Getting off ativa

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I am new to this forum. I have been on lorazepam for  a year and a half and have become addicted to them. They were originally  prescribed for anxiety. It was very calming at first and it definitely helped me sleep. I was going through a real rough period in my life, where I lost my job and my dad was failing in health. I was abusing it by taking more than what was prescribed. As a result, I was starting to have more than 1 doctor. The daily dosage could be anywhere between .5 mg to 3mg depending what was going on that day. I usually take them at bedtime.  The average daily dosage was about 1.5 mg.  The pills are now ineffective and is just making my anxiety worse. My sleep is no longer the wonderful sleep I use to have. I am in hell on earth. It is causing me to be very depressed as well as overly anxious. Thought of going to rehab until I see their schedule is 7 to 10 days for benzo detox, totally inadequate amount of time to become well. I need help from my benzo buddies on how to get off safely without extreme stress/seizure and still able to continue with normal activities. Let me know your thoughts.

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Hi Jcat.  Welcome to BenzoBuddies.

 

In my opinion you're going about this the right way…looking for information about tapering before getting started.  This will undoubtedly save you a lot of grief in the withdrawal process.  Your story is very familiar as far as the progression of benzodiazepine tolerance and rebound anxiety that is very typical.  If you're only dosing at night then you are likely to be in a state of withdrawal most of the next day due to its short acting nature.  I believe being off of the Ativan will definitely be worth it in the long run.

 

Here's a link to ask about Taper Plans 

 

I highly recommend having a look at the Ashton Manual simply for information about the withdrawal process.  It does provide a lot of good information and is written by an expert in the field.

 

 

Please take some time to Create a Signature. This will help other members understand your history so they will be better able to support you.

Go to the top of the page and select Profile, then choose Forum Profile, insert drug history/timelines into the text box and click Change Profile.

 

~Challis