Z drug rapid taper

[[Ph...]]

So I am still on Ativan at 1mg a day and decided to taper my Ambien first.

 

I was only on Ambien at 10mg for 2 months. On April 23rd i cut to 7.5mg with zero w/d issues. I micro cut daily after that down to 6.4mg then jumped to 5mg for the past 4 nights. After the jump to 5mg the worst i have had is a little headache and some anxiety early afternoon until i take my pm dose of Ativan. I am still getting sleep though at 5mg it does seem a little bit more difficult to fall asleep though. I still plan on stabilizing here for a week at least.

 

But given i have had so little symptoms cutting in half as fast as i have done, should i just rip the bandaid off and jump from 5mg?  I am expecting to obviously not sleep for early stage w/d but thinking this may be doable while leaning on Ativan dosages.

 

Would love other opinions/thoughts!

[[Pa...]]

I’m thrilled its going so well, and you seem to understand you’ll most likely face insomnia when you’re free of the Ambien but its great to hear you haven’t experienced severe symptoms. 

 

This is what I anticipate happening if you continue to taper the Ambien, you’ll experience some symptoms and insomnia as you reduce and once off, you’ll hold until you feel ready to begin your Ativan taper.  And this is what I anticipate happening if you quit the Ambien at 5 mgs.  You’ll experience some symptoms and insomnia and then hold until you feel stable enough to being your Ativan taper.

 

The only difference I see in these two scenario’s is time, it looks to me like you may be one of the lucky ones who can get off of z-drugs a little easier than others, I hope so anyway.

 

[[Ph...]]

Thanks Pamster.  I spoke to my new Psychiatrist today.  He is going to start the sub over to Valium from my Ativan.  He is totally on board with a slow crossover but is suggesting some stuff i am not sure about.  For one thing he wants me to just drop the Ambien tonight when i take my first substituted dose of V.

 

So I will be 0.5mg A morning, 0.25A evening and then 2mg V evening.

 

He also said that 6mg V should be ok after sub is complete.  But i was under impression that 1mg A per day was more like 8-10mg V...

 

The good thing is he is ok with me adjusting dose of V as needed through this.

 

I just dont like the idea of making changes all at once because then i have no idea what is causing what.

[[Pa...]]

Exactly, we have to know what drug is causing our symptoms and when we make too many changes at once, we can’t know. 

 

Some of us have theorized about Professor Ashtons equivalencies, they’re definitely on the high side but these are the doses her patients had the most success with.  The calculators and what other doctors use are much lower and really, we’re all so different, we can’t know how we’re going to feel on a particular dose until we get there.  The good part is your doctor is open to working with you, that’s huge!

https://clincalc.com/Benzodiazepine/

[[Ph...]]

Thanks Pamster.  For now i am subbing at a 1mg A to 10mg V ratio.  Especially since i jumped from Ambien at 5mg right as i began this sub.  I am just going to keep the doc updated and tell him what my symptoms are so i don't catch him off guard.  Maybe i can meet him in the middle and go off the clincalc ratio, at 8mg.