Lorazepam to Valium

[[mo...]]

This morning is not a good morning! It’s not like shaking, crazy pacing but rather an electrical current of anxiety running through me. Doesn’t help with losing even more hair overnight which is depressing. Still hoping it is related to the high prolactin and tumor and will right itself eventually though it will take years. Could I be feeling more symptoms on. day 5 of cutting? 

[[Pa...]]

Valium is slow to leave your body, it can take up to 3 weeks to fully eliminate it, but most feel the loss of it sooner.  I feel it would be wise to let your symptoms determine your next reduction because setting an artificial timeline for your next cut could amp up your stress and actually make it more unpleasant.  Let your body determine the speed of your reductions, we need to keep you functional.

Hair loss is a common withdrawal symptom so you may have more than the tumor as a reason for your hair loss.  The hair loss stops when we recover, so that's a positive.

I'm so sorry about your tumor, I'm sure the stress of this is playing a part in your benzo taper, worry and stress contribute to increased symptom severity.  

[[mo...]]

So, I might not feel the cut for 3 weeks? There is so much to learn. I thought once I hit 3-4 days, any symptoms from a cut I might feel would have happened. At this rate, I’ll never be off of them! The hair loss started months ago I can’t imagine losing more due to the taper. I will literally be bald which I won’t be able to handle. 
 

This was my hair prior to the loss starting. It is to my shoulders and so thin now. I can’t take this any more. I just can’t! 

[[mo...]]

I’m practicing meditation, mindfulness, breathing, etc. Nothing is working. I really don’t think I can do this for months or years on end. I just want my life back. I need to be me again!! 

[[Pa...]]

@[mo...], the 3 week example I gave you isn't typical, Professor Ashton tapered her patients every 1-2 weeks depending on their symptoms.  Klonopin users will typically feel the symptoms start between days 3-5 with symptoms settling around day 10, you'll have to see what how Valium treats you once you begin your taper, we can't know until then.

Your hair was beautiful, I can see why you're mourning your loss and I know you want your life back but this is the only way we know how to achieve that. 

[[mo...]]

Thank you. I’m just overwhelmed today and anxiety is through the roof for some reason. Today is day 5 reducing the 4%. My husband tried to convince me to take a 2 mg on top of my 5 mg morning dose due to the ongoing panic attack but I told him I can NOT  up dose! He is positive the tumor is behind the majority of the anxiety. 

[[Pa...]]

The timing of your misery suggests you're experiencing withdrawal symptoms and I absolutely understand why you're overwhelmed, I faced a cancer diagnosis when I was recovering and my stress was off the charts which is the exact opposite of what we need while going through this.

I'm glad you didn't take the 2 mg, that will just prolong your taper. 

[[mo...]]

I’m just scared. I’ve never been one to be scared but every little thing scares me anymore. 
 

thanks again

Edited August 27 by [mo...]

[[mo...]]

I have my first follow up tele-health this evening. I’d like to ask about changing from tablet to liquid to allow for easier dose cutting. Thoughts on this? If I decide to do a 10% cut to see how it goes after holding a week or two, I’d have to cut 1.2 mg and seems like it would be much more simple with liquid. Thinking ahead especially to smaller cuts as I get lower. 
 

@[Do...] @[Pa...] @[or...] @[or...] @[Ro...]

[Guest [Do...]]

Just now, [[m...] said:

I have my first follow up tele-health this evening. I’d like to ask about changing from tablet to liquid to allow for easier dose cutting. Thoughts on this? If I decide to do a 10% cut to see how it goes after holding a week or two, I’d have to cut 1.2 mg and seems like it would be much more simple with liquid. Thinking ahead especially to smaller cuts as I get lower. 
 

@[Do...] @[Pa...] @[or...] @[or...] @[Ro...]

@[mo...] I did it, i switched to liquid and i am so happy i did, the taper is much easier and you can try a lot of different strategies with it.

 

[[Pa...]]

Yep @[mo...], if your doctor is willing to write a prescription for liquid Valium, that would be great.  You mentioned holding for a week or two, did you mean after you crossed over to the liquid, because that's the exact right thing to do.  Members have mentioned needing to adjust to the liquid before beginning their taper even though its basically the same.

[[mo...]]

@[Pa...] I didn’t know that. I meant holding for another week or two from the cut 6 days ago. I’ll definitely make sure to do that then. Will I go through withdrawal type symptoms with that change as well? We are visiting our daughter again from 7-14 Sept to celebrate her and my husband’s birthdays and I don’t want to upset the apple cart any more than it already is. I just hate doing anything that is going to prolong how long I’m on this medication and create more damage than already done.

[[Pa...]]

1 hour ago, [[m...] said:

@[Pa...] I didn’t know that. I meant holding for another week or two from the cut 6 days ago. I’ll definitely make sure to do that then. Will I go through withdrawal type symptoms with that change as well? We are visiting our daughter again from 7-14 Sept to celebrate her and my husband’s birthdays and I don’t want to upset the apple cart any more than it already is. I just hate doing anything that is going to prolong how long I’m on this medication and create more damage than already done.

You're not causing damage, your body is already dependent and a few more months isn't going to make much difference so try not to think about how long this will take and focus on staying functional while you're doing it.  You wanting to be at your best on your trip is exactly the right thing to do, life happens and meeting life is important so taking your time in order to sustain your relationships is smart.

I've heard from members that changing to another form of their medication can bring some symptoms, it may not happen to you but this is why we caution members to hold off reducing their dose until these die down. 

You might want to hold off crossing as well as reducing until after your trip. 

[[mo...]]

@[Pa...] Will do! Changing to oral starting tomorrow but won't do another cut until after we return from our visit. Appointment went well. He changed my script to the oral solution and said I need to give it at least the full 2 weeks from my last cut which was 6 days ago. He said the next cut should only be .5 mg again so from 12 to 11.5. If I find I'm doing well with that, I can consider a larger cut the next time and play it by ear with symptoms. ping I don't have symptoms changing to oral....fingers crossed! He said the tumor does throw a bit of a wrench into things as it is hard to know what is causing the most anxiety; the taper, the tumor, or the hormones that are being messed up by the tumor. Plus, the stress of knowing I have it doesn't help. I'm just happy he is very open to meeting what I feel I need.

[[Pa...]]

What a great appointment, I'm thrilled to hear he told you to not reduce while adjusting to the oral!  And I like that he's not rushing your taper, letting you set the pace.  It appears he understands tapering, he just needs a little more education with the crossing over part. 

When you get around to reducing the liquid, ask for some help here, we'll need to know what strength it is and you'll need to know you can dilute it in order to achieve smaller reductions if need be. 

I hope the adjustment goes smoothly, keep us posted @[mo...].

[[mo...]]

17 hours ago, [[D...] said:

@[mo...] I did it, i switched to liquid and i am so happy i did, the taper is much easier and you can try a lot of different strategies with it.

@[Do...] did you have any issues with the switch to liquid? The change from Ativan to Valium was horrendous and I don’t want to go through symptoms like that again if I can help it. 

[[mo...]]

@[Pa...] @[Do...]

This is the script. Sound right? 

 

Diazepam 5mg/5ml (1mg/1ml) Oral Sol      Rx# 453731-17429 | Qty: 500

 

[Guest [Do...]]

1 hour ago, [[m...] said:

@[Do...] did you have any issues with the switch to liquid? The change from Ativan to Valium was horrendous and I don’t want to go through symptoms like that again if I can help it. 

@[mo...] i didnt have any issues, in fact i felt much better cause my diazepam pills were a mega cheap generic brand and the change to liquid with a decent brand was great, but i dont know if that info could help you cause i didnt have any issues switching from lorazepam to diazepam either.

Are you feeling better with the crossover?

Edited August 29 by Guest

[Guest [Do...]]

4 minutes ago, [[m...] said:

@[Pa...] @[Do...]

This is the script. Sound right? 

Diazepam 5mg/5ml (1mg/1ml) Oral Sol      Rx# 453731-17429 | Qty: 500

@[mo...] yes, this is correct, you get 1mg for every ml you take.

[[mo...]]

4 minutes ago, [[D...] said:

@[mo...] i didnt have any issues, in fact i felt much better cause my diazepam pills were a mega cheap generic brand and the change to liquid with a decent brand was great, but i dont know if that info could help you cause i didnt have any issues switching from lorazepam to diazepam either.

Are you feeling better with the crossover?

I can’t tell honestly because I did the .5 mg cut 7 days ago- started having more symptoms 2 days ago. I know, I know….  I should have waited another week or two. 

[[mo...]]

10 minutes ago, [[D...] said:

@[mo...] i didnt have any issues, in fact i felt much better cause my diazepam pills were a mega cheap generic brand and the change to liquid with a decent brand was great, but i dont know if that info could help you cause i didnt have any issues switching from lorazepam to diazepam either.

Are you feeling better with the crossover?

You did a crossover and not direct switch from lorazepam to diazepam though if I recall correctly, right? Or am I remembering wrong? 

[Guest [Do...]]

2 minutes ago, [[m...] said:

I can’t tell honestly because I did the .5 mg cut 7 days ago- started having more symptoms 2 days ago. I know, I know….  I should have waited another week or two. 

I was the same when i started, i had to try lots of different ways to taper, you have to find the right % and speed to taper which is not easy, it took me months, we usually start too fast and suffer until we learn the hard way that we need to slow down. I taper 5-10% every month, taper 5% every week is too much IMO, but i guess you need to test your limits but let me advice that is always better to star slow and go faster if you feel you can, than going too fast and having to slow down cause you feel too much symptoms.

[Guest [Do...]]

13 minutes ago, [[m...] said:

You did a crossover and not direct switch from lorazepam to diazepam though if I recall correctly, right? Or am I remembering wrong? 

Yes, for 2 weeks i think i had diazepam and a little bit of lorazepam that i was removing slowly, but when i removed lorazepam you have to updose the equivalent in diazepam.

I think i know what you have been doing wrong, you cant taper while doing the crossover/switch, you have to stay in the same dose till the transition is complete and safe, when you stabilize and feel confortable with the new drug then start tapering. When i did the cross over the part i was removing of lorazepam i was updosing the equivalent in diazepam so i ended the process with the same dose, then and only then i started to taper.

If you look at the taper examples schedules in Ashton manual the dose remains the same while crossing over and the starts the taper.

Edited August 29 by Guest

[[mo...]]

I know I messed up. I truly thought I had made it through after that first week and thought to heck with it and decided to cut the .5 mg. Not making that mistake again. Going to switch to liquid tomorrow and no more taper until after the 14th. 

[Guest [Do...]]

@[mo...] Look, this might help you understand, is from the Ashton manual, notice that you dont taper till you are totally switched to diazepam.

I did something similar but only 2 doses a day instead of 3.

 

Edited August 29 by Guest