Cross-Over to Valium Support Thread

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Does anyone moderate or post on this board still? Anyone interested in supporting a v cross over from k? Is there a different board with more activity?

Anyone else recently crossed over from k?

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I’d just read every post on this thread. Has over 141 pages, take your time and you’ll find good info in these pages, best of luck. also look at the ashton manual for conversion rates and you’ll be fine

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Hello!  I crossed over from 1mg Klonopin to 20mgs Valium--it's been a little over forty days and I am still having TERRIBLE air hunger 24/7.  Just before my c/o I had a brief cold turkey episode that only lasted a night but thankfully I still had pills. That is when my breathing problems started.  They eased up slightly when I was back up to 1mg, then as I crossed over to Valium and completely got off Klonopin. The breathing problems never went away!  Do I increase the Valium slightly? (Reg Peart suggests this in difficult cross overs) should I go back to Klonopin? (REALLY do not want to) or should I wait it out and let the effect Klonopin had on my system heal with time?  Will it heal even though I'm on a full dose of Valium?  Or will my brain incorrectly think that it has enough GABA already?  Or in other words could I not "heal" from the cold turkey symptoms because I'm still on Valium now?  The breathing issue is intolerable and to begin such a long process of tapering like this is nearly impossible.  To be ready to start a year long (at least) taper, I must feel strong at the start!  What do I do?  Anyone else have an issue from K to V?  How long did it last?

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ten I'm going to answer your post as I had a terrible cross from Ativan to Valium and experienced rotten s/x during and after the cross. So our situations were similar. And just before being  put on Ativan, I did a CT  of xanax. So  my brain, like yours, was terribly confused.

 

I think you said in another post that you crossed pretty quickly (9 days?). That might be the root of this problem. In a cross, you gradually remove the old drug and replace it with the new one, giving your brain time to adjust. It's not a perfect process and your brain will object, but the gradual part of this is to not upset your brain too much as it "misses" its old drug and tries to accommodate the new one. Of course you are going to feel s/x, but if you go slowly enough they won't be debilitating. Well, you can't undo that, and I'm not a fan of go-back-and-do-it-overs, so let's talk about what to do now.

 

You say "air hunger" is your primary distressing s/x. I've never personally experienced it so can't talk about it -- why it occurs, how long it might last. But it certainly sounds distressing. And others buddies experience it, too. And I can understand your panic about wanting this to go away so you can start a taper. But realistically, it might not for awhile. (Have you checked this out with your doc? I'd sure hate for you to miss something that might not be a crossover s/x at all). As well, I'm certain it is made worse by your anxiety about it. My very worst s/x that was made worse during my cross was my blood pressure, which skyrocketed to the point where I needed a lot of beta blocker. And the rotten b/p was made worse by my panic about the whole thing. So, maybe something similar is going on with you?

 

I think you simply (ha) try to chill about this and let your brain "catch up" with the effects of the new drug -- valium. Yes, it does take awhile to build up. I think that's what's going on with you -- a too-rapid cross and a new drug in your system. And everyone's different. I'm, ahem, older, and it took the valium a darned long time to build up in my system to the point where I felt well enough to start a taper -- well over 40 days.

 

And your CT wasn't long enough to be bothering you, I think.

 

As miserable as your situation is, then, maybe you're just gong to have to ride this out. Adding more valium? Maybe. But how much? And you're going to have to taper that, too. The valium you crossed to (20 mgs)certainly covers the 1 mg of klonopin. imo, and I'm not a doctor, you don't need more valium. (But I do understand the urge to take more pills, add more something ANYTHING in order to feel better).

 

I don't know if this has helped you, ten, but as I see things you just have to wait for this distressing s/x to resolve itself. and I believe it will. I sure wouldn't even think about starting a taper until you feel better. And when you do, I'd go very slowly. Forget about putting a timeline on your taper. Evidently you're sensitive to these drugs -- heck, we all are or we wouldn't be here. And I wouldn't go back to klonopin.

 

Anyhow, I believe you'll feel better but it's going to be slow. For me, distracting myself from the awful s/x was key . . . and trying to accept them, knowing that they will improve.

 

Best to you, ten, and have faith. Things are going to get better!

 

 

Katz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thank you so much unfortunately I did already srart tapering a little but it is definitely not comfortable at all and I'm a surely miserable and still can't breathe right or function.  When you say well over 40 days, how long would you say it took before you were ready to taper??  And how long did you take to do the actual crossover itself?

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As I recall, it took me 12 weeks to fully cross over. I just followed Ashton's schedule. As for how long I stayed put before I started my taper, well, it was more than a month and less than two. So maybe a month and a half? I just waited until I didn't feel any more of the loony wds from Ativan that the valium was trying to compensate for. I wanted to feel as well as I could before I started my taper.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Katz

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Katz

 

When you moved over to Valium, how often did you dose?

 

I haven’t finished my cross and things are really bad these last two weeks

 

I did my gene testing, turns out I’m a rapid metabolizer for Valium with both of the genes, but I can’t taper Ativan and don’t want to go to Clonazepam etc

 

I’ve heard of people dosing valium 4 times per day?

 

Just curious how you did.

 

The time change here on the east side screwed me over this weekend.

 

Thanks.

Winnie