Cross-Over to Valium Support Thread

[[Ju...]]

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.

 

Well, remember I stuck with my short acting benzo.  I did not cross over to Valium.  But with my cuts, I could feel an uptick in symptoms on about the 4th or 5th day AFTER I cut.  Then it usually took from 1-3 days for the increased symptoms from the cut to settle back down again.  It was only when the symptoms settled back down that I cut again and this usually occurred by day 8, for me.

 

For the people tapering Valium that I have watched who dry cut, about the earliest they were able to cut again was on day 12 or sometimes much later.  The longer half life means the cut might not hit until much later than when I felt my cut and also stabilization, (feeling better but not perfect), might take longer too.

 

You just have to listen to your body and it will guide you off.  I used my hit and stabilization pattern to guide me.

[[mo...]]

Thank u Julie

[[fl...]]

Motta, I'm still waiting for this back ache to abate before I convert the afternoon dose of k..I second guess myself all the time but who knows.

 

Juliea, i hope you got my message..sorry if I caused any confusion..

 

I sure hope this swapping for 4mgs of v is going to work.I see the Pdoc Wed..she thinks this is all I need...I might have to beg...I hate to beg....Seeing an Herbalist this week also..many questions to ask..Taking the 4mgs of v in the morning doesnt make me feel any better for sure...I'm still taking .25 of k at 2pm...other than that I'm on all v.....should I feel bettter or is the k still kicking my butt? Any opinion?

[[et...]]

Flower - as the addiction guy told me. "Clonazepam (Klonopin) is very irritating to the brain". This holds true for short acting Benzos too. IMO until you get switched over to 100% Valium it will be tough. Your brain is probably wondering what the heck is going on with the combination of K and V.

etown

[[fl...]]

My post about the phenibut being an ingredient in klonopin was incorrect..It is an amino acid in the k that I confused with the phenibut...please use phenibut with caution or at least read up on it before you do use it and thank you Juliea for paying attention and I stand corrected....flower

[[fl...]]

This switching to v is definitely NOT a breeze....felt a little improvement yesterday...I hope it wasnt my imagination, I have a big one anymore......had to sit through a disaster meeting, taking lots of notes, I cant remember anything ..flower

[[ca...]]

Hi

I really need advice here. Tappered from 2.5 K over the last two years to 0.5. interdose withdrawal but nothing horrible. Still though it may be a good idea to c/o to valium for the last part of the journey. Decided to ldo it in four parts- each one a 1.25 k to be substituted by 2.5 Valium. I did that four days ago and I feel really bad. The worst I have felt during this tapper. bad anxiety, back pain general very bad feeling. mainly very anxious. I know K. and valium work on different parts of your brain and that may be the reason. I wondered if anyone else has experienced something like that dsuring the first days of the C/o and if it passed. I tend to go back to the K and give up the c/o at least for now, but am obviously not sure- I read to many people writing how valium helped them.

I would really appreciate a reply as I need to make a decision. should I try and hold for a few more days with the valium- or go back to the K and maybe try again if I get stuck with the K.

I know you cant make this decision for me but any insight would really help

THanks!

[[Ju...]]

Decided to ldo it in four parts- each one a 1.25 k to be substituted by 2.5 Valium.

 

You did it again, carem. 

 

It should be .125 k to be substituted with 2.5 Valium.  I know you're crossing over this way and just wanted to correct your typo for the other buddies. 

[[et...]]

carem - I personally think the c/o to Valium is the way to go. Ashton suggested c/o to Valium and since she is the smartest Benzo person alive it is good enough for me. There does seem to be the odd person that doesn't take well to Valium but I really think if you hang in there with it, it will work out good for you.

What c/o schedule are you using?

etown

[[mo...]]

Hello,

 

I am tapering down from 2.5 mg Valium and am doing part pill - 2 mg and part liquid using a syringe - ..25.  My question is: I have had some gastro problems for the past 6 1/2 years (they call it "IBS" - I don't) and am wondering if anyone has had similar issues and what their experience using liquid valium did in terms of side effects in that area?

[Guest [Mo...]]

Hello,

 

I am tapering down from 2.5 mg Valium and am doing part pill - 2 mg and part liquid using a syringe - ..25.  My question is: I have had some gastro problems for the past 6 1/2 years (they call it "IBS" - I don't) and am wondering if anyone has had similar issues and what their experience using liquid valium did in terms of side effects in that area?

 

Hi M,

Are you using the Roxanne liquid ( Pharma ), titrate your own, or a compound solution?

I think the Roxanne has all sorts of shitty fillers in it. My tummy didn't like,it much and I switched to compounded solution.

I think it's normal for most to experience a bit if discomfort hen going to,liquid at first.

It didn't affect my IBS but I had some nausea on it at first.

 

 

[[or...]]

motta I couldn't tolerate liquid v from the pharmacy (I threw it up) so I made my own using a small amount of vodka to dissolve the tablet. I made a 1:1 solution. See my sig. Worked fine. I have a very sensitive gut (this w/d has played he** with my gut) but the vodka mixture (I only use 1 ml of vodka) didn't bother me at all.

 

Maybe this will help.

 

Okatz

[[Mr...]]

hey guys, I posted this somewhere else but thought here might be a good place to ask too. When I first started on .5mg clonazepam two months ago my breathing became very slow and too deep making me feel breathless and like I wasn't breathing often. It's improved now but next week I might be switching to 10mg of valium and I am so scared my breathing will become too slow and deep again. Can anyone offer any experience, reassurance or advice? xxx

 

 

[[et...]]

hey guys, I posted this somewhere else but thought here might be a good place to ask too. When I first started on .5mg clonazepam two months ago my breathing became very slow and too deep making me feel breathless and like I wasn't breathing often. It's improved now but next week I might be switching to 10mg of valium and I am so scared my breathing will become too slow and deep again. Can anyone offer any experience, reassurance or advice? xxx

Journey...Benzos can slow down our respiratory centers because of their ability to slow everything down. It is totally unclear if Valium will do the same but do know it can. This is a symptom that will eventually leave like all other symptoms.

etown

[[pe...]]

I am one year into taking lorazepam and I have had serious oral pain for 10 months- gum recession pain and facial and teeth pain... as well host of other problems

I cant seem to get stable.....but the pain seems  to be causeed by the sxs or interdose withdrawals even though I am dosing 4 times a day. My head feels like its in a vice most nights from tmj as well.

 

My hope of crossing to valium would be that these symptoms would abate. My fear is that i would end up with the same symptoms as i did when i went to liquid ativan which were suicidal feelings, depersonlisation ...looping/obsessional intrusive horrendous thoughts etc

[[ca...]]

Wanted to jump in this thread as not sure what i am doing is really right ? Any feed back or opinions would be more then welcome ~CD

[Guest [...]]

I am one year into taking lorazepam and I have had serious oral pain for 10 months- gum recession pain and facial and teeth pain... as well host of other problems

I cant seem to get stable.....but the pain seems  to be causeed by the sxs or interdose withdrawals even though I am dosing 4 times a day. My head feels like its in a vice most nights from tmj as well.

 

My hope of crossing to valium would be that these symptoms would abate. My fear is that i would end up with the same symptoms as i did when i went to liquid ativan which were suicidal feelings, depersonlisation ...looping/obsessional intrusive horrendous thoughts etc

 

Hey Pete,

 

I was in a similar place. Suffering horrible interdose withdrawal on Ativan and I also dosed four times a day.. It's such a short acting benzo. I thought I would lose it, at times, just could not go on!

If you're experiencing inter dose withdrawal, there will be not a lot of change to get stable, I'm afraid.... Unless you updose, which is SO not what you want to do!

 

I've had such pain in my mouth that I had a bunch of root canals done that I didn't even need in hindsight. I had a mouth guard made for the night which has greatly relieved me of pain.

You know, when you're withdrawal from benzo's ( muscle relaxant, too) you might start clenching and grinding your teeth and suffer bad pain from it.

My neck and jaw always hurt back then.

 

I crossed over to Valium and it was the best decision I could have made.

Just returned from a two month trip overseas , from being bedridden for months on Ativan.

 

Got to admit that Valium isn't a happy drug but once I got stable on that and lower in dose, the depression lifted.

It did make me feel disconnected at first. Kind of like a zombie. But then the sun came through here and there by hours and now I rarely get bad depression anymore but still a bit of a numb feeling left.

 

Liquid Ativan is just that : Ativan. It's not the same as Valium. And Valium comes in 10, 5 and 2 mgr pills.

You can dry cut them if you don't want to do liquid.

I switched to liquid because my math is horrendous and I don't regret it.

I only use liquid Valium for the position I'm tapering .

So if my dose would be 2,5 mgr Valium, I take 2 mgr tablet and 0.5 mgr in liquid. And reduce the liquid.

 

Hope this helps....

 

Ps. I have taken a break for a while and changed my name due to having deleted my account during the break. I was Mom of One before and started this thread.

If you'd like to know more about the method I used, you can read back on the first few pages on this thread.

[[To...]]

Hey,

 

I c/o to Valium on 11.3.2015 from 52,5mg of oxazepam. I was taking oxazepam 11,25mg in the morning, same in the afternoon and then for the night 30 mg. Ashton's manual this daily dose would be equivalent to 26.25mg of V. But my doc calculated it to be approx. 17,5mg with +/- 25% margin. So, I've been now taking 12,5mg of V in the night and 5mg in the afternoon (12h interval). So far seems to be okay, I do feel perhaps slight withdrawal but it's much much more manageable than in the withdrawal between oxazepam doses.

 

I guess this straight jump is the okay? I didn't replace any oxazepam with V first like in the Ashton manual nor did my doc suggest that. I wouldn't want to take more V now so I guess I can let my body adjust to this V dose and the slowly continue from that?

[Guest [...]]

Hey,

 

I c/o to Valium on 11.3.2015 from 52,5mg of oxazepam. I was taking oxazepam 11,25mg in the morning, same in the afternoon and then for the night 30 mg. Ashton's manual this daily dose would be equivalent to 26.25mg of V. But my doc calculated it to be approx. 17,5mg with +/- 25% margin. So, I've been now taking 12,5mg of V in the night and 5mg in the afternoon (12h interval). So far seems to be okay, I do feel perhaps slight withdrawal but it's much much more manageable than in the withdrawal between oxazepam doses.

 

I guess this straight jump is the okay? I didn't replace any oxazepam with V first like in the Ashton manual nor did my doc suggest that. I wouldn't want to take more V now so I guess I can let my body adjust to this V dose and the slowly continue from that?

 

Hi,

 

Well , I know that Valium takes a while to build up in the liver, approximately 4 weeks or so , it seems for most people, to be enough to cover the withdrawal symptoms from the original benzo.

Of you're feeling relatively okay now, maybe this works for you, I have to say that I know nothing about oxazepam. Is it a short acting benzo? What's the half life ?

Guessing short acting by the mention of interdose withdrawal?

 

Many doctors don't know or don't want to hear about the crossing over, so that's a good thing that yours is supportive.

 

Maybe it's a good idea for you to post this question on the Valium/ diazepam support group thread to reach more people?

Here is the link to it. Many there have crossed over to Valium.

 

Valium / diazepam support group

 

Hope that helps.. Sorry I don't know more about your original benzo...

 

 

[[To...]]

Thank you for your reply

 

Oxazepam has relatively short elimination time, from 3 to 21 hours. And it is water soluble so it's peak level in plasma occurs from 1 to 4 hours. Quite commonly prescribed in my home country. It's one of the active metabolites of diazepam.

In my case I did notice that the effect of oxazepam began around 1h 20min after taking it and withdrawals started around 6-7h post dose. So, not very easy one to withdraw from at all.

 

I'll post my previous post to the other group as well.

[[Ca...]]

Hello to all,

 

I'm starting a Valium crossover tonight and I'm scared. I was on Xanax as sleep aid, original dose was 1 mg at bedtime and .5 mg at 3 am (I was waking up and needing more to go back to sleep).  I tapered my second dose down to .34 mg, but the interdose withdrawals got so bad during the day that i needed to add in 2 mg Valium at 9 am and 2 mg valium at 5 pm. It has helped a lot, and got me thinking a crossover would be ideal. My doctor is on board

 

Tonight I'm taking .25 mg of my first dose and making it 5 mg Valium. I'm so scared. I'm scared of being overly sedated and I'm scared of the xanax withdrawal. I'm really med sensitive and the biggest cut I've ever made of the xanax was .125 mg and it was hell. I know I'm replacing this .25 mg with valium, but I'm still so very scared as it takes time for valium to build up.

 

I would love words of support from experienced people who have crossed over.

[[or...]]

Candice, I crossed over from Ativan to valium and it worked out well. I was a little sedated at first but nothing really bad. I just felt tired for a week or so. I could work, drive, function though. And then the tiredness went away and I felt nothing.

 

Just a word of caution: be SURE you are crossing over to the right amount of valium. Ashton gives Xanax and valium a 1:20 ratio. You can do the math. If you don't c/o to the correct amount of valium you will most likely feel w/ds from the decreased Xanax, and that will not be pleasant. You seem to have this well in hand though.

 

I think you will do fine. You seem to be very sensible about this. It's normal to be scared -- you're doing something new. But I believe your c/o will go well. Think positive!

 

Okatz

[[ca...]]

Hello to all,

 

I'm starting a Valium crossover tonight and I'm scared. I was on Xanax as sleep aid, original dose was 1 mg at bedtime and .5 mg at 3 am (I was waking up and needing more to go back to sleep).  I tapered my second dose down to .34 mg, but the interdose withdrawals got so bad during the day that i needed to add in 2 mg Valium at 9 am and 2 mg valium at 5 pm. It has helped a lot, and got me thinking a crossover would be ideal. My doctor is on board

 

Tonight I'm taking .25 mg of my first dose and making it 5 mg Valium. I'm so scared. I'm scared of being overly sedated and I'm scared of the xanax withdrawal. I'm really med sensitive and the biggest cut I've ever made of the xanax was .125 mg and it was hell. I know I'm replacing this .25 mg with valium, but I'm still so very scared as it takes time for valium to build up.

 

I would love words of support from experienced people who have crossed over.

Candice, take a look at my dosage and don`t be scared of over sedation if you do get it it should ease up in a bit just don`t drive or such till you know how you react. Yes the Valium will help the Xanax withrawls so go slow as i went a little to fast per Doctors idea and was not nice but still able to be functional ! Feel better ~CD

[[Ca...]]

Thanks for the encouraging words. I've got two kids to take care of so being overly sedated isn't an option. My husband is going to be home for the next 5 days so im praying that by then I will know how the first step in the crossover is affecting me. 

 

I have noticed that I've been feeling more emotionally numb and even depressed at times since starting the valium during the day. Does that go away with time?  I'm worried that will get worse once I start adding more valium for my cross over.  Although I have to admit that I'll take that over the torture of Xanax interdose withdrawals any day.

 

My sleep has been horrible. Despite being exhausted, I fall asleep and am awake in an hour, and continue waking up every hour or two until about 3 am and then I can't fall back to sleep at all. Do you think the valium crossover will help with sleep?

 

[[ca...]]

Thanks for the encouraging words. I've got two kids to take care of so being overly sedated isn't an option. My husband is going to be home for the next 5 days so im praying that by then I will know how the first step in the crossover is affecting me. 

 

I have noticed that I've been feeling more emotionally numb and even depressed at times since starting the valium during the day. Does that go away with time?  I'm worried that will get worse once I start adding more valium for my cross over.  Although I have to admit that I'll take that over the torture of Xanax interdose withdrawals any day.

 

My sleep has been horrible. Despite being exhausted, I fall asleep and am awake in an hour, and continue waking up every hour or two until about 3 am and then I can't fall back to sleep at all. Do you think the valium crossover will help with sleep?

 

Cadice, i found that i slept better on Klonpin then Valium but being that Xanax is so short acting IMO Valium might help your sleep situation !~CD