Has anyone here had a successful taper directly from Ativan?

[[Wh...]]

I see many crossover tapers from Ativan to Valium but haven't found anyone that directly tapered from Ativan.

 

Would love to hear about it and see profile details.

 

Many thanks!

[[be...]]

I wish I'd have done a direct taper. The Valium was a huge mistake for me. I see you are very low on your dose and doing well. Why throw another benzo into the mix? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.  B

[[Wh...]]

Thanks Barb, that's my feeling too but still it would be great to see that someone else has done it.

[[be...]]

I can't recall names but others have clearly done it. Many with cutting only Xanax which is sometimes a bit more difficult. No reason to believe that you can't. B

[[Ki...]]

Hi Whisper,

 

I tapered directly from Ativan. IMO, there is no reason to switch to Valium to taper unless the interdose withdrawals become too much to handle. I was able to circumvent the interdose w/d by splitting my dose evenly throughout the day. The majority of people tapering Ativan need to split their dose and take 3-4 times a day. It's absolutely possible 

 

There is an Ativan Tapering support group thread that you may want to join...everyone there is direct tapering from Ativan. Here is the link:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=44903.msg2226241#new/forum/index.php?topic=44903.msg2226241#new

 

 

[[Wh...]]

Awesome Kiddo thank you!

 

The link is too long for me to click on. Can you tell me where it is and I'll find it?

 

Yes I plan to stay on 3 doses a day for most of my taper and with finally switch just to a bedtime dose. 

[[so...]]

Tryingtobepositive is doing a direct Ativan taper. It's going pretty well for her.

[[Ki...]]

Sorry Whisper....I should have checked the link before I posted. 

 

Here it is:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=44903.msg2226241#new

[[Wh...]]

Thanks Kiddo and Solitude. I am going to join that thread. 

[[Ph...]]

On November 15th I will join the ranks of people who have directly tapered off of Ativan.  Have been on Ativan for 20 years.  Started tapering from 5 mg 33 months ago.  Currently at .070 mg.  It can be done.

[[Wh...]]

On November 15th I will join the ranks of people who have directly tapered off of Ativan.  Have been on Ativan for 20 years.  Started tapering from 5 mg 33 months ago.  Currently at .070 mg.  It can be done.

 

Great to hear and congratulations, you are almost there 

[[Ph...]]

On November 15th I will join the ranks of people who have directly tapered off of Ativan.  Have been on Ativan for 20 years.  Started tapering from 5 mg 33 months ago.  Currently at .070 mg.  It can be done.

 

Great to hear and congratulations, you are almost there 

Was just responding to the subject line of the thread.  Good luck.

[[an...]]

I am also tapering Ativan.  I am now down to 0.192 mg/day.  This taper has been a bit rough compared to my first taper back in 2007.  That taper was a smooth one with no problems whatsoever when I jumped.  I expect the same outcome with this one, but it is taking much longer than the first time around.

 

Good luck

Anne

[[so...]]

I wanted to be one of the success stories but my Ativan taper was complicated by surgery and extra benzos in the hospital. I had depersonalization, derealization, and vertigo shortly after returning home and that's when I jumped to Valium. It made it a LOT easier but I was so close to being done that sometimes I wish I had just pushed through. Sometimes I wonder if it was really interdose withdrawal or if I was just stressing myself out. I had to face a lot of fears during that time. I'll never know now! But at least I'm almost off again. I think it can be done but I give a lot of credit to those who can handle it! I'm sure it's a lot easier with a micro taper too (I was doing cut and hold).

[[Wh...]]

Thanks for the replies.

 

Yes I think the micro tapering is the way to go, although I've held recently for a week as I was going through so much stress. Some of it to do with switching to all liquid Ativan. 

 

 

[[li...]]

I've been cutting direct from Xanax which has even a shorter half life than ativan. Its probably the hardest to come off of. I have been doing micro tapers with a mg scale. I drop a tiny bit every day or every other day. Over time it works out to about 5% a week or so.

I had to split my dose into 4 daily doses and I still do that. I use the round robin method which basically spaces out the cut portion so its not at the same time every day. Even if I take a really small amount , I still make sure I dose 4 times a day. For simplicity I measure out my entire dose in the morning and I eyeball the 4 cuts from there. I take the larger pieces for doses 1 and 4 and the smaller parts for doses 2 and 3. I personally would try doing this before  crossing over to valium. Some people don't cross over well, and from what I hear it often takes a few weeks just to get used to the crossover. Good luck, I'm at half of what I was taking and not planning on crossing over unless I absolutely have to.

[[Wh...]]

I've been cutting direct from Xanax which has even a shorter half life than ativan. Its probably the hardest to come off of. I have been doing micro tapers with a mg scale. I drop a tiny bit every day or every other day. Over time it works out to about 5% a week or so.

I had to split my dose into 4 daily doses and I still do that. I use the round robin method which basically spaces out the cut portion so its not at the same time every day. Even if I take a really small amount , I still make sure I dose 4 times a day. For simplicity I measure out my entire dose in the morning and I eyeball the 4 cuts from there. I take the larger pieces for doses 1 and 4 and the smaller parts for doses 2 and 3. I personally would try doing this before  crossing over to valium. Some people don't cross over well, and from what I hear it often takes a few weeks just to get used to the crossover. Good luck, I'm at half of what I was taking and not planning on crossing over unless I absolutely have to.

 

I agree about doing a V crossover .... better the devil you know I guess.

 

I am pretty hopeless at cutting tablets at all accurately so switched to liquid titration. I figured it out in an excel spreadsheet and it wasn't so difficult as I didn't actually have to do much maths 

 

You are doing great with quite large cuts. Have you thought of going to liquid so that you can get more accurate as your doses get smaller?

 

I did wonder about staying with 4 doses a day, but decided that 3 will probably be ok. I plan to end up on just one bedtime dose as that is the way I used to take Ativan before the beginning of this year. We will see, I can always change that idea.

 

All the best with the last part of your taper