New here ativan taper

[[Cc...]]

Hi all. I'm new here. My Dr prescribed lorazepam about 9 mths ago as needed for stress anxiety and sleep. I rarely took it. But when life got crazy. I found myself taking this stuff .5 three  sometimes four times a day. I was pretty sporadic taking it. Because I was also sick with all kinds of things. Mostly ear and sinus stuff. Or so they say. Looking back I now realize most of those illnesses were just withdraw. My craziest symptoms. No-one seemed to understand was my head tremors. Like a machine inside ur head constantly vibrating. I started googling just that and it led me here. To which I am grateful. After reading many of your posts I talked with my pcp and together we determined all my other problems were mostly withdraw. I would be on it a few days and stop. Over and over and in between I'd get so sick. But all the ER drs would jus say sinus or even heart. I'm pretty healthy at 44. My pc immediately regulated my doses of ativan. And are now tapering down. I'm at .25 in the a.m. and 1/4 in the evening and afternoon. It has taken several weeks to get down this far and it's been hell. But the information I found on this forum has been my best help. My biggest question now is have any of you had any success with vitamin supplements to ease withdrawal? Thanks for all your help.CC

[[pi...]]

Hello Ccsb143,

 

Welcome to Benzo Buddies. I experienced many of the same issues as you did when put on Ativan for a supposed inner ear issue. I would skip a dose to see how my ears were doing and got very very ill. I'm very glad your doctor put you on a stable dose and agrees that the drug is the problem. 

 

I will give you a link to the Ashton Manual, an excellent resource about these types of drugs and how to withdraw. It was written by an expert in the field.

 

A slow taper can help to minimize withdrawal symptoms.  Generally a reduction of no more than 5-10% every 10-14 days is suggested. It's also important to listen to your body and make adjustments as necessary.  I'll give you a link to the General Taper Plans for additional information.

 

We understand this process and will support you on your journey to be benzo free.  You will continue to receive support and encouragement here on the forum, now that you have joined you can make full use of all the boards. Please feel free to ask questions, we're here to help.

 

The Ashton Manual

 

General Taper Plans 

 

pianogirl 

 

[[Fa...]]

My biggest question now is have any of you had any success with vitamin supplements to ease withdrawal?

 

First of all, welcome to the forum!

Have a look of this thread...

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=108766.0

 

I'm not using vitamins at the moment (apart from B3, niacine), but just minerals and other supplements. I listed them in my signature. Please notice I had to find my own routine and at what time of the day is better to take them, and this may differ for everyone. I still get the symptoms but they are bearable.

I'll explain briefly.

 

I take:

- Magnesium citrate, zinc, L-theanine in the morning. Not sure about B3, planning to avoid it.

- L-theanine again before lunch time if I feel anxious and in the afternoon, and Bacopa before lunch

- A large amount of L-theanine before bed time and Bacopa again

 

Maybe in the next days I'll add a multivitamin with processed forms of B6, B12 and folates. Did you know that most people have at least one MTHFR gene mutated, making using those vitamines harder? It's better for those people to take processed forms, a benefit for anyone, anyway. Be careful with those, take them in the morning and in tiny doses at the beginning because they may excite you even more!

 

[[be...]]

Hi all. I'm new here. My Dr prescribed lorazepam about 9 mths ago as needed for stress anxiety and sleep. I rarely took it. But when life got crazy. I found myself taking this stuff .5 three  sometimes four times a day. I was pretty sporadic taking it. Because I was also sick with all kinds of things. Mostly ear and sinus stuff. Or so they say. Looking back I now realize most of those illnesses were just withdraw. My craziest symptoms. No-one seemed to understand was my head tremors. Like a machine inside ur head constantly vibrating. I started googling just that and it led me here. To which I am grateful. After reading many of your posts I talked with my pcp and together we determined all my other problems were mostly withdraw. I would be on it a few days and stop. Over and over and in between I'd get so sick. But all the ER drs would jus say sinus or even heart. I'm pretty healthy at 44. My pc immediately regulated my doses of ativan. And are now tapering down. I'm at .25 in the a.m. and 1/4 in the evening and afternoon. It has taken several weeks to get down this far and it's been hell. But the information I found on this forum has been my best help. My biggest question now is have any of you had any success with vitamin supplements to ease withdrawal? Thanks for all your help.CC

 

Welcome. I am am glad you finally figured out what was causing you to be sick. I was in a tolerance withdrawal for over a year and I was very sick yet no one in the medical field ever made the connection.  The dose I once took no longer had the same effect so I lived in withdrawal 24/7. It was really a horrible time in my life. You are getting off the right way, and that is tapering. I stopped 8 mg of Ativan CT. The experience was horrific to say the least.