trying another doc again

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going to see a new doc next Wednesday to check into either direct taper or crossover taper.  wish me luck that it will be someone who listens and halfway understands.  first goal is just to get to a lower dose and if successful with that to get completely off this stuff.

 

still have a list of a few more doctors to try.  lucky if any of them either answer their phones or accept new patients.  most of them say leave a message and then never call back or the message box is already full...just think if you were already a patient and really needed help and this is what you get!

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Wow, you've been on lorazepam for going on 39 years?? Good luck, hope this new guy works out for you. Keep us posted.

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yes for 39 years; just read where it first came out in 1977...so almost as long as it has been around. i just stumbled across another short read that followed the process of the Ashton Manual crossover...just wish these doctors were more informed about the problems.  Thanks for responding and wishing me luck.

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Are you having severe inter-dose withdrawal? Is that why you want to do a cross over?

 

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I find that after about six hours I always feel ready for another dose...that is why I have always split my doses into 4 times a day.  So at this point even if I remove one half of a .5 mg tab it would be greater than a 10 percent cut.  I did manage to cut from 4mg to 2mg some years back and maybe could reduce from 2mg to 1mg doing direct taper.

 

Yes, I am thinking that maybe if I could be without this craving every six hours it might be simpler as far as the cuts.  Still having never used diazepam I don't know how I would react to that even if a doctor agreed to try that route.

 

Way back i had also used Librium and they did use Xanax in the 90s which I did not like.  I have also tried various antidepressants.  Antidepressants tend to make me so tired and dizzy I can't function at all. I also just feel afraid if I can get to a lesser dose then maybe my brain will start firing off all kinds of thoughts and anxiety again like I started with.  I remember back when panic attacks first hit me how bad I felt and back then there was even less knowledge of options to try than what there is now...much is just how each individual reacts to various medicines and stimuli which every single person is different.  Also, feel so frustrated that so many doctors want to say do it my way or no way instead of working with you to find a solution.

 

 

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If you've never used Valium, I would say that crossing-over may not be your best option at this point. It is really a shot in the dark. If you had used Valium in the past and were comfortable with it, that might be a different story. Many here do not like how they feel on Valium.

 

If you can handle the hassle of doing multiple doses, and the interdose withdrawals are manageable that way, I would think that a direct taper is the safer option, and totally do-able. The lower you go, the smaller you may want to do the cuts, small doses are powerful!

 

At this point, you might want to consider going to a liquid titration so you can get accurate small cuts, and it also makes multiple dosing easy. I believe most Ativan users dissolve the pill into either a small amount of alcohol or polyethyene glycol, then dilute that with water. You could try making a dilution and see how that goes. Look around the taper forum for information.

 

Perhaps if you put together a plan and rough timetable, you could approach the doctor with--here is what I have done, here is what I am doing, can you help me finish this process? It seems like a reasonable doctor would be willing to do that with a good plan. They are likely to think that titration is overkill, but if you can get the prescription, what difference does it make?

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Yes, makes sense to stick with something I already know how I react to.

 

I did talk in private to one person about liquid ativan, shaving pills, gram scales, and all that.  The .5mg pill is the smallest dose manufactured and can easily be cut in half...not as easy to get equal parts in quarters.

 

I do live right by a pharmacy that compounds and know one of the pharmacists personally.  I probably should ask him for some input as well.

 

I did cut from 2 to 1.75 on January 1 and so far doing fine.  Right now, will just wait to see what they say next week.  I intend to cut again at the end of January if no changes by then.  I will let you know what they say after Wednesday also and again thanks for the input.