I thought I'd share my experience in hope that it might help someone out. I've been trying to get off Etizolam for several months now. I've been using it regularly for about 10 or 11 months and everyday for about 8 months. I was using it daily at doses ranging from 3-10+ mg a day. On average, however, I was probably doing 5-6 mg a day. I haven't allowed myself to get into full blown withdrawal, however, I could definitely feel the rebound anxiety coming when I went awhile without a dose.
I proceeded to start a Valium taper, and it has helped immensely. In a matter of weeks I've been able to stabilize at 5 mg of Valium a day. The quickness with which I was able to get to 5 mg of Valium almost caused me to question the 1 mg to 10 mg equivalency I commonly see. I was genuinely surprised at how easy it was for me to get to 5 mg. There was mild rebound anxiety at times but nothing too bad.
I've also been taking Gabapentin and drinking Kava everyday, and those have helped immensely with anxiety. I know people have complained about Gabapentin withdrawals before, however, I've been on extremely large doses of Gabapentin in the past, and going off of it was not a problem at all. I also have Phenibut which I use for times I know will provoke extreme anxiety, but I only allow myself to use it 3 days a week and never more than 2g in a day. Phenibut at those levels has never caused me dependance or withdrawal issues, and I've used Phenibut on and off for years. I plan on cutting my valium dose tomorrow to 3.75 mg, and hopefully that won't be too bad.