzos.tripsit.me 

 

I would imagine you'd do a cross over similar to one of the sample taper schedules in  The Ashton Manual to begin with, then taper slowly from there.  I'd be sure not to jump at too high of a dose this time, but I'm sure you've learned your lesson.  I would expect insomnia again, it's just part of this process it seems.

 

Pamster

thanks Pamster,

yes I have learned my lesson, thanks for the advice. I will deffo go with the slower cross over.

I am going to check out the link you gave me, cheers.

 

Checked out the dose equivalents on the link you gave me, but there is no equivalent for Bromazolam....I think the one you checked was Bromazepam, which I think is a lot weaker in strength.

However, I am grateful for your input.

I was wondering if anyone else had any experience with this.

I am scared to take small doses of two things at once to cross over and then taper.

 

Oh dear roselilly, I'm so sorry! I've looked and can't find any equivalency charts which list Bromazolam, I don't know how to help you.  Can you speak with a druggist about this, someone with knowledge?  We can't have you substituting one for the other if we have no idea what the equivalency is. 

 

Is there any other drug you could get to cross over to, do you have access to diazepam?  I see 1.25 mg of Etizlom is equal to 12.5 mg of diazepam.

no worries Pamster, thanks for your reply.

For now I'm gonna try to cut tiny bits of Etiz, so at least I am going in the right direction.

I wish I could find an MD with some empathy and switch to Diazepam, but I fear that is going to be difficult.

Have you considered buying a scale and weighing your dose to make smaller cuts?

yes I could do that. It would be more accurate when you are dealing with small strong pills at low doses.

Or look into titrating I guess. 

Actually, titration can be done dry or using liquid, here are a few links to help you get a firmer grasp of how to accomplish the impossible when dealing with this tiny little morsels.  I think most of our members pick up a Gemini scale from Amazon.  Keep talking to us, we'll get this figured out. 

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=237062.0 

 

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=231363.0

thanks Pamster, I will give it a go.

I'll be interested to hear what you decide to do, I didn't taper so I find the solutions our members have found very creative.  This is what happens when patients are unsupported in their efforts to taper from these drugs.  In any other circumstance, the medical, pharmaceutical or regulators would come up with all sorts of money making ways to help us, but since those who suffer from this are barely recognized to exist, we have to fend for ourselves.  Uh oh, I'm on my soapbox again. 

I also have a large soapbox, you can come and hang out on mine anytime LOL

plenty of room for a good rant!! 

I am going to get a scale and take very small micro cuts frequently.

will deffo keep you posted.

Thanks for your time and encouragement you do a great service here.

Oh good, I'm glad you've got a plan!  Its so important to take some of our power back.  When we can make decisions which help us do that I feel it's empowering, something we need more of in the rotten process. 

 

I'm glad you'll keep us posted, and thank you for you kind words, I'm grateful I can help because I know how dark this can be. 

managed to taper Etizolam 1mg from 1.5mg three weeks ago.I had not been taking that extra .5mg for more than a week. held on 1mg for a week.Some mild anxiety but coping, now tapering 2% every two or three days. Had a panic attack last night just before taking my evening dose. I guess I may have to consider splitting the dose, but at the moment I am sleeping OK, so I want to try and keep going and stay on track. I think camomile tea works well so I will drink some in the evening and see if that helps.

I have terrible back tightness which is also affecting my knees. This is making excersize difficult, which is a great distraction for me, as is taking out my dogs on walks. I love to run and go to the gym despite my advancing years of 59. I am hoping as the doses get a bit smaller, my overall pain will decrease. Anyone with any experience out there?

I've heard good things about chamomile tea, it's great to hear you haven't had to divide your dose yet allowing you to sleep.

 

As for your question about your pain decreasing, I've heard things get tougher the lower in dose you go, but since our symptoms wax and wane so much what you're feeling now might get replaced by something else, its tough to know how it will go.  If you'd like more input, you could start a thread on the  Withdrawal Support (during your taper) board, it gets more traffic than the taper boards.