Greetings:I have been prescribed (and taking) Xanax for 4 years and Clonazepam for the 6 years prior to that. Thus, I have been taking Benzo's for around 10 years. My wife is a physician (critical care/pulmonary) and I have always gotten my medication from my psychiatrist. However, over the years I have "worked" my way up to a dose of 14mg of Xanax per day. Currently, I am slowly tapering down and am down to 11mg per day. This might seem like a lot but I have established a very good tapering schedule (going down 0.5 a week and have had only very minor side-effects...diarrhea being the only one as I have had no "night sweats," no trembling, no nausea, no chills, or other common side withdrawal symptoms). I am also taking 200mg's of Zoloft and 150mg's of Seroquel of which I am tapering, also.My wife gives my medication to me (I don't have it and don't know where it is) and I have a wonderful support group and new counselor to assist me with depression and anxiety which I have had as long as I can remember.My goal: To get off of all Benzo's and, though it might take a year, I am absolutely determined to succeed and have no desire (nor ever did) of "getting high" by taking this class of medications.My question: I am making a transition from Xanax to Clonazepam (a little longer lasting) and want to move to Valium and wonder when I should begin that transition to Valium? Also, is this what most psychiatrists/M.D's recommend due to the much longer half-life of Valium? Finally, since my tapering has been going well and I have a physician as a wife and a good counselor, I am doing this out-patient. It is only a matter of knowing precisely how psychiatrists determine the dosage of Valium to initially transition to, when one is on (8mg's of Clonazepam per day and 3mg's of Alprazolam)?I take 1mg of xanax around 6:30am along with 2mg of Clonazepam (=3mg), same dose at exactly
Timothy Harris: 11:30am, same dose at 3:30pm and then 2mg of just Clonazepam at 7:00p.m. This is exactly the dosage and time I have been taking since I began tapering three weeks ago.I realize that people are different and this cannot substitute for an "in-person" evaluation from a psychiatrist (I am not going back to the one that had me taking such a large dose....that is another story....now, I just want to discuss my tapering schedule and physiological response).I feel good on the aforementioned dose but, in theory (and only out-patient as I am being supervised closely by my wife...remember, is an M.D.) and psychologist, without considering in-patient detox, what would be a smart dosage schedule for a person taking 8mg of Clonazepam and 3mg of Xanax per day, to Valium for, say, the next several weeks?I have seen conflicting messages and wanted to see what tapering schedule you would prescribe? I would not change without advice from my own doctor but I am curious as to what tapering schedule (the quickest way to get switched to Valium...which I know will take several weeks or more) other psychiatrists advise?Again, what dosage schedule would you advise for a person on the Clonazepam (8mg/day) and Xanax (3mg per day) to transition to Valium for week 1, 2, and 3. And at what rate would you advise lowering per week? 0.5 or 1mg? I do well tapering with 0.5 but I have never taken Valium. Once on "Valium-only" what would YOU recommend as a weekly or bi-weekly taper from Valium?Again, this is in theory and I would appreciate your opinion regarding a dosage schedule and understand that it does not substitute my own physician's close supervision. Just want to know the dosage schedule you would advise.Thank you.T.H.P.S. If a person were to begin transitioning to Valium, say, on Wednesday (11/17), what would the prescription be, if you were the physician?