Crossover to Valium Group

I crossed over from Xanax to Valium in order to make tapering easier and ran into a few issues and questions.  I was taking 1mg (.25, 4 times a day) of Xanax at the time and switched to 15mg of Valium in one day.  This is NOT what Ashton advises, and I quickly realized that it was not a good idea.  I didn't sleep at all that night, so the next next day I only took 5mgs of Valium and .5 mg of Xanax (.25, 2 times a day).  I held for a week and then went to .25mg of Xanax and 10mg of Valium (5mg, 2 times a day).  This went pretty well so I held again for a week and then went to 15mgs of Valium and no more Xanax.  At 15mgs I felt over sedated so I cut pretty quickly to 12.5mgs and then 10 mgs of Valium.  There are different equivalencies that can be found between Xanax and Valium ranging from 10mg Valium = 1mg of Xanax,  to 20mg Valium = 1 mg Xanax.  I think I was somewhere in between but closer to 10mg.  Every person may be different in this regard.  One thing I noticed about Valium was that while the longer half-life made it easier to taper (I dry cut using 5mg and 2mg tablets), it also made me feel depressed and mildly nauseous,  S/Xs that I fortunately hadn't really experienced with Xanax.  If I had to do it over again, I'm not sure if I would.  Crossing over added time to my taper added some S/Xs, but ultimately I did become benzo free which is obviously the end goal.

 

Anyway, I'd be interested in hearing about what others crossover experience was like.  It's been a while but I'd be happy to answer questions and I'm sure others would as well.

 

Optimist

Hi Optimist, well I'm glad I saw this thread.  I'm on 3mg of Xanax and am contemplating crossing over to valium, but am concerned for the very reasons you mentioned.  My body knows Xanax and I'm just coming off of a 3 month melt down, so I'm nervous to rock the boat with a new med.  I need to start my taper here in a month or two as I just start work full time on Monday (been working part time last 2 weeks).  I currently am stable on my Xanax dose and don't experience any interdose .  I'm just really nervous about rocking the boat and changing to valium.  Your thoughts?

Hey rabbit,

 

I know it's a hard decision.  I dry cut from 2mg to 1mg of Xanax and then crossed over to Valium because I feared that as I got lower it would be more difficult.  If you crossed over from 3mg of Xanax your Valium dosage could be anywhere between 30mg and 60 mg of Valium so my suggestion would be to try tapering using Xanax first.  Is your doctor benzo-wise? Some doctors are squeamish about prescribing Valium.  I know my doctor thought that I should have been able to jump from 5mg of Valium and so didn't want to prescribe me 2mg pills.  I eventually I talked her into it, but it took bringing a taper plan to my appointment so she knew that I was serious.  So if you're going to taper Valium you have to make sure that your doctor will support it and understands what it involves. Valium has a stigma for some doctors and they don't like to prescribe it (at least that's what I've seen and read).  I know it can be a tough decision and ultimately you have to decide what is going to be the best way to become benzo free.  But I would at least consider trying to taper Xanax directly at a slow and steady pace first to see how it goes.  You can speed up if you're one of the lucky ones and your body can tolerate a faster taper.  That way you don't have to worry about new s/x appearing either.  I hope that helps.

 

Optimist

Thank you Optimist, my doc is very concerned for my functionality and is supportive of however long it takes me to get off Xanax.  We discussed that he does prescribe valium to some of his patients and he even mentioned it comes in liquid, so I think he would prescribe it if I wanted to.  I'm more inclined to at least to try to dry cut first, like 2% (1/4 of a .25mg pill) and see what happens. 

 

My sister took .5mg Xanax 3 to 4 times a day when going through a rough patch.  She then got on Serezone and decided she didn't need the Xanax anymore, so she quickly tapered off the Xanax.  I asked her how long it took and she said it's been so many years that she can't remember now, but she thought no more than a month or two.  But she said she didn't experience any withdrawal symptoms that she remembers.  Is that even possible?                         

Having a doctor who is supportive and understands the difficulty some people have withdrawing from benzos is a HUGE asset.  I'm glad that it sounds like he understands benzos and has your best interest in mind.  I think dry cutting 2% is probably as smart way to start and see how it goes.  I believe that there are many people who are able to discontinue benzo usage without too much difficulty and we never hear about them because they never need to come to forums like this.  If your sister is one of those people then maybe you have that genetic predisposition as well?  I know when contemplating tapering how easy it is to read about all the bad things that people go through and project them onto yourself.  I did that quite a bit.  It's harder to think about the good things (like an easy taper) that are also possible and believe that they could happen.  Try your best to stay positive because I think that can have a huge impact on how your taper goes. 

 

Optimist

Thank you for those words of encouragement Optimist, I really appreciate it.  I hope those same genes my sister had will apply to me

valium crossover was amazing. Absolutely amazing. Many people I have talked to were perfectly fine and changing to valium. There are a few that had some issues and that is to be expected. For the majority the switch works out great. Most of the problems come from changing over to an improper dose or going to quickly.

 

 

Chrenraf, so you crossed from .375mg K to 7.5mg Valium?  Did you do it all at one time, or did you switch gradually.  I agree that finding the right dosage is one of the biggest keys.

 

Optimist

yeah, I did it all at once and it worked out real good for me. .375mg K to 7.5mg V.  Now the .75ish ativan to .375K was TERRIBLE. lol. I had a crappy doctor to start.

There is a cross over to valium support group thread with lots of respondents.

 

and a valium support group thread that equally has lots of responders/people following the thread.

 

Any questions on how, why, which of crossing over can probably answered by the collective knowledge there

 

Cross Over to Valium Support Thread]http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=101814.920] Cross Over to Valium Support Thread

 

Valium support group Thread]http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=96753.6160] Valium support group Thread

im wondering what is the price of 2mg diazapam or the equivilant of 0.25mg alprazolam  the price of 0.50mg alprazolam is 30 dollars for 120 pills thats from my old pharmacy it will be less at my new pharmacy since its only $12 for 120mg alprazolam

bangel..........a little bit of money should not enter your brain when making a decision how to taper. I'd gladly have given my entire savings to avoid the disaters that were made in this process for me to start.