Benzos Switching from Valium to lyrica

[Spadez87]

I'm stable at 7.5mg of Valium and can't seem to finish the taper.

I have 21days of lyrica at 150mgs per day. Does anyone know how much lyrica I should take so I can just stop taking my Valium. Been taking benzos 9 years and tapered/cold turkeyd 4 times. I just want off benzos and to stop coming back to them.

I'm thinking I'll use lyrica as maintaince kinda like when you use methadone to get off opiates.

Thoughts?

 

[MartinFn]

Hey Spadez, as you know, lyrica isn't a benzo, so there isn't a standard quantity that you can take to replace the vals..You got to find the right amount that makes you feel good and ease (or maybe disappear) the W/D's symptoms. Well, 7.5mg of valium isn't a lot, so i guess that the best you could do is start with a relatively small amount of lyrica, and work it from there...

When you say you have 21 days of lyrica at 150mgs per day, you mean that for the last 21 days, along with the 7.5mgs vals, you've been takin 150mg lyrica too?
And there's a thing i want to remind you, cause as you say you wanna use lyrica for maintance, don't forget that lyrica is also addictive, at least for the most people, and has difficult W/Ds..
Use it to get off the benzos, but don't stay on it for a long time, when you're ready taper it and that's it..Except of course if you have anxiety or depression issues, and you need smth, not for getting "high", but just to be normal and functional..

So in that case, i think being on lyrica is better than on valium, for harm reduction sake's, (i'm not a doctor, just my opinion..). And as less you take, the better..(IMO, again). I think you should take a look, The Lyrica (Pregabalin) Mega Thread v2.0, (maybe it helps..), i hope you'll be OK, my friend...

Happy new year for everyone. LOVE everywhere, that's all we need...Oh yeah, and drugs too, WTF, how did i forget it???**8)...
And peace, good health, and so many things, but all included in LOVE my friends, only raw, true Love can save us^%).





MartinFn

 

[MagickalKat777]

Spadez, Lyrica is just as addictive as benzos are if you ask me.

There is no standardized dose for benzo crossover purposes that I'm aware of. Just ramp up until your W/D side effects start to diminish until you're comfortable.

I am considering going on gabapentin for this purpose... Because I, too, am at 7.5mg and I am in utter hell right now.

It seems like 7.5mg is where things seem to get really rough. Crampz is at 7.5mg now too and has been up and down like me.

One thing though... Lyrica works for benzo tapers - but not the other way around. When you decide to come off of the Lyrica, chances are good that you won't have another option to switch to besides potentially baclofen (yuck) or gabapentin, both of which don't help the situation.

Have you considered switching to a liquid titration? If you do a liquid titration, you can taper by a miniscule amount daily instead of making these large dose cuts that we currently do. If you get a 100mL graduated cylinder, you could split a single pill into 100 dosage steps... So you would pour 1mL out the first day, second day 2mL, third 3mL, etc. With a liquid titration you also use the whole pill and just toss the liquid that you don't use so you avoid inconsistencies in pill splitting like when you cut off a half and 75% of the dose is in the other half of the pill. I'd try titration before anything else.

Here's a great resource on how to do it with milk (since diazepam isn't water soluble): http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=97511.0

 

[Spadez87]

Spadez, Lyrica is just as addictive as benzos are if you ask me.

There is no standardized dose for benzo crossover purposes that I'm aware of. Just ramp up until your W/D side effects start to diminish until you're comfortable.

I am considering going on gabapentin for this purpose... Because I, too, am at 7.5mg and I am in utter hell right now.

It seems like 7.5mg is where things seem to get really rough. Crampz is at 7.5mg now too and has been up and down like me.

One thing though... Lyrica works for benzo tapers - but not the other way around. When you decide to come off of the Lyrica, chances are good that you won't have another option to switch to besides potentially baclofen (yuck) or gabapentin, both of which don't help the situation.

Have you considered switching to a liquid titration? If you do a liquid titration, you can taper by a miniscule amount daily instead of making these large dose cuts that we currently do. If you get a 100mL graduated cylinder, you could split a single pill into 100 dosage steps... So you would pour 1mL out the first day, second day 2mL, third 3mL, etc. With a liquid titration you also use the whole pill and just toss the liquid that you don't use so you avoid inconsistencies in pill splitting like when you cut off a half and 75% of the dose is in the other half of the pill. I'd try titration before anything else.

Here's a great resource on how to do it with milk (since diazepam isn't water soluble): http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=97511.0

im back up to 10mg because of anxitey/panic/stress/biploar issues actually. yeah ill debate using the lyrica.. even if it will be something i have to come off of to. Psychologically it is just easier then having to due the valium bs.

i willl look into the liquid titration thought. sounds interesting.

Marting actually I am just taking 10 mgs valium and have not started or tried the lyrica for the reason of getting off the benzos (for the 5th and final time) i have laying around still.

 

[hydrochron]

I tapered off valium a few years ago just using valium. When I got below 10mg's I cut out 1.25mg's (A quarter of a 5 mg pill) every 2 weeks. By the time I got down to taking less then 2 mg's a day it actually got easier. When I finaly jumped I did have to learn how to deal with life without benzodiazapines again. But there was no terrible withdrawal, by the time I got that low I already experienced the ill effects. I also used Valerien root to make the transition easier. Skipping days towards the end of the taper helps a lot.

I stayed off of them for 3 years after I quit. Well unfortunately for me I sort of got addicted to opiates. I make a bad decision to cold turkey because I was so sick of them rather then taper. The withdrawal was so brutal I started taking some pretty large amounts of Klonopin and Valium to end the pain.

I have been through this all before and am now going through it again. But the good thing I got going for me is I have only been on them a few months this time rather then years.

Neurontin helps s much it is amazing. I used to think it wasn't that great when I liked getting high.

It really takes the edge off and helps your body relax. The withdrawals from neurontin would be way less severe then valium from my experience.

One other thing I remember is when I did finish my taper at 1.25 mg's I wanted to feel good one more time. So I snorted a bunch of oxy, never went into withdrawal, and felt so happy to be off Valium.

I can tell you one thing, once you finaly do manage to quit, LIFE will be a high on it's own. You will notice very subtle changes over the months, after awhile they add up and your feeling so good again you can't believe it. That's the point I got to and I messed up and started taking opiates.

I noticed that the nuerontin and Valium have a synergy. The nuerontin also helps with the pain.

Now that your at 10mg's I would attempt to drop 1mg every 14 days. If you don't feel stable then don't drop. Also you could consider .5 mg cuts if you really wanted to.

Do you exercise and eat healthy? I found that to really help when I was detoxing. Also staying busy, it might be hard because your anxious. But by getting out and doing stuff it can sometimes take your mind off your taper.

I also just wanted to add that after being off Valium/Klonopin Ect for 3 years it sucks to wake up one day back on them. When I take opiates infrequently I notice that I almost loose my need for any benzodiazapines. After all that's what got me back on them again.

That's the funny thing, I was always telling people don't swap one addiction for another. But when opiates are not an option and the withdrawal is bad, it's easy to get addicted again. It sucks i'm in the same position and am going to have to taper.

It wont be as bad because I know how to do it. But it still sucks.. I have contemplated going back on opiates just to get off the benzos. But am going to just taper like I did before and take nuerontin.

 

[brimz]

pregab is just a Big Pharma scam .

It has also been found effective for generalized anxiety disorder and is (as of 2007) approved for this use in the European Union and Russia.[1] It was designed as a more potent successor to gabapentin. Pregabalin is marketed by Pfizer under the trade name Lyrica. Pfizer described in an SEC filing that the drug could be used to treat epilepsy, post-herpetic neuralgia, diabetic peripheral neuropathy and fibromyalgia. Sales reached a record $3.063 billion in 2010.[2] In Bangladesh Pregabalin is sold under the brand of Nervalin by Beximco Pharma It is effective at treating some causes of chronic pain such as fibromyalgia but not others. It is considered to have a low potential for abuse, and a limited dependence liability if misused, but is classified as a Schedule V drug in the U.S.[3]
Lyrica is one of four drugs which a subsidiary of Pfizer in 2009 pleaded guilty to misbranding "with the intent to defraud or mislead". Pfizer agreed to pay $2.3 billion (£1.4 billion) in settlement, and entered a corporate integrity agreement. Pfizer illegally promoted the drugs and caused false claims to be submitted to government healthcare programs for uses that were not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).[4]

wds


Pregabalin may also cause withdrawal effects after long-term use if discontinued abruptly. When prescribed for seizures, quitting “cold turkey” can increase the strength of the seizures and possibly cause the seizures to reoccur. Withdrawal symptoms include difficulty sleeping, nausea, anxiety, diarrhoea, flu or flu-like symptoms, headache, increased sweating, convulsions, pain, dizziness, nervousness, and depression. Pregabalin should be reduced gradually when finishing treatment.

Benzos


Diazepam has a broad spectrum of indications (most of which are off-label), including:
Treatment of anxiety, panic attacks, and states of agitation[9]
Treatment of neurovegetative symptoms associated with vertigo[24]
Treatment of the symptoms of alcohol, opiate and benzodiazepine withdrawal[9][25]
Short-term treatment of insomnia[9]
Treatment of tetanus, together with other measures of intensive treatment[26]
Adjunctive treatment of spastic muscular paresis (paraplegia/tetraplegia) caused by cerebral or spinal cord conditions such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, or spinal cord injury (long-term treatment is coupled with other rehabilitative measures)[27]
Palliative treatment of stiff person syndrome[28]
Pre- or postoperative sedation, anxiolysis and/or amnesia (e.g., before endoscopic or surgical procedures)[27]
Treatment of complications with a hallucinogen crisis and stimulant overdoses and psychosis, such as LSD, cocaine, or methamphetamine.[13]
Prophylactic treatment of oxygen toxicity during hyperbaric oxygen therapy[29]

wds

Differences in rates of withdrawal (50–100%) vary depending on the patient sample. For example, a random sample of long-term benzodiazepine users typically finds around 50% experience little or no withdrawal symptoms, with the other 50% experiencing notable withdrawal symptoms. Certain select patient groups show a higher rate of notable withdrawal symptoms, up to 100%.[53]
Rebound anxiety, more severe than baseline anxiety, is also a common withdrawal symptom when discontinuing diazepam or other benzodiazepines.[54] Diazepam is therefore only recommended for short-term therapy at the lowest possible dose owing to risks of severe withdrawal problems from low doses even after gradual reduction.[55] There is a significant risk of pharmacological dependence on diazepam and patients experiencing symptoms of benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome if it is taken for six weeks or longer.[56] In humans tolerance to the anticonvulsant effects of diazepam occurs frequently.[57]

 

[MagickalKat777]

Well I took a single 100mg capsule of gabapentin on Monday and I've been paying for it since... I really wouldn't mess with Lyrica. Besides, that shit is expensive as hell!