Rescue dose? Need encouragement.

[Guest [...]]

Hi everyone. I am here lying in bed, and at a point today where withdrawal is hitting really hard, mixed with life. My husband and I argued yesterday, then another personal thing hit. Usually I can handle my withdrawal symptoms pretty well, but today they are lots worse. As you can see by my signature I am at 1.125 mgs of Ativan, once daily.

I am considering a rescue dose today of maybe. 25 or. 5 mgs since my day hasn't even began and I am in tears and my ears are screaming! I am tired of battling this poison everyday. I am tired of anxiety and tinnitus. I am tired of feeling alone.

I am sorry, I guess I just need some hand holding today. Would a rescue dose set me back? I am pretty sure it's not my most recent cut, I know it's stress and working myself up. Anyway, sorry everyone.

[[So...]]

I am sorry you are going through this. I too am trying to withdraw from Ativan, my second time around. The first time I cold turkey on September '16; so my doc reinstated me to 1mg again. What I did then to stabilize was to cut my tiny pills so I could dose three times a day. Ativan is a short life benzo hence the feelings of anxiety can creep up on you throughout the day so it is better to have the drug in your system to maintain even blood levels. It took me 4 months to stabilize because I was struggling with gastritis as well. When I got the GI issue under control, I decided to start my tapering again. However, my doc refused to switch me to Valium (she is a holistic psychiatrist and gave me a whole spill about c/o; but that is an option for many people); so, I agreed with my doc, and decided to go to a liquid titration. There is a liquid form of Ativan that you can dilute with water and use syringes to take your daily doses. With this I can also prepare a batch for about six days and prepare three little jars a day. When I first started this taper about two months ago, my sleep was approx 6.5 hrs and I could function okay. Now I am at 7.71 ml of the diluted rx and I am struggling with sleep again since the last week. Sleeping 4 hrs only, but still functional, yet I feel more tired. I have had to resort to some amino acids and supplements, and my doc is okay by it. She also said it is okay to use Benadryl or Unisom once in a while which I had to do that last week, and they worked; but I don't want to use it daily. The amino acids help me with anxiety since I have a diagnoses of GAD and high cortisol levels at night. I have learned some breathing techniques and listen to some good guided meditation and sleep music that helps me fall asleep. I just wanted to let you know that there some options to help us get through this. I read some people have to resort to AD to help them; that would be me last resort because I don't want to updose the Ativan. The good thing with this liquid titration is that you can also hold it as much as you can and take it at your pace. I haven't done that yet because my tapering is based on a 10ml syringe, so I have about eight more months to go. Also, I read some people have had successful tapering with Ativan and vodka or some form of alcohol but they also had to dose at least three times a day. Other people continue with C/H with a scale and shaving the tiny pills to the last crumb. For me that was not easy, this is why I chose the DMT because it is more accurate. Other than the sleep issues, I have no other (just yet); but as I go down on my doses the percentages will increase, and I may develop some annoying symptom. It's best not to anticipate ahead, this will only bring more anxiety. There is really not an easy way out of this, we just have to deal the best we can. I pray a lot and try to continue living my life as normally as I can. Distraction helps and try to make it my main job every day. Luckily I work freelance and set my hours, but my income has had a downturn; but fortunately, my husband is very supportive in everything. I wish you find peace with your husband. One needs all the support we can get. Never lose hope 

[[Mr...]]

Haven't been on the forum for a good while.....life goes on, I'm here to say.  March 9th marked 20 months from my jump off of 1.5 mg of Klon...9 years without a single break.  STAY WITH IT.  IT GETS BETTER.  I read the posts here and a tear rolls.  I cannot believe how far I've come.  Not a perfect life, but I'm high functioning, much less fearful.  I have a semi social life.  It took a good while.....there are remnants of my past style of reacting to the world.......but it's so much better.  Allow time to pass here...be kind to yourself and reduce your expectations.  It gets better.  Peter

[[be...]]

When one tapers, their brain loses the ability to fight stress, hence the anxiety. When this happens to me I leave the situation until I feel more calm. I don't want to risk my taper with rescue doses, but many do. Many find this not to be a problem at all. And on they go. Upwards and onward.

[Guest [...]]

On a side note today....I didn't rescue dose. I wanted to. I had a moment. I had it in my hand this morning literally crying so hard I dry heaved my way to the toilet. I sat on my restroom floor in tears. I turned off the light and just cried until I couldn't any longer and got up, got dressed and went on. It was a hard day. I kept wanting it to just go away. The anxiety, the fear, the Tinnitus. If I could just stop it for an hour or two. Just be me again. I am blessed right now with symptoms less than many here, and i should recognize this for the moment. I truly just wanted the rescue dose I think to just crutch myself. I don't know if I will be able to avert a rescue dose in the future, but at least for today I did.

Thank you everyone!

[[Re...]]

Hang in there. I know it's hard but you can do it! Keep fighting!

[[be...]]

Great job. I'm sorry that you feel so poorly. :'( But people do take rescue doses when they are at their wit's end. Day by day, hour by hour. And distraction can help a lot as well.

 

Betsy