1mg of K to 15mg of V tomorrow

Today I pick up a V prescription.  It is written for 15mg of V a day.  I am going to start tomorrow.  My doctor is very informed and is very supportive.  She has kind of let me man this operation as she knows I am 100% all in to get off of Benzos forever.  Does anyone have any advice or what to expect in this crossover?  I know everyone's body is different and tolerance is different but any ideas or advice are appreciated!

Today I pick up a V prescription.  It is written for 15mg of V a day.  I am going to start tomorrow.  My doctor is very informed and is very supportive.  She has kind of let me man this operation as she knows I am 100% all in to get off of Benzos forever.  Does anyone have any advice or what to expect in this crossover?  I know everyone's body is different and tolerance is different but any ideas or advice are appreciated!

 

Scotty2,

I've followed your other threads. First of all, congrats on getting from 6.0 K to 1.0 K (that's huge).  Without knowing your history, I can only guess that you tapered from K (using only K ?) with the help from the same doctor ?

Personally I adhere to Dr. Ashton regarding the K to V equivalency and found her chart of 1.0 mg K = 20 mg V to be reasonably accurate. 

Based on your doctor's experience with benzo tapering, you two probably discussed things like:

1) The rationale for starting at 15 mg V.....

2) The crossover being a potential abrupt shift from K to V........versus.......a gradual crossover from K to V

 

Hopefully other K to V people can weigh in on this topic.

 

I have been on Benzos for 17 years and started on Ativan.  Been on them all but for the last 12 years 6mg of K a day.  This new doctor came in last year to clean up the mess the others made at my facility.  She is hands down the most informed doctor I've had about the dangers of Benzos and is getting everyone off of them but the exact science of getting everyone off is tricky so we are working together.  She is very flexible with me and we are a team.  We are thinking stabilize me on V first and then continue our taper from there.

 

I have been on Benzos for 17 years and started on Ativan.  Been on them all but for the last 12 years 6mg of K a day.  This new doctor came in last year to clean up the mess the others made at my facility.  She is hands down the most informed doctor I've had about the dangers of Benzos and is getting everyone off of them but the exact science of getting everyone off is tricky so we are working together.  She is very flexible with me and we are a team.  We are thinking stabilize me on V first and then continue our taper from there.

 

It's comforting to understand you've got a flexible benzo-wise doc.  Keep us posted on your progress.

FYI.....there's another thread if you choose to look into it.  Valium/Diazepam Support Group  http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=96753.0

I'm so happy for you that you've found a doctor you think so highly of!  Sounds like you found a gem! 

 

It always helps to be prepared - adjusting to a new benzo after crossing over can be challenging for some people.  So if you enter into this knowing you may hit a few bumps, you'll be better able to deal with it.  You may also want to be prepared for some fatigue as that is a common effect of Valium.

 

Looking forward to hearing how it's going -