Has anyone switched from klonopin to valium and noticed a decrease in depression

[[st...]]

I am currently tapering off klonopin and am at 0.6mg started at 1mg almost 3 months ago.  I have been tapering 5% a week from .75mg for the last 4 weeks and the last week has been really difficult with a fair amount of depression.  Has anyone made the switch to valium and noticed a decrease in depression.  I have read were adding a SSRI doesn't seem to help with depression during withdrawal from benzos .  I am taking 15mg of Remeron which may help me sleep but it doesn't seem to help with the depression.  I'd loved to hear if anyone made the switch to valium and found it helpful.  I'm not sure my MD/psych doctor here is going to be very supportive.  But we shall see.

[[cl...]]

hey step.  you've come a long way with your taper.  nice and low on the mg's.  i now that i'm suffering with depresion and i'm on Valium.  Valium can cause deppresion. so a switch over to alleviate that symptom might not be the best idea.  the remeron works pretty well for deppresion i've heard.  at least your getting sleep.  believe me it's a whole other world without it. 

 

ttyl,

click

[[st...]]

Click,  Thanks for the advice.  I posted a similar question in the general taper section and got good feedback about not switching to valium as well.  I think in addition it would be difficult for me to get my Psych MD here to work with such an idea.  They aren't crazy about anyone tapering off anything.  I'm sorry for your depression.  I know it really makes life difficult to have to little joy in anything.  I've had periods of depression throughout my life when I wasn't on any medication usually lasting for a couple of days and then lifting.  So it is hard to know how much the depression is due to WS and how much is just my reaction to life in general.  I had a good day yesterday the first one in a while.  I hope there will be more for both you and me in the future.  BTW don't confuse the pill weight with mg in my taper.  In mg of klonopin I'm at 0.60mg total daily dosage but in weight (I'm using a digital scale for my taper) I'm at 0.205g with one 0.5mg pill weighing 0.170g.  Darrin

[Guest [my...]]

Step,

I am thinking of switching. My depression is pretty severe.  :'(

[[cl...]]

mylilcapi:  just remember valium is not reseached to be any less "depressing" than Valium.  IMO valium is bad for depression.  from my experience anyway.  that's just me.  plus crossing over has problems of it's own.  just things to think about before you make decisions.  i know all about klonopin and valium.  i know how hard klonopin can hit you during withdrawal.  i did my mine pretty much cold turkey...YIKES!! 

 

good luck,

click

[Guest [my...]]

Click,

So you switched from K to V?  Did it make things worse or just the same?  I know now to compare anyone to anyone lol but just wondering. Do you wish you had not switched?  Did you find the depression worse.  This is just horrible.  I'm down to 1 mg.  See a doc this week.  He is supposed to be helpful in getting off these damn drugs.  (sorry)  I don't know whether to start water titration or have mine compounded.  I'm coming down all the way by 1/8 and this is way to much for me.  This is about 12 percent and it gets higher if I continue like that.  I'm so dumb when it comes to Math anyhow. 

 

Thanks,

Mamie

[[mo...]]

Hi,

I switched from Klonopin to Valium.

I was already severely depressed on Klonopin.

Valium definitely did not help my depression, as it is a depressant - I am still very depressed.

15 mg of Remeron was also given to me for help with sleep and to give me an appetite.

I was not eating at all.

It helped in those two areas.

But 15 mg is such a low dose, that it is only used at that dosage for those two issues - not for depression.

Hope this helps,

mp

[[pa...]]

I noticed this thread and just thought I'd chime in...

I used Aston's method for substitution/tapering. I went from Klonopin to Valium and it took me about 1 month take make the complete switchover. I did notice quite a bit of depression and sluggishness at first. After I reduced the dosage from 6.25mg down to 4mg in 4 days, I noticed a big improvement. After this adjustment, I was able to continue with the taper more regularly. I also take a small amount of Remeron and I often times take Melatonin at night for sleep.