med switch

[ddr13]

ban i take 10 kg's of  valium and it take over for 2mh's of ativan??? My Doc said yes, but other's said no. I am on ativan 2mg's 3 x a day and he put me on Valium 4x a day.

[ddr13]

yes, the doctor told me to go from 2 mh's of Ativan and  take to 10 mg's of Valium.The Aruvan is 3 times a day and the valinm is 4. It won't work accorgin to the Ashton manual.. It would take 20 kg's.. So i haven't switched. I was told  kolonopin is hard to get off of.. I joined a Benzo group on facebook and a lot of people are going through tapeing or crossover and said Klonopin is rough,

[nursegirl6572]

You posted a duplicate thread....
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Anxiety/what-is-the-best-way-to-switch-from-mgs-of-Ativan-to-10-mgs-of-valium-I--/show/1692961

I replied on the other one.  Keep your replies to one thread to lessen confusion.  This thread would be good to keep active.

[JamesC186282]

I forgot to mention that 2mg of valium  is (around) equal to 1/2mg of ativan.  Or so I was told.  Drugs are all different in dose and range so don't worry that your being put on a smaller dose.  Your doctor knows which is which and how much.  Do talk about tapering off.  My neighbor was on Valium for like (forever) and she tried to just stop totally.  She had major withdrawl symptoms.  *btw she tapered off and it fine now.

[JamesC186282]

I'm totally no expert but I was put on buspar and diazapam (As needed) and thats worked for me.  I was offered Ativan first but that one has a bit of stigma connected (Unrelated weirdness)  My doc said the only difference between the two was Diazapan is slightly more addictive.  

I still use the valium as needed but weeks can go by now.  Probably the buspar is working...

[RubyWitch]

I will go ahead and assume that you don't actually mean "10KGs" of diazepam, since that would work out to roughly 22 POUNDS. If you took that much, you wouldn't have to worry about anything ever again. I'm afraid to ask how much an "mh" is!

Kidding aside, both lorazepam and diazepam need to be tapered off of slowly if you've been on them longer than 4 months. I don't believe you can just do a straight cross-over from one to the other. You can probably do a "step out/step in" method, but you must discuss this with your doctor as all medications are not equal pharmaceutically, meaning that 2mg of diazepam may not be equal to 2mg of lorazepam.

Ativan is considered a more potent benzo than valium, which is rarely prescribed in the US anymore for anxiety. It's main use is now for side effects of alcohol withdrawal, and as a smooth muscle relaxant.

The answer to your question is "yes," diazepam CAN be used in place of lorazepam. How well this switch works for you, only time will tell. Do keep in mind that both these medications are meant for short term use. (<4 months) If your anxiety is not under control by then, you should discuss going onto a long term benzo such as Klonopin. That, combined with therapy, could help get to the root cause of your anxiety and deal with it.

Medication will help with the horrible physical effects of anxiety, but they will NEVER cure it.
Peace
Greenlydia