Taper Questions

[[li...]]

I have been taking .5mg of Ativan nightly for the past 20 months or so. I started taking it for anxiety when my father passed away from a fast & aggressive brain tumor. Like many others, I started experiencing what I believe to be tolerance withdrawal (having more anxiety longer-term, headaches, weakness, fatigue, etc) and now that I think I might have found what has been causing this hellish experience for the past half year or more, I am really trying to kick these meds ASAP. In the past 4 weeks I have gone from .5mg to .25mg (actually did that overnight before I knew about tapering) so now I am at right under .25 and am wondering from anyone else with experience whether I should just stop and experience withdrawal symptoms but get it out of my body faster, or if I should taper slower and carry on with this for a while longer? The symptoms I am experiencing now vary, but include increased anxiety/panic, shaking, headaches, body soreness, weakness, head pressure, ear ringing, stomach upset, etc. I currently am still able to make it to work, however, and have been functional thus far for the most part. I guess my question is... if I cut again now from .25mg to 0mg will it be too much of a shock for my receptors? Will I do more damage? Will I drag out the recovery of the withdrawal for longer? Or could it shorten it at all? Should I cut it in half again and then stop? Or do a slow taper? I guess I am trying to do the fastest (but still manageable & realistic) taper that I can. I want to be off of this stuff, but I also want to do it safely and in the best interest overall for my mind and body, whichever way that may be. Any advice is GREATLY appreciated. None of my doctors seem to have great answers about it, and I am still new to a lot of this!! I am female, 5'6, 108lbs.

[[Ch...]]

Hi lila and welcome.  I would cut by .125 (half of a .25) and see how that goes first...if it went okay, then I would think about jumping. 

[[ju...]]

Hi Lila: You may find it helpful to visit the "Tapering off Ativan " thread as well ( Under "Support Groups" It sounds as if your CNS is still reeling a bit from your large cuts . A 25-50% reduction has caused problems for many people on this forum . The general recommended rate is no more than 10% every 7 to 14 days. However this is very individual . Some people find this even too high and do cuts lower eg. I generally find that 5% every 7-14 days works better for me since I want to remain functional and not be "white knuckling " it through my taper. We all want to get off these meds. But please do your research here first and ask questions so that you can do it safely. Best wishes.

[[Ch...]]

Hi Lila: You may find it helpful to visit the "Tapering off Ativan " thread as well ( Under "Support Groups" It sounds as if your CNS is still reeling a bit from your large cuts . A 25-50% reduction has caused problems for many people on this forum . The general recommended rate is no more than 10% every 7 to 14 days. However this is very individual . Some people find this even too high and do cuts lower eg. I generally find that 5% every 7-14 days works better for me since I want to remain functional and not be "white knuckling " it through my taper. We all want to get off these meds. But please do your research here first and ask questions so that you can do it safely. Best wishes.

 

Always a good idea to check in with people who've tapered or are tapering the same benzo... here's the link:

 

Ativan Support