New to board - want to transition from .75 lorazapam to Valium

[[NW...]]

Hello everyone,

 

I'm new here, and have become dependent on .75 - 1 mg of Ativan/day over a six week period.  I started taking the medicine as a sleep aid after a concussion, and after using only 12 times realized I was having withdrawal symptoms when trying to go c/t. 

 

I'm taking a single dose at night and have been suffering from intra-dose withdrawals every afternoon and evening - particularly on days when I don't sleep well.  I'm interested in making the switch to Valium to help with these intradose withdrawals and to make tapering easier down the line.  Since I rely on the medicine largely for sleep, should I stick with taking one dose of Valium at night, or should I first spread out my dosage to twice daily before switching to Valium?  Do I need to be concerned that Valium isn't as successful with anxiety symptoms as Ativan?

 

I'd love any and all insights on how to transition - over a period of X days/weeks.  My goal is to start the switchover later this week or early next week.

 

On a separate note, I have a psychiatrist who would like me to start on Zoloft for PTSD symptoms while doing the crossover.  He also claims that there is no need to do the crossover slowly since the drugs work on the same receptors in the brain.  I'm guessing some of you will have an opinion about this.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

NW Guy

 

 

 

[[NW...]]

Point of clarification - I have been suffering from intra-dose withdrawals after tapering to .75 mg from 1 mg.  When I was at 1 mg, there were minimal intra-dose withdrawals.