Cross-Over to Valium Support Thread

[[et...]]

Motta - homemade chicken soup fixes everything

etown

[Guest [Mo...]]

Thx E and Mom, how  did u eat? How long (3 days, 5 days)  before the v builds up enough to counter the t wd?

 

Yep, soup.

And smoothies.

And lots of fruit , washed , cleaned and ready in bowls to grab when I walked by.

I also eat granola bars ( from KIND brand, non GMO and gluten free, but I recall you being nut free).

 

For meals, I eat lots of brown rice, quinoa, whole foods. No MSG.

Sweet potatoes, veggies. Chicken, occasional red meat , all organic.

I guess if you are hungry, make sure it's good stuff for you.

 

And try to distract and exercise IF you can. Just a short walk helps even.

 

I think it took me about 5  days to feel relief, but very slowly. It's not a miracle drug. And I crossed over , not direct like you, so I gradually built up the Valium ( and actually added more during my cross over) and the shock of dropping all my old benzo at once was probably not as big.

 

It's a matter do time, Mottaloves....

Like Etown says 1-0 for you...

The only way is down and you made the start!

 

 

[[mo...]]

Mom,

 

I'm concerned that going off T and direct to V may be too hard in my system, can u provide an alternative option.

 

I.e

I take 2 mg Valium at 1030, 30 min before sleep.  What about a gttg off T alongside with the Valium within a week plan? Will that help me? Is it too late? Please assist with a 3-7 day plan.  Last good dosage of T was 3.5/3.75 for me.

[Guest [Mo...]]

Mom,

 

I'm concerned that going off T and direct to V may be too hard in my system, can u provide an alternative option.

 

I.e

I take 2 mg Valium at 1030, 30 min before sleep.  What about a gttg off T alongside with the Valium within a week plan? Will that help me? Is it too late? Please assist with a 3-7 day plan.  Last good dosage of T was 3.5/3.75 for me.

 

You could take half your dose in T and then half of the equivalent in Valium.

And hold for a week or longer.

Then cross over completely.

Since you only dose once a day, and your dose is not high, I'm not sure if it would be okay for you to dose twice a day.

 

Take half of your T in the morning and half at night, adding up to your 3.5/3.75

 

Then settle for a bit on that?

And then replace half of each dose with the equivalent for Valium.

Then wait a bit and transition.

 

I could help you with a plan for that.

Not sure what you want to do......

 

It's rough, no matter which way you go. You sure you can't ride it out?

[[mo...]]

Hey mom,

 

I'm not sure. I'm trying to run a business while going thru this and taking care of an 8 year old. I'm like dawn of the dead today; almost couldn't make it to pick him up or go to a meeting.  Every second is difficult right now - which I guess is what this is. This alongside my Ibs is debilitating.

 

I think a simple 3-7 day taper with both Valium and t might be easier. Only 1 dose a day at night is what I prefer.  Then just the V.

 

I.e

Tonight at 1030 how much v would i take then when i wake up 2 hours later how much T?

Would 3-7 days be enough?  All issues started for me after going below 4 mg T.

 

Can u assist?

 

[Guest [Mo...]]

Hey mom,

 

I'm not sure. I'm trying to run a business while going thru this and taking care of an 8 year old. I'm like dawn of the dead today; almost couldn't make it to pick him up or go to a meeting.  Every second is difficult right now - which I guess is what this is. This alongside my Ibs is debilitating.

 

I think a simple 3-7 day taper with both Valium and t might be easier. Only 1 dose a day at night is what I prefer.  Then just the V.

 

I.e

Tonight at 1030 how much v would i take then when i wake up 2 hours later how much T?

Would 3-7 days be enough?  All issues started for me after going below 4 mg T.

 

Can u assist?

 

Immnot sure what you mean by waking up two hours later and then taking T....

You don't take both doses!

You would cut your dose of T in half and then take 1 mgr of Valium . Together.

 

You hold that for about a a week or so ( that's the longest you seem to want to go) and then take all Valium only and throw out the T.

 

 

[[mo...]]

Hi mom,

 

What I meant by waking up two hours later is that I generally wake up two hours after first falling asleep.

i.e - I thought I would take the 1/2 (1mg) valium at 10:30 p.m. and then 1/2 (1.75 mg T) at 1:30 a.m. when I woke up.

If I take the Temazapam and Valium togerher I might only get 3 1/2 - 4 hours total and that's concerning.

 

I always have taken the T later in the evening, early morning. 

 

For 1 week? Do you think the Valium could build up in that time period enough to keep the demon's at bay?

 

 

[[Kg...]]

I know I am cutting in here but I don't think one week of being on Valium is enough to build it up into your system.  Ashton does a slow cross over and you don't start cutting until you are on Valium but it takes awhile to get there.  Pearts method says you can do a pretty quick cross over to Valium and then hold 30 days so it is in your system and you don't cut until after the 30 days is over.  Everyone is so different it is hard to know what your body would do but 1 week - in my humble opinion  - no way - you need to give it more time.  It will kick in - it just takes time as you get off one drug and have the other 'take over' so to speak. 

[[mo...]]

Hey K girl,

 

The issue I am having is even if I were to take 3 mg T and 2 mg V I still won't get any sleep which will aggravate my stomach and make work almost impossible.  I have to be able to function; not sure what is the best solution for this. 

 

I like Mom's idea of 1/2 and 1/2 together but what happens when I wake up 3 hours later and can't go back to sleep and the nausea and ajida don't allow me to function?

 

The doctors have also given me the option of taking Seroquel for intensive sleep.

[[et...]]

Motta - I get it but you are trying to overthink this. You NEED to get over to Valium to finish your taper successfully and that's it. In case you haven't noticed yet there is no easy way. I take Tarazodone to sleep and I have researched all the sleep aids til my head fell off. You need to do whatever it takes to get on with it. Please don't waste valuable time. You are approaching 1 week of deciding and if you did the slow cross over you would be almost 1 week in already.

etown

[[mo...]]

Hello Etown,

 

I did the direct taper switch to V last night.  Went from 3.75 mg T to 2 mg V.  The withdrawals today and lack of sleep last night almost debilitated me to no end.  I have to be able to work and care for my boy.  I am trying to limit w/d as much as possible.  I understand there will be some pain and suffering.  Lack of sleep kills my guts.  I am just stuck on whether taking a portion of T and a portion of V would be better in both the short run and long run over a continued direct taper switch to valium.  My body is craving the T and is not getting any help from the small amount of V I am putting in it's place.  You know this subject better than me, what am I not getting?  Also they have offered my Seroquel for sleep in the mean time.  Will that offset my lack of sleep and assist in reducing some of my gut spasms?

[[Kg...]]

Motta: From looking at your signature I can't tell how long you have been on your original med at the dose you are converting to Valium.  This would make a difference since you should if you can be stable when you start your cross over.  Very few of us - me being one of the few that does this take both our original drug and valium - that is we don't do a complete cross over.  If I had a choice I would come off of all Valium.  I can't take all valium because if I take the amt I need for my total cross over (which is a lot more than you need to take) the drug's side effects not the tapering are not tolerable for me.  I know this because I did a complete cross over waited 30 days and I could not function at all.  As soon as I went back on  klonopin and a smaller amt of Valium (and I had to updose to get out of the mess I was in) I was back to only awful days but out of bed so to speak.  I still have awful days - getting off of these drugs is no picnic but I can function sometimes barely but I do what I have to do.

I don't know the equivalencies to your drug but again Peart says some people need to go slightly up on Valium to get stable and then come down.  It doesn't sound to me that the 2 drugs together are working for  you so why would you want to stay on your 'old' one.  If it works for you - that is you sleep and function with taking both - then great - Ellen did this - look at her blog and she tapered her original drug while staying on a small dose of Valium.  But this has to work for you - that is you need to get some sleep and be able to function.  Everyone is so different that I can't say what will work for you  - but those of us on BB are the ones who are having trouble getting off these drugs - if we didn't we wouldn't be here - we do get symptoms and we all have different ones each equally awful to the person who has them.  Some days we just have to push through it - and know that it is just temporary. 

Re: Valium:  You can't expect Valium to kick in after one day - it doesn't work like that so you are asking for something that is not possible.  You need to give it time - Valium is sedating - and if the 2 mg doesn't work take 3 mg in my opinion but again - it won't work right away it needs to build up in your system.  I wouldn't go searching for other drugs to take at this point since you have not given the Valium time to work.  http://www.benzodocs.com/converter.php  Here is the conversion site I use to get my dosing correct.  My thoughts are with you - this is very tough but you can do this. 

[[mo...]]

Hello kgirl,

 

I have been on between 4-3.5 for the past 3 weeks of Temazapam. I was doing find until I went down to 3.2 mgs.  The Valium conversion is 2 to 1. So anything about 2 mg V would be an Updose. The major issue aside is the issue of sleep and it's affect on my guts. Bloating, diarrhea, constipation, nausea, headaches, etc.

I could Updose to 3 Valium but would that really help with w/D's or just extend the follow up w/d?

 

I'm just so tired and so tired of my guts feeling like this. 6 1/2 years worth.

 

[[fl...]]

Since the T is one of the  3 active metabolites In valium would there be slightly more v needed to ease the wd from the T while converting to valium?  Flower

[[Kg...]]

Motta:  I know how you feel - I have same gut issues and seems like it has been going on forever  - wish I had some answers - you have much less to get off of then me so hopefully as you get off you will feel better.  If it were me I would add in a little more valium and then cut from there if it made me feel okay and didn't kill my gut. 

[[mo...]]

good morning Kgirl and flowergirl,

 

I upped the valium slightly to 2.5.  It helped moderately.  I have some nausea and a headache this morning but I slept a bit better.  I added Seroquel for sleep.  I will continue at 2.5 for 7-14 days and see if that stabilizes me then make a small cut in dose.

[[Kg...]]

Motta:  Glad to hear the small updose helped - hopefully it will over time make you feel better so you can go down from a stable place.  Remember Valium may take awhile to get into your system - if it were me I would not even think about cutting until I was on the dose for at least 3 to 4 weeks - what is the rush?  You want to be stable for a least a week before you shock your nervous system again by cutting. 

[[mo...]]

Hello Kgirl10,

 

Psych recommended 2 weeks before dosing down.  I am not necessarily in a rush, but at the same time, I am coming down from a relatively low dose of T (3.75-4 mg) and at some point, you have to make a move.  The longer I am on the V, the longer it will take to get off of it.

 

M

[[mo...]]

Etown,

 

I went to 2.5 v and added seroquel for sleep and it helped a bit.  I'm definitely better today than yesterday.

Is it me, or do sweets, candy, etc...trigger symptoms?  Are we unable to eat sweetz without bringing about calamity?

[[et...]]

Motta yes sugar,alcohol, msg, caffeine and some others can really screw you up

Etown

[[fl...]]

Feeling so yucky...hope distraction helps...maybe will have make appt with herbalist sooner than thought...today is7 days since last conversion, definitely not ready to cut again..maybe another couple days..I'm so confused, my face still tingling and numb..the k in the afternoon eases everything so I assume its still wd from the devil drug.NOT looking forward to cutting the afternoon k...still transferring at mgs of v for .25 of k....flower

[[mo...]]

How r u feeling flowergirl? Did you get sleep last night and have your symptoms abated somewhat? Thinking about u.

[[mo...]]

Hello everyone.

How's your taper progressing?

 

So I'm at 2.5 mg Valium and feeling a bit better. How long have u generally wait before tapering down? My situation is that I was between 3-5 mg Temazapsn for 8 months prior to the direct taper to 2.5 mg V. Could I conceivingly go down to 2 mg V within 7 days? I'm not wanting to get to caught up in the V either. Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[[Ju...]]

Hello everyone.

How's your taper progressing?

 

So I'm at 2.5 mg Valium and feeling a bit better. How long have u generally wait before tapering down? My situation is that I was between 3-5 mg Temazapsn for 8 months prior to the direct taper to 2.5 mg V. Could I conceivingly go down to 2 mg V within 7 days? I'm not wanting to get to caught up in the V either. Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

First of all, I believe it's not that you're not already caught up, (dependent), on the Valium.  Your dependency, IMO, is a benzo dependency.  So whichever benzo you replace another benzo with just continues the benzo dependency.  Some folks think that when they switch benzos, that because they have not been on the second benzo as long, means they can taper off more quickly.  It doesn't usually work this way.

 

Remember when I posted to you that Valium can take longer to taper than a short acting Benzo, I've seen this happen quite often.  If I wanted to continue dry cutting, I might do .25mg cuts to see if I could get to zero this way.  I would personally not begin my Valium taper after I had crossed over for 3-4 weeks.  This should give Valium enough time to reach a steady state.  These benzos, although some like Valium are classified as being weak, are actually very potent.  Right down to the last crumb.  I'd taper off slowly if I were in your shoes and allow my body to get adjusted to each drop, as I very slowly tapered myself off.  Good luck.

[[mo...]]

Hi Julie,

 

.25 seems safer to me.  How were you able to tell within your body when you were ready to cut the following .25?  Was it always after a 2 week period or were their times when a cut was easier? I'm Shakey and nauseous and a bit fearful for whatever reason.