Converting from Ativan to Valium

[[Dr...]]

Has anyone converted from any Benzo to Valium and how long did you take to do it. AM says for me to take at least 10 weeks.

 

Im learning that different benzos not only differ in strength and half life, but also in the ways they work. Is this an important factor?

 

Based on a single dose yesterday I found that I tolerate Valium. I’m wondering why the ashton advises such a long conversion timeline. I’d like to convert as soon as possible to escape these interdose withdrawals.

[[Pa...]]

From the The Ashton Manual.

 

A second factor to bear in mind is that the various benzodiazepines, though broadly similar, have slightly different profiles of action. For example, lorazepam (Ativan) seems to have less hypnotic activity than diazepam (probably because it is shorter acting). Thus if someone on, say, 2mg Ativan three times a day is directly switched to 60mg diazepam (the equivalent dose for anxiety) he is liable to become extremely sleepy, but if he is switched suddenly onto a much smaller dose of diazepam, he will probably get withdrawal symptoms. Making the changeover one dose (or part of dose) at a time avoids this difficulty and also helps to find the equivalent dosage for that individual. It is also helpful to make the first substitution in the night-time dose, and the substitution may not always need to be complete. For example, if the evening dose was 2mg Ativan, this could in some cases be changed to 1 mg Ativan plus 8mg diazepam. A full substitution for the dropped 1 mg of Ativan would have been 10mg diazepam. However, the patient may actually sleep well on this combination and he will have already made a dosage reduction - a first step in withdrawal.

[[ja...]]

Hi.  I swapped over to Valium (after carefully trying a single dose) from 11 years on Clonazepam - in a week, starting first with my morning dose and then my evening.  It was so easy for me.  I thought - this is going to be a breeze as the Valium was more sedating at first.  Little did I know..... but the first 10 mg of the taper was not too bad at all, and the swap was straightforward.

 

Good luck.