My DR lowered my Ativan dose from .5 to .25 and I know it's gonna hurt

[[Cu...]]

Sometimes life throws us curve balls that we don't welcome and we definetely don't expect. Tha'ts what happened when my Dr told me that he read that the Ativan medication  I was on was found  to cause Alzhemer's  disease and he would like me to get off of it.  What he didn't tell me, was that the medication I had been prescribed for over 15 years was highly addictive and super dangerous .

 

At first, It wasn't a problem to reduce my dosage from 1.5 mg to 1.0 mg because he upped my Trazadone from 50 mg to 100 mg. You see, it's about substituting one drug for another. The following month he reduced the lorazapem dosage to .5, not telling me anything about withdrawal symptoms, nor the fact that I was very much addicted.

 

So I filled my new prescription with my lower dosage of Ativan, expecting nothing, along with my 100 mg.Trazadoge and 15 mg Mirtazapine. Immediately I experienced weird symptoms, like ringing in the ears, a wave of flu like feelings of nausea and fatigue,and could barely open my eyes. I thought for sure that the new Trazadone pills had been filled incorrectly, and that I was having an allergic reaction. What else would cause these weird symptoms?

 

I started to panic. I thought I was having an allergic reacton to a medication. That is very bad. I might die, and proceeded to have a panic attack. My heart starting racing, I began to sweat and feel faint. Immediately, I threw away the whole bottom of Trazadone.

 

However, my symptoms did not subside, and a whole month went by with ringing in the ears, numbness of the face, hands and feet, nausea, lightheadedness, panic attacks, fatigue so bad I couldn't get out of bed some days and heart palpitations practically constantly. My boyfriend had caught a bad cold, and I was sure that was what I also had

.

The ringing in the ears was really weird. I had to find out what caused that. Off to the internet I went, to research the allergic reaction that caused tinnutis.

 

I was shocked when I found on the internet  that what I was experiencing was withdrawal symptoms from the Ativan .

I also found out about the Ashton withdrawal method, and dutifully printed out the schedule to bring in to my doctor. I was sure he would be on board with that sensible approach to detoxifcation and prescribe me the needed Valium in which to gradually reduce.

 

Fast forward to my monthly doctor's appt. He asked me how I was doing and I told him "not good". I then listed all my symptoms and how I discovered they were withdrawal symptoms, and how to safely withdraw, I would need to switch to valium and reduce slowly, showing him the print out of the Ashton method.

 

He jumped out of his seat and yelled, "I'm not giving you any Valium! You are addicted and I'm giving you only 15 (.25 mg)  pills and that's what you are going to take!"

 

I was shocked at his anger and obstience, as through the years he had been caring and thoughtful. Frankly, he was the one that had prescribed the Ativan for all those years. I tried to reason with him, but he scribbled the prescription on his pad and walked out of the room. It was then I realized I was totally on my own.

 

Now I am here, searching for answers to situation that should not be happening.

[[be...]]

I am sorry that you are tapering a bit quicker than you like. Unfortunately some doctors truly do not understand the consequences of that. My doctor thought it was ok to stop 8 mg of Ativan cold turkey after over a decade of being on benzodiazepines. It was a horrific experience to say the least. The good thing is that you are not a real high dose presently and he is allowing you to do some type of taper. Are you suppose to be tapering the remaining tabs he gave you? If so, what is the rate of taper he has in mind? There are no substitution meds. Trazadone is nothing like Ativan. it is a whole different class of medication.

[Guest [...]]

Oh my goodness...I have to start a new doctor next week and I am so fearful of this happening. I am beyond scared. I certainly feel for you. Thankfully you are on a lower dose, but it sure won't make it any easier. So,. 25 mgs daily,  I assume you were given a script for 15, to be split in half? Maybe instead of asking for Valium your doctor might work on a tapering schedule for the Ativan? You have come a far way,...how rude of the doctor and not caring. I am sorry you have to face this!

[[be...]]

Me too! But I think your can manage somewhat of a taper off Ativan, as BRC said. It might not be that easy, but you are on a low dose so it won't be as bad, as if say, you were on 8 mg like BRC was. Good luck. My doctor is great but getting old and I'm afraid I'll end up with some idiot. Keep us posted, Pls.

[[Cu...]]

I asked for the dose to be lowered, but my doctor just told me I will get off the pills now or in the hospital. So there's no talking to him. After exploring the titration process, my fiancee actually offered a solution to help me. As he uses an atomic scale at work, in a scientific laboratory setting, he can weigh up to 1,00th of a mg.

 

So he weighed the pills and is going to shave off 1% each day. I want him to do that for 10 days, then hold me for 3 days. That will put my taper at 10% every 2 weeks. The problem is, if he gets caught at work, he could get in trouble. I gave him my prescription bottle in case he does get caught with the Ativan pills, as they are narcotics.

 

If he has to explain, he says he will tell them the truth, even if he gets fired. This is such a predicament...So far too many people have been around him at work for him to weigh the pills. Also, the scale he uses costs $1,500, if anyone is interested.

[[be...]]

I hope it works out for you.

[[Ge...]]

I asked for the dose to be lowered, but my doctor just told me I will get off the pills now or in the hospital. So there's no talking to him. After exploring the titration process, my fiancee actually offered a solution to help me. As he uses an atomic scale at work, in a scientific laboratory setting, he can weigh up to 1,00th of a mg.

 

So he weighed the pills and is going to shave off 1% each day. I want him to do that for 10 days, then hold me for 3 days. That will put my taper at 10% every 2 weeks. The problem is, if he gets caught at work, he could get in trouble. I gave him my prescription bottle in case he does get caught with the Ativan pills, as they are narcotics.

 

If he has to explain, he says he will tell them the truth, even if he gets fired. This is such a predicament...So far too many people have been around him at work for him to weigh the pills. Also, the scale he uses costs $1,500, if anyone is interested.

 

You fiance is very kind and brave and noble, but I think what he is doing at work is not a good idea.  I am sorry your doctor has done this...it's a fear we all have I think... I wish you all the best in your taper.

[[Ca...]]

Not sure about his work setting, but could he be upfront about it with his employer, atleast asking the question...

If not, I think there are cheaper scales that are fine to use at home...

can you start looking for another Dr perhaps?

anyways, Best wishes... and yes, I feel that small cuts more often are easiest... should follow my own advice but...

[Guest [...]]

Probably doing it at work may not be a very good idea, but I am happy to hear that he is willing. Dry cutting or titrating micro may be a good answer to what you are facing though. Given. Your situation, maybe a daily liquid titrate might be safer for your partner?

[[Cu...]]

Hi Pumpkin. My fiancee couldn't do it at work yesterday as people were all around him. So I had actually ordered Ora Plus and Ora Sweet suspension fluid from Amazon and we struggled to figure out how much to mix last night. Finally came up with 10 ml of the suspension fluid for my .5 mg pill. And then I took 9.9 ml. I think that is a 1% reduction...

 

I see that you were on 5 mg Ativan, is that correct? As I am also addicted to Ativan, I am glad to speak with someone else in the same boat. I have been taking it for 15 years, and was once up to 6 mg a day. So I went into withdrawal symptoms about 7 weeks ago, and one of the weirdest  things is the ringing in my ears.

 

I see that you experience that also. It just doesn't go away for me. It is not as loud as it was, but it has remained pretty constant for the last 3 weeks.

 

Do you know if it will go away? How loud is your ringing?

[Guest [...]]

Hi Pumpkin. My fiancee couldn't do it at work yesterday as people were all around him. So I had actually ordered Ora Plus and Ora Sweet suspension fluid from Amazon and we struggled to figure out how much to mix last night. Finally came up with 10 ml of the suspension fluid for my .5 mg pill. And then I took 9.9 ml. I think that is a 1% reduction...

 

I see that you were on 5 mg Ativan, is that correct? As I am also addicted to Ativan, I am glad to speak with someone else in the same boat. I have been taking it for 15 years, and was once up to 6 mg a day. So I went into withdrawal symptoms about 7 weeks ago, and one of the weirdest  things is the ringing in my ears.

 

I see that you experience that also. It just doesn't go away for me. It is not as loud as it was, but it has remained pretty constant for the last 3 weeks.

 

Do you know if it will go away? How loud is your ringing?

I actually initially was on .5 to 1 mg twice daily...Cold turkey from it seven weeks and then the withdrawals were so bad I was reinstated at 2 mgs daily for 8 weeks before tapering. I was fearful of having to go up, and sometime I would take2.25 or 2.5, but was steady at 2 mgs. My ringing in my ears started to be really apparent after my cold turkey, and has stuck with me since. In the beginning I was scared and panicky. My ringing is loud most of the time. I have seen an audiologist and an ENT and they determined it was medicine induced, probably from the Ativan itself.They noted to me I do have some high frequency hearing loss and as the physician desk reference notes both hearing loss and Tinnitus can be adverse effects of Ativan. The ringing since October now I do have a quieter day once or twice a week. When I am having more symptomatic days the ringing is extremely loud. I am not sure if it will ever go away, since I do have high frequency hearing loss, but it doesn't bother me so much now. I can say that many times the ringing is the last to go.