mmaryland Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 So I am currently following the Ashton manual taper schedule for getting off 4mg alprazolam a day and am between stage 5 and 6. I am on 1.5mg Xanax a day and 40mg Valium a day. Anyone else thing this is a high dosage of diazepam? Despite taking 40mg at once, I still don't feel much of any effects, no sedation or memory impairment, no memory loss or blackouts, no ataxia and no 'feeling high'. Is this abnormal for being on such a high dose of diazepam? The pharmacist literally was so hesitant to fill my monthly prescription for diazepam because it was for #120 tablets and said they've never seen someone prescribed such high dosage of diazepam. Pharmacist wanted to call my doctor first, but ended up filling it anyway after I showed her the Ashton taper schedule I was following. All the pharmacist asked was for me not to take it all at once, but my doctor said it was fine to take all 40mg at bedtime so that's what I do. Anyone else have experience using Valium to help taper off Xanax or other short acting benzodiazepines? It has been going surprisingly smooth so far, and I'm thankful I have a psychiatrist who is willing to allow me to take it at my own pace, giving me an extra week at the same dosage before decreasing the alprazolam. I am excited to get off Xanax but at the same time sad because of how much it helped. But I guess it's for the better because I wasn't using it as prescribed anyway. Would love to hear from anyone who has tapered off xanax, using a taper schedule or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notloki Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 It is very hard to calculate the equivalent dose of Valium to Xanax as they have very different properties. Valium metabolizes to Restoril, a hypnotic while Xanax is considered the least sedating benzo. Valium is a strong anticonvulsant, Xanax less so. I've converted 2 mg Klonopin to 40 mg Valium and was very sedated. I went right back to Klonopin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquarian Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 My pdoc used valium to get me off of xanax, but it was at least 10 years ago. I don't remember much except it was uncomfortable. On par with quitting smoking as far as things I only want to go through once. Just not pleasant and a lot of night sweats. Plus, add panic disorder into the mix. From what I can remember, I don't think I was ever prescribed anywhere near 40mg/day of valium. Don't remember how much xanax I was taking at the time my pdoc said it was time to switch to valium. Have an old xanax bottle that says .5mg 3x/day but who knows if I was taking that or less than that at the time I switched to valium. Anyways, probably haven't been much help. Good luck with your taper. I was on xanax for a couple of years or so and actually the switch to valium worked out pretty well and gave me better anxiety coverage throughout the day. I never did finish tapering off. I stayed on somewhere around 1mg valium twice a day for years. Then, for various reasons, I stopped valium entirely for about a 2 year period. Then went back onto my tiny dose of 1mg at night (I split a 2mg pill). I doubt it does much of anything at this dose but my pdoc keeps prescribing it and I keep taking it. And a few times a year it comes in handy for panic attacks. I crush a pill under my tongue and it seems to help eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceberg Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 Been on 40mg a day of Valium twice Once with low dose Ativan (for akathisia) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmaryland Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share Posted March 8, 2018 @notloki I am surprised that 40mg Valium is only equivalent to 2mg Klonopin, I would think maybe like 3mg or 4mg, but conversion comparable dosage is pretty complicated. Some days I only take 10mg or 20mg of Valium because I am having literally no withdrawal symptoms. I even skip Xanax sometimes and it's still going smoothly. I just reduced my Xanax dosage to 0.5mg 3 times daily, but psychiatrist said I could take 2 in the morning and 1 at night if I want. I am extremely glad my dr. is letting me go slow and making sure I feel comfortable during the taper process. @Iceberg How did the Valium 40mg affect you? I know for me it doesn't really do anything in terms of effects, but I know it is definitely preventing me from having seizures. And if I take it with my stimulants it does negate the effects so I have been taking all 4 at night, which my dr. said was ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceberg Posted March 9, 2018 Share Posted March 9, 2018 Didn't really work too well if I took 10x4 but helped sleep if I took 10-10-20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmaryland Posted March 11, 2018 Author Share Posted March 11, 2018 @Iceberg so your saying that taking 10mg, then 10mg more like an hour later, then 20mg after that it helped? Im not too sure I understand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceberg Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 Nooo. 10 mg am, 10 mg 6 -8 hours later and then 20 mg a little before bed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmaryland Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 @Iceberg Oh I see. I just don't understand how this would be more effective than taking 40mg all at once, but everyone's body chemistry is different. I never found Valium to be sedating, unless I took upwards of 100-200mg. Halcion, IMO, is a much better sedative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceberg Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Halcion is my hero. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtac Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Halcion worked for my insomnia, but man did it cause some rebound insomnia when I stopped it. I found 40mg of Valium to be sedating, but anything less didn't feel like much of anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmaryland Posted April 1, 2018 Author Share Posted April 1, 2018 On 3/12/2018 at 3:24 PM, dtac said: Halcion worked for my insomnia, but man did it cause some rebound insomnia when I stopped it. I found 40mg of Valium to be sedating, but anything less didn't feel like much of anything. Halcion is my hero too, knocks me right out with no hangover. I take it maybe 3 times a week and I've never really had rebound insomnia. As for the Valium, 40mg doesn't even sedate me the slightest, it takes at least 150mg-200mg of Valium to feel sedated, which is not normal... As far as my taper process is going, I begged for an increase of Xanax today to 1.5mg but she insisted we're not going up, our goal is to go down. I just wanted an instant release 1mg Xanax for panic situations. Anyhow, I walked out with scripts for 7 tablets of 1mg Xanax XR and 120 tablets of 10mg Valium. Next week I am going to ask again if I can stay on the 1mg Xanax XR, 40mg Valium, and then get a script for just like two or three 1mg Xanax for panic attacks, because the 0.5mg tablets are a joke. I don't know how anyone gets relief from a freaking 0.25mg Xanax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtac Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 On 4/1/2018 at 3:59 AM, mmaryland said: Next week I am going to ask again if I can stay on the 1mg Xanax XR, 40mg Valium, and then get a script for just like two or three 1mg Xanax for panic attacks, because the 0.5mg tablets are a joke. I don't know how anyone gets relief from a freaking 0.25mg Xanax. I get some relief from 0.5mg but only because I'm on Klonopin 1-2mg QHS. The long half-life carries over and gives me some relief into the daytime for anxiety. Although on a day like today when things are bad, 0.5mg is a joke.. now 0.25mg I don't understand. I get nada from that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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