P.doc threw me massive prescriptions for different things without explanation.

[[Ry...]]

Uh.

 

Okay so I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now. Went to see my doc. Told her that I was thinking of switching over to Ashton. Told her I wasn't sleeping as well. She gives me:

 

A refill on my Klono. That's fine. I understand that part.

 

2 prescriptions for Valium. 60 10mg with no refill, 30 2mg with 2 refills.

 

150mg of Trazedone, which I'm not sure I want to take because it has a black box warning? What?

 

So I'm really bad at math and trying to figure out where I am on Ashton. I'm currently at .625 of Klono so that would be a direct crossover, right? 20mg diazepam=1mg Klono. I'm due to drop to .5 sometime during the next week. Which would put me at Stage ...15? Which is 10mg of Diazepam.

 

I have no clue what's going on. I have the option to continue my taper as-is, so that's a plus. She just really confused me. Also is Trazedone dangerous? I mean, when a pill has an FDA suicide warning, that's kind of a red flag for me.

 

All input will be much appreciated.

 

On a hilarious note, I've never seen a doctor so willing to just hand out massively dangerous drugs. I guess I have a trustworthy demeanor. Wow.

[[me...]]

Hi,

 

Some doctors do this, unfortunately.  I've never taken Trazodone, but you can learn more about it by going to the Other Medications Board, here, and using the search box, upper right, to search for Trazodone.

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?board=60.0

 

[[Ry...]]

Hi,

 

Some doctors do this, unfortunately.  I've never taken Trazodone, but you can learn more about it by going to the Other Medications Board, here, and using the search box, upper right, to search for Trazodone.

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?board=60.0

 

 

Sweet, thank you. I'll go check it out now. I suppose that I should be incredibly grateful that she even was down to throw me the valium at all.

[[Gr...]]

Trazadone is an antidepressant but it can also be sedating for some people to help them sleep. I only tried it briefly and it didn't work for my sleep at all. The few hours I did sleep, I had horrible nightmares. Valium, on the other hand I found quite sedating and I take my dose at bedtime. So just in my personal experience, Valium = good. Trazodone = bad.

[[so...]]

My doctor (I have a different one now) was so rude to me about crossing over to Valium that I cried. Thankfully he rolled with it anyway. I don't think you'll regret doing the crossover one bit. It has been smooth sailing for me ever since I did it.

 

FYI, don't go by my sig. I was massively confused at the time and instead of crossing over, I actually just added the full Valium dose on top of my full Ativan fose, stayed there (overmedicated) for a couple of months, then tapered Ativan, then tapered Valium. I'm down to 2 mg now. It all worked out OK but follow Ashton's crossover, not mine!

[[To...]]

I don't see a problem.   

 

 

At least you don't have to worry about your taper !

 

I wish I had a P doc like that ...   

 

The more prescriptions the better, just stock up what you don't need ...   

 

Fair deal to me !!!   

[[Ry...]]

Trazadone is an antidepressant but it can also be sedating for some people to help them sleep. I only tried it briefly and it didn't work for my sleep at all. The few hours I did sleep, I had horrible nightmares. Valium, on the other hand I found quite sedating and I take my dose at bedtime. So just in my personal experience, Valium = good. Trazodone = bad.

 

Yeah she basically gave me a choice between Trazodone and Remeron and I didn't want to mess with Remeron so I chose the lesser of two evils on the spot and am regretting it now the more I learn about it. I won't be taking it.

 

My doctor (I have a different one now) was so rude to me about crossing over to Valium that I cried. Thankfully he rolled with it anyway. I don't think you'll regret doing the crossover one bit. It has been smooth sailing for me ever since I did it.

 

FYI, don't go by my sig. I was massively confused at the time and instead of crossing over, I actually just added the full Valium dose on top of my full Ativan fose, stayed there (overmedicated) for a couple of months, then tapered Ativan, then tapered Valium. I'm down to 2 mg now. It all worked out OK but follow Ashton's crossover, not mine!

 

The jury's still out on whether or not I'm going to make the switch or just wing it through the direct K taper. I'm dropping to .5 on monday night if all goes well so we'll see if that throws me into a special kind of hell.

 

I don't see a problem.   

 

 

At least you don't have to worry about your taper !

 

I wish I had a P doc like that ...   

 

The more prescriptions the better, just stock up what you don't need ...   

 

Fair deal to me !!!   

 

lol the problems are numerous. Firstly, she didn't go over the Ashton schedule with me and I'm not confident in making the proper choice as to where I am. I understand it's simple math but simple math eludes me. I would've preferred her to break it out like she did the first time, point to a stage and say, "Here's where you are." I'm also nervous because where I am would mean dropping K totally and going on V and I have no clue as to whether or not that's a good idea. The Trazodone seems like a nightmare. Then there's the fact that I have to take it with food, which she did not tell me. That's not an option for me. I'm fighting chronic gastritis and I can't eat 3 hours before I go to bed otherwise I'll be in for a world of hurt. So even if I wanted to give the Trazodone a shot, that takes it off the table for me. So I basically walked out of there with nothing for sleep and no direction.

[[To...]]

Oké on a serious note now. You don't want anything to do with both Trazadone or Remergon !! I tried them both and they did everything to me except help me sleep. When taking Remergon (Remeron) I was in bed for 3 days with sleep paralysis, I couldn't really sleep, kept waking up and when I did sleep I woke up an couldn't move my body and had to struggle for 5 to 10 minutes before I could get my body to move. Also I couldn't swallow anymore and NO drug ever did that to me. Stupid me tried it about 5 times before I finally threw it with the garbage where it belongs. About the Trazadone ? You don't even want to know ... these are old AD's with terrible and plenty weird side effects. If you don't want to touch them I guess you must still be very well at your mind ...   

 

If you think benzo's are bad, then try these 2 devil drugs from hell.   

 

"it can be sedating ... " That would be the understatement of the century lol.   

 

For switching over from K to Valium you could be in for a nice and pleasant surprise but you have to take the equivalent dose so nothing less. It might kick in better then your K because your body is not used to it. You might feel better doing that crossover. If not sure you can do a partial crossover and start replacing half of your night dose of K with the Valium. Dr. Ashton recommends taking the K a bit earlier in the evening and the Valium right before bed.

 

 

 

I wish you the best of luck and a smooth taper !!!   

 

 

 

[[Ry...]]

Oké on a serious note now. You don't want anything to do with both Trazadone or Remergon !! I tried them both and they did everything to me except help me sleep. When taking Remergon (Remeron) I was in bed for 3 days with sleep paralysis, I couldn't really sleep, kept waking up and when I did sleep I woke up an couldn't move my body and had to struggle for 5 to 10 minutes before I could get my body to move. Also I couldn't swallow anymore and NO drug ever did that to me. Stupid me tried it about 5 times before I finally threw it with the garbage where it belongs. About the Trazadone ? You don't even want to know ... these are old AD's with terrible and plenty weird side effects. If you don't want to touch them I guess you must still be very well at your mind ...   

 

If you think benzo's are bad, then try these 2 devil drugs from hell.   

 

"it can be sedating ... " That would be the understatement of the century lol.   

 

For switching over from K to Valium you could be in for a nice and pleasant surprise but you have to take the equivalent dose so nothing less. It might kick in better then your K because your body is not used to it. You might feel better doing that crossover. If not sure you can do a partial crossover and start replacing half of your night dose of K with the Valium. Dr. Ashton recommends taking the K a bit earlier in the evening and the Valium right before bed.

 

 

 

I wish you the best of luck and a smooth taper !!!   

 

 

 

 

Thanks! Yeah dude I looked at the label of the trazodone and it was like, "Notify your doctor if you experience FEAR."

 

?

 

No?

 

That was all I needed to see.

[[so...]]

I was intimidated by the math too and honestly still am, which is why I've stuck with cut and hold rather than a daily microtaper. It's worked out very well, so no regrets! I'm sure that if you post all your info in the Valium support thread and ask for someone to please calculate your crossover for you, they will! That thread has given me so much peace of mind. Very positive group. Here is the link:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=96753

[[Ry...]]

I was intimidated by the math too and honestly still am, which is why I've stuck with cut and hold rather than a daily microtaper. It's worked out very well, so no regrets! I'm sure that if you post all your info in the Valium support thread and ask for someone to please calculate your crossover for you, they will! That thread has given me so much peace of mind. Very positive group. Here is the link:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=96753

 

Yeah I think I'll do that. Justkeepswimming just chimed in on my other post and told me what they did, so I think I'll throw my info over there in addition and make my call from there. I'm still up in the air about the whole thing. Common sense is telling me to use the Valium. Anxiety is telling me to stick with the devil I know. Sleep would be pretty sweet, though. I'll like meditate on it or something.

[[so...]]

Glad to hear it! They're so much help in that thread. I can only speak on my own experience because everyone is different, but switching to Valium was the best thing I ever did. I wanted to stick to the devil I knew as well (Ativan in my case), but that short half life... whew! I don't know how anyone does it. It's awesome that you have a doc who is willing to prescribe whatever you need though! Mine rushed me off the V and I thought it'd be horrible but it's all worked out so far. Sending you luck and good vibes!

[[Ph...]]

Glad to hear it! They're so much help in that thread. I can only speak on my own experience because everyone is different, but switching to Valium was the best thing I ever did. I wanted to stick to the devil I knew as well (Ativan in my case), but that short half life... whew! I don't know how anyone does it. It's awesome that you have a doc who is willing to prescribe whatever you need though! Mine rushed me off the V and I thought it'd be horrible but it's all worked out so far. Sending you luck and good vibes!

 

"I wanted to stick to the devil I knew as well (Ativan in my case), but that short half life... whew! I don't know how anyone does it."

 

---------------

 

Dose every six hours and use a compounding pharmacy to prepare precision doses.  Gets a little rough here and there but it can be done.

[[so...]]

Dose every six hours and use a compounding pharmacy to prepare precision doses.  Gets a little rough here and there but it can be done.

 

I actually was dosing every six hours but I definitely felt it stop working between doses. The anxiety and akasthisia were off the charts. I was so close to being done that I wished I could just continue, but things got complicated with emergency surgery, extra benzos in hospital, etc. Valium really made things much easier on me. I give people a ton of credit who are able to pull it off with those short half life benzos! You are doing amazing!

 

[[Ry...]]

Glad to hear it! They're so much help in that thread. I can only speak on my own experience because everyone is different, but switching to Valium was the best thing I ever did. I wanted to stick to the devil I knew as well (Ativan in my case), but that short half life... whew! I don't know how anyone does it. It's awesome that you have a doc who is willing to prescribe whatever you need though! Mine rushed me off the V and I thought it'd be horrible but it's all worked out so far. Sending you luck and good vibes!

 

Thank you! I have to somehow calmly accept that my taper isn't going to be the 3 1/2 month piece of cake I expected and once I find acceptance, I'll be all good.