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1 mg Ativan equals 10 Valium??


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Michelle,

 

  Every benzodiazepine has an equivalent value in to another one.  If you are taking 1mg of Ativan or .5 mg of Xanax or .5 mg of Klonopin, those are equal in strength to 10 mg of Valium and to each other.  It is useful to know that if you want to cross over to a valium taper.

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For the sake of clarity one example. Currently I am tapering off of 6mgs of klonopin that would be equivalent to 120 mgs of valium. Now  i can easily tolerate 6 mgs of klonopin and be wide awake. But  the "therapeutic effect" from 120 mgs of valium in a day would probably put me under the table. If a person wanted to switch over from 6mgs of klonopin to an equivalent amount of valium I would be interested in how this is done.

 

John

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John,

 

  The crossover is done is by both tapering and substituting at the same time.  for example, if you are taking the 6 mg 3x a day, every two to three weeks, you would substitute 10 mg of of valium for every .5 mg of Klonopin, but you are also  cutting at the same time and will cut something off of either the Klonopin before the crossover or something off of one of the valium doses.  Does that make sense?  Ashton has a chart where she shows it would take about 28 weeks to crossover and taper from 3 mg of Klonopin, so you are looking at something like a 60 week taper.  Here is her tapering/crossover chart.

 

  http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s6

 

 

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Thank you bluemoth,

 

Cutting and switching at the same time seems a "hard row to hoe". Like too much going on at the same time or something. It seems the poor brain would be struggling trying to get used to a new drug while loosing the one it is used to. Hey but if it works for people I guess thats the bottom line.

 

Thanks for the link.

 

John

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Hi John,

 

  A lot of people cannot tolerate a cross over and titrate/taper directly off the benzo they are currently on.  If it were me, I don't think I would do a cross over, even though that is the method prefered by Ashton.  I think it is just one more drug to become addicted to and one more to withdraw from.  Our poor brains are confused enough as you point out. 

 

 

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Hi bluemoth

 

I did a switch over from 5mgs xanax to 5mgs of klonopin without much trouble but I did it over a two month period. When I  was completely switched over I had the doctor prescribe me an extra mg of K so I am tapering from 6 mgs per day.  This extra mg has given me a little playing room in seeking the appropriate dose to match the healing rate of my body. Switching over slow like i did I don't recall much difficulty.

 

John

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John,

 

  I think that is the trick with this stuff. If you take it slow and be sensible, you won't get into trouble. I guess that goes for a cross over too. I am glad that you were able to make it and it sounds like you have a handle on how you are doing your taper.  That is great.  I am sure that it will be a smooth ride down for you.  :thumbsup:

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