Benzos Can I switch from Valium to Xanax?

[kjemiker]

Or will I have withdrawals going from long-acting to a short-acting benzo? I currently take Valium 10mg tab 3x a day. I would ideally switch to Xanax 1mg 3x a day (of which I used to be on). I've become tolerant to Valium to the point that I only take it to avoid withdrawals. I've been on it for 4 years.

I know Xanax is much more potent but it just seems like it may be just too damn short in duration to replace Valium. Klonopin is a no go because it makes me depressed. All other benzos I've been on over the past 20+ years. Valium, Xanax, Klonopin, Librium, Tranxene, Ativan, Serax, etc. I need relief, and out of all those listed, only Klonopin, Xanax and Ativan are stronger than Valium.

Thanks for any replies.

 

[negrogesic]

The xanax at 1mg TID will easily substitute for the valium 10mg TID, no risk of withdrawal.

 

[kjemiker]

The xanax at 1mg TID will easily substitute for the valium 10mg TID, no risk of withdrawal.

Are you sure I wouldn't have interdose withdrawals? I mean, 1 10mg tab of Valium could literally last all day, whereas Xanax would wear off as quickly as it came on. Like you walked through the front door and you're already in the backyard.

And there's days I like to take 30mg of Valium at once. If I did 3mg of Xanax at once, it'll hit hard sure, but it's not gonna cover my ass for the rest of the day. So there goes my recreational use out the window.

My point is, if I switch, then in 5 days that Valium is gonna leave my system and I'll be stuck with a short acting benzo whilst my body is craving it in between doses. And I'll be forced to take it 3 times a day just to space the doses out to cover for the long duration of Valium.

I'm thinking you can switch from a short acting benzo to a long acting benzo no problem. But you switch from a long acting benzo to a short acting benzo, you're asking for trouble and unnecessary withdrawal.

Does that make sense, or am I off base?

 

[n3ophy7e]

Are you sure I wouldn't have interdose withdrawals? I mean, 1 10mg tab of Valium could literally last all day, whereas Xanax would wear off as quickly as it came on. Like you walked through the front door and you're already in the backyard.

And there's days I like to take 30mg of Valium at once. If I did 3mg of Xanax at once, it'll hit hard sure, but it's not gonna cover my ass for the rest of the day. So there goes my recreational use out the window.

My point is, if I switch, then in 5 days that Valium is gonna leave my system and I'll be stuck with a short acting benzo whilst my body is craving it in between doses. And I'll be forced to take it 3 times a day just to space the doses out to cover for the long duration of Valium.

I'm thinking you can switch from a short acting benzo to a long acting benzo no problem. But you switch from a long acting benzo to a short acting benzo, you're asking for trouble and unnecessary withdrawal.

Does that make sense, or am I off base?

It does make sense that you're asking. But read what negrogesic said again. The man knows his shit You'll be fine Xanax is much more potent than Valium so please do not be tempted to take 3mg at once, not only is it completely unnecessary for your situation, it also puts you at a higher risk of building up a tolerance to the xanax much faster and that is a helluva lot harder to get clean off than valium.

 

[negrogesic]

Are you sure I wouldn't have interdose withdrawals? I mean, 1 10mg tab of Valium could literally last all day, whereas Xanax would wear off as quickly as it came on. Like you walked through the front door and you're already in the backyard.

And there's days I like to take 30mg of Valium at once. If I did 3mg of Xanax at once, it'll hit hard sure, but it's not gonna cover my ass for the rest of the day. So there goes my recreational use out the window.

My point is, if I switch, then in 5 days that Valium is gonna leave my system and I'll be stuck with a short acting benzo whilst my body is craving it in between doses. And I'll be forced to take it 3 times a day just to space the doses out to cover for the long duration of Valium.

I'm thinking you can switch from a short acting benzo to a long acting benzo no problem. But you switch from a long acting benzo to a short acting benzo, you're asking for trouble and unnecessary withdrawal.

Does that make sense, or am I off base?

The half life of alprazolam is plenty long to last all day when evenly dosed in three intervals. So the longer duration of diazepam isnt too relevant in the context of 24 hours.

You might run into a little trouble if you attempt to take your entire day's dose of xanax all at once in the same fashion as you did the diazepam. You might have mild withdrawal in the evening/morning. So yes that will be harder to get away with. I guess it's more incentive not to do that.

I'd personally rather be on the alprazolam than the diazepam. I will say though, from painful personal experience, prescription benzos should be avoided unless absolutely medically necessary. My personal opinion is that "absolutely medically necessary" constitutes 1 out of 10 prescriptions. I'm no prude, its just that benzos are pretty toxic and lose efficacy (yet continue to cause cognitive deficits).

Benzos are like paying for your anxiety with a credit card with an interest rate you can't afford. You're going to have to pay back that interest eventually (unless you never quit, in which case you'll pay for it in other ways).

In any event as to the question, yes you need to dose alprazolam more frequently than diazepam. But on the whole those fully substitute.

 

[kjemiker]

Decided to stick with Diazepam. New psychiatrist upped me to 40mg daily too . Plus if I decide to taper off benzos one day, I'm already on the right one.

Thanks for your guys' responses.