Clonazepam to Diazepam Crossover

I'm seeking guidance on many aspects of benzodiazepine withdrawal. 

Despite my protests and constant checking with doctors about the potential physical dependence of benzos, I was prescribed clonazepam and have taken it for 8 months daily.  My dose has been 0.25mg three times daily.  Doctors first prescribed 0.5 twice daily, but I was like a drunk zombie on that and could not have stayed awake or driven. 

It took me a while to realize that I was quite ill on the benzo and that I suffered three times a day from intense tolerance withdrawal.  I really needed more, but refused, despite doctors trying to prescribe more. 

I was able to cut down to 0.25mg clonazepam morning, 0.125mg clonazepam afternoon, and 0.25mg clonazepam evening, but only maintained that for six days before beginning a crossover to diazepam.  With consultations with two pharmacists, we determined my diazepam equivalency to be 12.5 mg.

At that point, I continued as normal for morning and afternoon doses, but switched the evening dose to 0.125mg clonazepam and 2.5mg diazepam. I probably maintained this for six days.

I then jumped to 2.5mg diazepam morning, 0.125mg clonazepam afternoon, and 7.5mg diazepam evening, thinking of the longer half life diazepam has and very eager to be done with clonazepam.  That did not go well as my body seemed to be in withdrawal from the significant drop in clonazepam and I suffered physically and emotionally. 

I've now returned to 0.25mg clonazepam morning, 0.125mg clonazepam afternoon, and 5mg diazepam in the evening, still 12.5mg diazepam equivalency.  I hope to stay here for one to two weeks until I feel stable.

I'm very sensitive to medications and suspect I will need to go very slowly on this. 

My next planned step will be to change morning dose to 0.125 clonazepam and 2.5 diazepam.  I'm concerned this will make me very drowsy and am considering taking that 2.5 diazepam and adding it to night time dose.  The afternoon will remain the same at 0.125mg clonazepam, and evening will be either 5mg diazepam or 7.5mg diazepam (making sure equivalency total is still 12.5mg diazepam). 

Even just doing the crossover seems like it will take many weeks.  I'm disappointed as I so want off of this stuff! 

Please share any wisdom or guidance on the plan.  Also, thinking a precise scale will be helpful for more gradual microtapering as I get lower in my total dosage. 

Anyone have a list of benzo-tapering pscychiatrists or docs to recommend?

THANK YOU!

How are you feeling with the switch back to C? Do you feel more stable? I think your c/o might have been too quick. Did you follow the Ashton protocol for your crossover?

As I mentioned to you before, many members taper Clonazepam directly and it might be worth considering if you're sensitive to meds. What was the reason/s for your cross over to diazepam?

I really want to cross over to diazepam once I am down to .5 Clonazepam (I still have a ways to go) because I HATE pill cutting and in the States, the smallest Clonazepam pill is .5. mgs, equal to 10 mgs. V.  And Vs come in 2.0 mg pills -- I can cut that into 1/8ths and jump at .25 mgs. 

The big problem I foresee is 1. My age, I will be 59 soon and there is a *warning* against giving V to older people and 2. My history of depression.  My doc only gives X or K to anyone who has a history of depression. - no Valium or Ativan.  I thought that was more medical derp until a year after I asked my doc about switching to Ativan, Chris Cornell committed suicide and yes, Chris suffered from depression and he was prescribed Ativan.

But, still...V would make the very last stages of the taper easier.  No pharmacy my insurance covers offers smaller, cutable pills of Clonazepam/Klonopin.

Slowandsteady2021

I had a look at your numbers using this tool http://benzo.alwaysdata.net/tools/conversion.php

It seems like you have the right number for the total conversion. However it seems your crossover numbers for individual doses might be wrong (such as having 7.5mg in the evening). Please have a look at this table from the Ashton Manual to give you an idea of how a cross over is done: https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s5

Changing equivalencies between doses is probably not a good idea when doing a crossover. Prof Ashton has spent many years on these methods to make it less painful.

I would suggest if you want to do a crossover, you follow the equivalencies as stated for your dose and follow the time lines suggested. Once you have successfully crossed over and you are stabilized, you can then start adjusting the different doses to suit your needs.

Please let us know if you need help with the table and numbers.

I really want to cross over to diazepam once I am down to .5 Clonazepam (I still have a ways to go) because I HATE pill cutting and in the States, the smallest Clonazepam pill is .5. mgs, equal to 10 mgs. V.  And Vs come in 2.0 mg pills -- I can cut that into 1/8ths and jump at .25 mgs. 

The big problem I foresee is 1. My age, I will be 59 soon and there is a *warning* against giving V to older people and 2. My history of depression.  My doc only gives X or K to anyone who has a history of depression. - no Valium or Ativan.  I thought that was more medical derp until a year after I asked my doc about switching to Ativan, Chris Cornell committed suicide and yes, Chris suffered from depression and he was prescribed Ativan.

But, still...V would make the very last stages of the taper easier.  No pharmacy my insurance covers offers smaller, cutable pills of Clonazepam/Klonopin.

Ivy, I completely understand. I struggled with pill cutting at 1mg. So I switched to micro tapering. I'm using Bob7's method to make my own capsules https://benzodrytapermath.com/

Have you considered micro tapering - there's liquid options as well? I'm not trying to dissuade you from a crossover, just offering other options given the concerns you raised regarding Valium. You're absolutely right though, Valium is the easiest form to taper.

... in the States, the smallest Clonazepam pill is .5. mgs, equal to 10 mgs. V.

Hello, IvyGibbsville.  In the US, clonazepam is available in 0.125mg and 0.25mg Orally Disintegrating Tablets (ODTs).  We have multiple members who have used or are using these ODTs to taper.