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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Valium vs Xanax

Pixies

Bluelighter
Joined
Aug 27, 2016
Messages
85
I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I'm seriously considering a change with my psych doc. I've tried 5mg Valium before, but don't remember having a significant effect. Not like the first time I tried Xanax. I think I only took 1/2 a mg and I was OUT. Woke up and waited till my PTSD/Anxiety started up again, and took another half, to similar results. It obviously just has a very short half life. I've heard that Valium is a much more relaxing, calming type of medication, without the heavy sedation. And, it obviously has a longer half life. I'm currently getting x2 1mg pills of Xanax a day, and I know the conversion for Valium is about 1mg of Xanax = 10mg of Valium. So obviously, I would be hoping to get x2 10mg Valiums a day to see if it works better for me.

Right now, I feel like I'm in a weird place with all my medications. My pain doctors are trying to figure out a long lasting/long half-life med for me, that my fast metabolism won't just "chew through". I'm currently being prescribed 25mcg and 12mcg Fentanyl patches to use every 72 hours (Mylan patches) + x4 Norco 10/325s a day for BT. As I've mentioned MULTIPLE times before to my docs, the patches, whether they be the gel type or just the tape patches I currently have by Mylan, they are only lasting 24-48 hours for me, now getting closer to 24 hours, and I just start feeling some pretty sharp withdrawal symptoms. I honestly feel like I don't even get the effects of the Norcos anymore, because the Fentanyl is a more potent drug. Now, I'm trying to break up all my current meds to get me through the rest of month, because my patches are NOT lasting the full 72 hours, and starting to get closer and closer to 24 hours. At least with the Gel patches, they would last the full 48 hours, and like clockwork, I would feel them stop right around, if not exactly at the 48 hour mark.

I currently have the Xanax, some Lorazapam (.5mg) and some Clonopin (.1mg) pills, left over. No benzo has really helped with the Withdrawals quite like the Clonopins. As it seems that is the "go to" medication given my doctors to patients going through withdrawals. They deffently work better than either of the other two benzos I have on hand. I'm just hoping the Valium might work better for me overall. Helping with my daily anxieties, and PTSD attacks. As well as potentially helping more with "bridging" the Fentanyl days.

Thanks to all who made it this far and can offer me some advice. I live in NM, and they are SUPER strict in this state about narcotics, and every doctor + pharmacies follow the DEA system guidelines to the 'T'. IE, not giving meds by multiple doctors, not letting you fill your scripts a day or two early, counting every single prescription date you have, etc. It's honestly really frustrating and depressing for someone who has serious pain issues and has doctors that have literally just told me "make the patches last 3 days". I can't even begin to site everything wrong with that logic, and am currently trying to get in another pain management facility. Which I'm sure will undoubtedly cause me more headaches..
 
valium lasts longer but isn't as strong so its good for managing anxiety on a more general basis.
xanax is comes on very quickly and hits hard, so its better suited for panic attacks and such.

as to which would work better with your fent i couldn't say.
sorry if i've missed anything out im in a bit of a rush.
 
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I found xanax much more effective than valium too, but it's a trade off coz although valium didn't seem as strong it did last a lot longer and was much more 'gentle' for me.
 
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Valium is more sustainable as a maintenance medication IMO. Xanax is best kept for BT anxiety such as panic attacks. I was on Xanax for 2 or 3 years daily before switching to Valium. Overall, the Valium is a more manageable medication, but it will never pack the punch of a Xanax.

I think of my Benzo's like I do my opiates. You use a long lasting medication daily and then add the short acting drug during break through scenarios.
 
What about if I was ever coming down off either medication? Which did you find to have worse WDs, just hypothetically, or easier to tapper off of. With Xanax, I don't always NEED to take everyday, and don't feel like their is any kind of medication dependence, if I miss a day or two. Thanks guys!
 
Coming off Valium is way easier than Xanax.


You may not need to take xanax everyday for now but .....well I'm sure you know how that sentence was gonna end.


If it's a choice between the two then stick with Valium
 
Man, and I'm already feeling the Fentanyl WDs a little, and I only put a patch on a little less than 12 hours ago... This is absurd now, lol. FML

And thanks for the posts guys, gonna see if I can get a Valium script next time I go to the docs, to try that out. <3
 
I feel for you man, fent WD is hell. I've been there I know. Maybe tell your doc about that at the same time
 
I feel for you man, fent WD is hell. I've been there I know. Maybe tell your doc about that at the same time

I've told two desperate doctors at my pain management clinic, 3 times between the two of them. Both gave me no response, aside from saying "you need to make them last 3 days", as they probably just think I am seeking more medication. Not one of them looked at me like they wanted to believe me. That's the problem with those types of Doctors, they don't learn the intricacies of each drug they prescribe, and just assume they all work as the manufacturer says it does. Well, the moron Doctors don't go online, or they would see thousands of people posting about the same problem... THAT is why I'm currently trying to get in with another Doctor. It just takes so damn long, and not a one of them really cares how their patients are doing in between that 30-day period of them writing more prescriptions...

Edit: I honestly want to just get back on Methadone. I never had an issue with that medication, and it always lasted the full 12+ hrs for me. I was only prescribed 10mg x3 a day too, which wasn't that high, all things considered. When I moved to a state (PA) that wasn't fond of prescribing meds like that, I tapered myself off Methadone, fairly easily. Without too many bad WD symptoms. More PAWs than anything else. I'm just in another state now (NM) that isn't fond of giving out Methadone for pain management. And on top of that, the Methadone clinics I've called actually told me, unless I was A) Homeless B) Addicted to illegal substances (ie Heroin and whatnot) or C) HIV positive, they would not accept me. Like...WTF is that about. Never in my life have I had to go through so many hoops just to get treatment for a legitimate issue. I cannot wait to fing move..
 
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^damn.. that sounds shitty man, hope things get more manageable for you in the near future.. As far as benzos I have been prescribed to Valium, Xanax, and Currently am taking Klonopin... Started getting scripted klonopin(clonazepam) at my old sub doctor, and loved them(still do!), It took a bit of time to find a perfect dose for me that would work correctly and keep me good all day/night, with no anxiety or insomnia.. klonopin is very long lasting so it did a great job, when I was on around 5mg a day, which is a bit much for most people to be prescribed, normally I don't see anyone getting more than 2-3mg a day of it from their docs, I have lots of friends on the same shit as me.. subs and klonopin, because for some reason, if a sub doctor prescribes benzos too, they prefer klonopin as their benzo of choice to prescribe to people from what I have seen at my current sub clinic, and what friends have told me trying to get other benzos like valium and Xanax, but only being able to get klonopin and maybe Ativan, those are the only 2 benzos my current doc will ever prescribe from what they told me, but 90% of the time its just kpin.. I was taking 50mg of valium a day, prior to going to my current sub doc, from my old sub doc.. who was very liberal about scripting benzos, and didn't have a big problem with not only giving you pretty much any of the common 4 benzos, which I have mentioned above, but wasn't stingy on how many he would give you... he was cool.. but IMO and experience with being scripted those 3 benzos I mention in my first sentence, Valium was by far my favorite for its wonderful anti-anxiety effects, killing any and all anxiety I had, kicked in relatively fast IME, compared to klonopin, but not as quick as Xanax does, only if you parachute/chew valium, it kicks in almost immediately.. It also had very noticeable muscle relaxant properties at the dose I was on! Just, in a nutshell, felt super happy to be alive everyday I took it, always was anxiety free, always slept wonderful, and my muscles felt loosened up and relaxed/calm.. I was only scripted Xanax, for a month, by my old sub doc as well, and I really didn't like it compared to the long acting ones like vals/kpins.. they just didn't last long enough for me at all, maybe 4-5 hours tops! I was on 4mg a day for that month, and usually ended up taking more than I was supposed to, because Xanax out of all benzos, gives me the most compulsion to redose so soon over and over, and take way more than I am supposed to, because I just get this I don't give a fuck about anything feeling... and it made me stupid, and I said/did things I would normally never say, on any other benzo... I just didn't prefer it to the others I took as benzos go.. so I got back on valium, and stayed on it, happily for a year or 2, until having to switch docs, and my current sub doc, was SHOCKED at me taking valium! I was like, "what is so bad about it to you?", she just simply stated "it was very inappropriate of my old doctor to not only have me on valium with my subs, but I was on way too much in her opinion.. she then told me, since I had been on klonopin before, that she would put me back on it, but not 5mg a day like I originally was... she tried to drop me to 2mg a day, I declined lol. I told her I had been on that dose before, and it just didn't cut it for me, so she was nice enough to at least give me 3-4mg a day, and has kept me at that dose for the past 2 years I have been there... I have no problems at all, with anxiety, panic attacks, or insomnia, as long as I don't take more than I should and then be forced to take way less than I am prescribed by the end of the script... which only happens when I do too many stimulants like coke.. I just take more than I should, to avoid the comedown and anxiety I get from it.. If you haven't yet given klonopin a try, I would suggest trying that as to me, its almost like a cross between valium and Xanax.. it is very similar to Xanax in some ways, but lasts wayyyy longer, and also is similar to valium in other ways too, IME... I love those 2 there, klonopin/valium.. If not klonopin, definitely give valium another go and see how it works... it can be a wonderful medication when it wants to.. but only works for some people, like myself, and for others it just doesn't do a damn thing.. that is how Ativan is for me, useless! Good luck man!
 
Tried to take DXM to potentate my Hydros, in the hopes that I could use that method for getting through these shitty short acting Fentanyl patches. NEVER AGAIN. I took 20ml (30mg of DXM per dose) about 3:30 pm with 2 hydros, and then 40ml (2 doses) at 10:15pm with 3 hydros. Woke up at 4:30am with the worst WDs so far. Cold chills like mad. Even my dreams were fucked up and I could finally feel the WDs x100. My anxiety was through the roof. Just the worst feeling ever, and I contribute it only to the DXM, which I guess I am hyper sensitive to the gaba-esque withdrawals. Never ever ever again. (AND, to note: This is the very FIRST time I've used DXM like this before) I've taken it hundreds of times before in the past, never more than I was supposed to have, but never once did I get any WDs when I was taking it for Cold/Cough symptoms. Fuck that shit.

It took putting on a whole 25mcg patch, which I was usually breaking in twos. And taking a .1 Clonopin, with a .5 Lorazopam, and a hot bath. Still having WDs and cold feeling all over. Finally broke x5 hydros in halves, and took them all, when they start kicking in, my symptoms finally went down, and are now manageable. Holy shit, I wasn't prepared for that. And probably just took a week off my dosing schedule. FUCK. Now only have x2 25mcg, x4 12mcg patches and x25 hydros left to get me to Nov. 4. Sigh. I'm so fucked lol. I hate this life, so very much. I'd give it all back if I could.
 
1mg Alprazolam = 10mg Diazepam (Valium) is actually not correct OP. This could be part of your problem. 10mg of Diazepam is actually equal to approximately .5mg of Alprazolam (Xanax). The fact that you were taking 5mg of Diazepam and not experiencing much benefit from it shouldn't come as a surprise. It's a low dose. For some reason, I've noticed that in the medical field, they tend to under-dose with Diazepam. What I mean by this is that if I walk into a Psych's office and he decides to offer a Benzodiazepine, he'll probably offer either .5mg Alprazolam, .5mg Clonazepam (Klonopin) or 5mg of Diazepam; the Diazepam actually being weaker than the other two options.

It just seems like for some reason they believe that Diazepam is stronger than medical research has suggested. I had a Psych one time switch me from 1mg of Lorazepam (Ativan) x2 per day directly to 1mg of Clonazepam 2x per day, as if the dosages were equipotent. There was no mention of an increase in dosage, just that I thought I'd like to try a different medication at the same dose.
 
1mg Alprazolam = 10mg Diazepam (Valium) is actually not correct OP. This could be part of your problem. 10mg of Diazepam is actually equal to approximately .5mg of Alprazolam (Xanax). The fact that you were taking 5mg of Diazepam and not experiencing much benefit from it shouldn't come as a surprise. It's a low dose. For some reason, I've noticed that in the medical field, they tend to under-dose with Diazepam. What I mean by this is that if I walk into a Psych's office and he decides to offer a Benzodiazepine, he'll probably offer either .5mg Alprazolam, .5mg Clonazepam (Klonopin) or 5mg of Diazepam; the Diazepam actually being weaker than the other two options.

It just seems like for some reason they believe that Diazepam is stronger than medical research has suggested. I had a Psych one time switch me from 1mg of Lorazepam (Ativan) x2 per day directly to 1mg of Clonazepam 2x per day, as if the dosages were equipotent. There was no mention of an increase in dosage, just that I thought I'd like to try a different medication at the same dose.

Where would THEY find that information? Because every conversion calculator I can find online still shows 1mg = 10mg of Diazepam. I would just like to know an accurate source when I bring it to them. So, basically if I am on 2mg of Xanax a day, they should give me 10mg x4 a day of Valium? Yeah, I would need to show them the proper conversions, so my doc would even consider that. Thanks for bringing it up though.
 
Where would THEY find that information? Because every conversion calculator I can find online still shows 1mg = 10mg of Diazepam. I would just like to know an accurate source when I bring it to them. So, basically if I am on 2mg of Xanax a day, they should give me 10mg x4 a day of Valium? Yeah, I would need to show them the proper conversions, so my doc would even consider that. Thanks for bringing it up though.

literally took me 30 seconds on google.
http://www.benzo.org.uk/bzequiv.htm
 
I don't entirely agree with that chart.. everyone is super different with how different benzodiazepine meds will affect them! I mean, like as far as different drug classes go, benzos are by far the most variable from one person to the next.. IMO I do in fact feel that valium, at 10mg is most definitely equal to 1mg of Xanax/klonopin for sure! 40-50mg of valium a day felt absolutely beautiful to me! while 4-5mg of klonopin would have me feeling nice all day, and take away my anxiety/insomnia, it just wasn't AS effective as the valium, which if the benzo conversion chart was entirely correct, that would be equipotent to me taking 2-2.5mg of klonopin a day, when I took those valium at 40-50mg a day.. and if I were to take that much klonopin back then, when my dose was higher, I wouldn't have felt nearly as good as I did from the valium, from a dose that small of kpin, just the most subtle bit of relief maybe, the bare minimum, for me at least, and during that time.. my dose has been lowered since, not too much, but its now 3-4mg of kpin a day instead, and that was very hard to get my newer current sub doc do actually do, she wanted me back at like 1.5mg-2mg a day MAX... I said that wouldn't be enough, with my tolerance, and severe anxiety.. so she met me halfway.. and dropped me from my old dose, from before trying valium up until I switched docs and they didn't like valium there, which was 4-5mg to 3-4mg...

So not to be difficult or anything, but how exactly did they come up with this chart? what data was collected to make this chart?? and who/what was it studied on? because I feel like its a bit off, really just the diazepam compared to others... I mean 1mg of klonopin and 1mg of Xanax do feel equipotent, in different ways of course, but 1mg of klonopin does not feel like 20mg of valium IME, more like 10mg of valium.. maybe 15mg MAX.
 
I don't entirely agree with that chart.. everyone is super different with how different benzodiazepine meds will affect them! I mean, like as far as different drug classes go, benzos are by far the most variable from one person to the next.. IMO I do in fact feel that valium, at 10mg is most definitely equal to 1mg of Xanax/klonopin for sure! 40-50mg of valium a day felt absolutely beautiful to me! while 4-5mg of klonopin would have me feeling nice all day, and take away my anxiety/insomnia, it just wasn't AS effective as the valium, which if the benzo conversion chart was entirely correct, that would be equipotent to me taking 2-2.5mg of klonopin a day, when I took those valium at 40-50mg a day.. and if I were to take that much klonopin back then, when my dose was higher, I wouldn't have felt nearly as good as I did from the valium, from a dose that small of kpin, just the most subtle bit of relief maybe, the bare minimum, for me at least, and during that time.. my dose has been lowered since, not too much, but its now 3-4mg of kpin a day instead, and that was very hard to get my newer current sub doc do actually do, she wanted me back at like 1.5mg-2mg a day MAX... I said that wouldn't be enough, with my tolerance, and severe anxiety.. so she met me halfway.. and dropped me from my old dose, from before trying valium up until I switched docs and they didn't like valium there, which was 4-5mg to 3-4mg...

So not to be difficult or anything, but how exactly did they come up with this chart? what data was collected to make this chart?? and who/what was it studied on? because I feel like its a bit off, really just the diazepam compared to others... I mean 1mg of klonopin and 1mg of Xanax do feel equipotent, in different ways of course, but 1mg of klonopin does not feel like 20mg of valium IME, more like 10mg of valium.. maybe 15mg MAX.

I totally agree and I made a post on thjis site about certain generic Valiums.
The Mylan ones are trash. They have like no Diazepam in them .At least where I live.
I can eat 20 0of the 5mlg ones and feel nothing and and eat 10 of the 10mlg green ones and feel NOTHING...
But the Watsons, Tevas and a couple other brands they make good ones.
I actually have some right jkow they are made by Mayne and they are straight.
I am telling you guys to read my post about the Mylan Valiums and not to mention too Mylan Xanax Pies they suck too.
Sorry for ressurecting this but I think it was important to state.
 
Yes, 10mg of Valium is about equivalent to 0.5mg of Xanax. I think Valium is the superior benzodiazepine.
 
The converstion is actually .5mg of xanax to 10mg of Valium i think. I am thinking about a change from klonopin as i want something faster acting and cant really decide between xanax or valium. They both act pretty fast though Xanax does beat Valium out it doesent last nearly as long though. I find them both to work pretty well to.
 
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