Donna, I am so sorry that your doctor wouldn't support the Valium bridge. I don't know why doctors are so unwilling to learn, but they are. If it is not something that they aleady know then for many of them it doesn't exist because they are either too busy to learn or just don't care. Either way, the consequences are the same to patient:( But, for the benefit of those reading these posts---THIS is one of the main concerns you need to evaluate staying on a medication where it eventually imprisons you at the mercy of potentially uninformed medical professionals that won't learn and won't be supportive once you are in trouble with the drug---as they see it, it is YOUR problem. For me, I just refuse to acquiesce the control of my life to the mercy of the medical profession. I realize others may have debilitating conditions for which they must take this stuff, but goodness sake at least make sure your doctor has you on the longest half life version of the medication---when it comes time for you to taper you will be sooooooooooooo glad that you did. Once doctors have kept you on a certain drug, for some reason they are just unwilling to switch you...makes no sense at all because they are ALL benzodiazepine drugs, just with different half lifes. People should NEVER be prescribed a short half life benzodiazepine on a long term basis; just ridiculous.......grrrrrrrrrrr.

Donna, the good news is that Klonopin has a longer half life than Xanax. It also has an anticonvulsant property to prevent seizures which may be the reason your doctor selected it---most fear liability regarding seizures. So, your doctor has selected what best protects him.

Half-lifes are:
Xanax is 6-20 hours
Klonopin is 18-50 hours
Valium is up to 200 hours

You can see why Valium better supports a taper without a rapid drop off.

Ok, exactly how many pills of each do you have left and what level are they?

None of the research I have found shows Valium is more addictive. It is equally addictive since both are benzodiazepines but with different half life values. Professor Heather Ashton in the United Kingdom has conducted and published (available free online), the most extensive research on benzodiazepines. She recommends that anyone tapering from any benzodiazepine, and there are several, switch to Valium for a bridge taper. Valium is the taper drug of choice because it has the longest half life among all the benzodiazepines.

The concern among physicians regarding Valium is not that it is more addictive. Instead, the concern is that a person who abuses drugs can get into greater trouble with Valium than with Xanax because Valium stays in the system so much longer; i.e. Xanax,6-20 hours; Valium, up to 200 hours. If a drug abuser is repeat dosing at levels greater than prescribed, an overdose can be more readily achieved with Valium than with Xanax as the Xanax leaves the system much more rapidly.

Several years ago, and for many years, Valium was more popularly prescribed and consequently abused with greater risks because of the long half life. Therefore, it became branded as high risk regarding both its addictive and overdose potential. Guidelines evolved recommending physicians prescribing a benzodiazepine should prescribe a short half life benzodiazepine because it theoretically lessens risk regarding overdose potential among the addict community who are known to take drugs at levels higher than prescribed. Clearly if a person tells a physician he/she has an abuse or addiction problem, Valium will not be prescribed because of the long half life risks. Be careful to label yourself correctly to your physician. There is a medically distinct difference between a person who has developed a drug tolerance dependency and a person who describes themself as a person with an addiction problem. The distinction for the medical community is simple and associated with one's ability to properly manage your drugs as prescribed. A person with an addiction problem can not manage drugs as prescribed and therefore will be restrictively prescribed with lower risk options. In the medical community any drug with a shorter half life is, perhaps erroneously, perceived to have less risks simply because it flushes out of the system more quickly.

The whole issue of benzodiazepines is very controversial among the medical community. Informed physicians know the problems with short half life benzos is that they drop you off the ledge of the cliff when the drug is abruptly stopped---yet, longer half life benzos have higher overdose risks among abusers. Clearly all aspects of the controversy is bad and creates confusion among medical professionals, but hasn't stopped them from prescribing. That is why people taking benzos need to try and get off of them. Once you are in trouble with the drug, finding INFORMED medical support to help get you off the drug without intense WDs is difficult. All of the news is bad when it comes to benzodiazepines. A person medically needing to be on an anti-anxiety drug needs to research and consult with doctor about alternative drugs with less risks.