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Questions about crossover from Xanax (alprazolam) to Valium (diazepam)


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I had started a taper from 1mg Xanax in 10/21 and did well with 3 monthly drops.  I dropped from 1mg to .75mg in October, down to .625mg in November, and to .5625mg in December.  I was planning to continue on this route, but a doctor who helps people get off benzos regularly encouraged me to switch to Valium to finish tapering the Xanax.  He thinks I've been having interdose withdrawal and wants to smooth this out. 

 

So, I tried .375mg Xanax and 4mg Valium (instead of .5625mg Xanax) at night for the last two nights and it has gone terribly.  I couldn't fall asleep and had terrible head pain and panic and both nights resorted to taking another .25mg of Xanax to get through it  :(

 

The doctor didn't tell me to expect any problems with crossing over; is what I experienced normal for the first few days of starting a cross over?  Does it mean that the Valium isn't going to work?  I just don't know if I should continue the current path for a few more days, try a smaller step (i.e. a bit higher Xanax to Valium ratio), or revert back to just Xanax at night and continue trying to taper that way.  My doctor is hard to get hold of, so I haven't been able to get info from him.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

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I feel you're undermedicated, the tables we use say .5 mg Xanax is roughly equivalent to 10 mgs Valium. https://www.benzo.org.uk/bzequiv.htm

 

Valium takes longer to build up than other benzo's, its important to slowly add it in while reducing the Xanax.  Have you seen the crossover schedules Professor Ashton used, this is an example of a much higher dose but you can see she allowed time for the Valium to build up.

https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s7

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