Advice from buddies that successfully tapered Ativan, please

[[ma...]]

Hello

 

I have been tapering Ativan with only minimal symptoms since I switched to liquid (see my signature). I'm inclusively starting a new professional activity.

 

However, I recently reached 50% of the initial dose and since then started to feel headaches and tiredness again. These symptoms are still bearable but I'm afraid to continue reducing the dose and, in a week or two, have one of those terrible episodes that led me to the emergency at the beginning (precisely after reducing to 50% ).

 

What do you recommend? Should I hold the dose for a few days or continue and see if the symptoms increase?

 

Thank you! I know it's not easy to give advice of this kind, but I would really appreciate it.

 

[[ma...]]

Bump  I'm at 0.48mg

[[ch...]]

Hi Magnesi - I'm just beginning to taper off of what started as 1mg a night Ativan for 13 months. Then without even thinking about what I was doing, I upped that dose to 2mg for a month. That's when I discovered I have a problem and began doing some research. Not so slowly over the past month I've gotten myself back down to 1mg and have been holding there for a week. Sleeping well, but experiencing interdose withdrawal throughout the day, particularly in the evening. From today I'll be dry cutting back to as close to .0875 as I can get. So, this isn't a success story at all yet. I just wanted to let you know I'm following your progress and cheering you on! 

[[ma...]]

Hello charnelsan, thanks for passing by And also for your support! I hope things go well for you, too. But I'm sure they will because I've taken Ativan for much longer and I think my tapering has gone fairly well, until now at least. Take good care of yourself and resist the temptation to cut too fast. See you soon!

[[Ru...]]

Hi Magnesi,

 

I as well follow your progress, we started tapering ativan around the same time. I am now at 0.875 and doing ok, only wish I would sleep better. I started to take magnesium in the morning and it seems to help with the fatigue from sleep deprivation.

 

I have quit my part time job, taking time to withdraw and recover. It was a hard decision and whether a good one I don't know yet. By my last taper I got to 0,5 mg, when the bad anxiety, panic attacks and insomnia hit. I also go to psychotherapy and around this time we got to the roots of my anxiety, which I denied for a long time. Long story short, it was a difficult time and I ended again on 1,5 mg ativan for several months.

 

It is great you stay professionally active and even start something new! Don't be too hard on yourself, work and withdrawal both need energy. When I was still working during taper I took it slowly, now i am pushing myself more.

 

Take care and lot of luck with your taper! 

[[ma...]]

Hello Ruzenka, very nice to know that you're following a similar route We've started at the same time and also we're following a similar schedule - we're both more or less at 50%, nice.

 

My new professional activity is more flexible than my previous full time job, which gives me more time to rest. Sometimes I really need to wake up late For me, to know I won't have to wake up very early every day it's the best remedy for insomnia because it cuts the anxiety cycle. But, yes, I tend to overwork and I need to constantly remind myself to not push myself too hard, thanks for your kind words. I guess I need to bring more zen to my life...

 

Great that psychotherapy helped you figure out the roots of your anxiety. I imagine that was very helpful. I always thought that I'm anxious because that's the way I am, but maybe that's as wrong as the "chemical inbalance hypothesis".

 

I also use magnesium but to help with muscle pain. However, I've read here that magnesium can also be addictive, so I try not to take it every day. Please be careful with this, we have enough with Ativan.

 

All the best

[[Ru...]]

 

Great that psychotherapy helped you figure out the roots of your anxiety. I imagine that was very helpful. I always thought that I'm anxious because that's the way I am, but maybe that's as wrong as the "chemical inbalance hypothesis".

 

I also use magnesium but to help with muscle pain. However, I've read here that magnesium can also be addictive, so I try not to take it every day. Please be careful with this, we have enough with Ativan.

 

All the best

 

I know it sounds strange, that psychotherapy made my anxiety worse and I had to updose. It brought some turmoil in my life, BUT I am convinced it helps me longterm and I have now better chances to get off ativan as before. I always thought I was born prone to anxiety - like you said about yourself - and it might be true, but it is not the whole story. One is not born with anxiety disorder.

 

I have never heard about magnesium beiing addictive. Still I take not more than 100% of recommended daily dose and not every day. I also take fish oil and vitamin D.

 

What helps you with your taper ?

 

Best wishes!

[[ma...]]

I know it sounds strange, that psychotherapy made my anxiety worse and I had to updose. It brought some turmoil in my life, BUT I am convinced it helps me longterm and I have now better chances to get off ativan as before. I always thought I was born prone to anxiety - like you said about yourself - and it might be true, but it is not the whole story. One is not born with anxiety disorder.

 

I understand you, sometimes we have to hit rock bottom before we're able to start improving. Because some changes are hard and require that we change our perspective, which takes time. It happened to me also recently.

 

What helps you with your taper ?

 

I know most people talk about other meds but for me is being outdoors and, even better, in contact with nature. And exercising, although sometimes it's difficult because my muscles are weaker and sore.

 

And you?

[[Ru...]]

I try to get as much good sleep as possible - go to sleep at around the same time each day and have quiet 15 mins in the evening with a cup of tea, after the kids fall asleep; reading a book - no thriller, something easy - in bed before sleep.

The books help me also during the day, when I am anxious, to distract myself.

I write to-do-lists all the time, with all the tasks I should or want to do (household chores, shopping, paying bills, appoitments, also plans for weekend trips and little projects I want to do). When I am exhausted or to stressed to do much, I just do some easier tasks from my list and when I am feeling better I do the bigger ones.

I also do yoga and catch some sun outside as often as possible. Slow breathing helps me, when I am getting tense - when I am really anxious, it does not work so well, or I cant do it properly.

When I feel really, really bad I do a short voice record on my smartphone - I say the date, time of the day and describe how I feel. I did it couple times and I felt better afterwards. Dont ask me why . I never listen to these records though.

Have a nice relaxed day!     

[[Fo...]]

Hi Guys

 

Not sure if I can help however I dry cut tapered from 2mg of Ativan although at times I was taking up to 4mg per day. I would advise you to stick to your new dose until your symptoms subside.

 

Whenever I did a cut I would wait until symptoms subsided then do another cut. As you can imagine it became very time consuming when at the really low doses as cutting and weighing the small amounts was a pain!

 

I am pleased to say though that I took it extremely slow and steady so I could continue to enjoy life with minimal upset from withdrawal symptoms and jumped nearly 3 months ago so you too can do it  

 

I have just started a taper from Zopiclone which is not going as well at all - I hate the drug and it seems to hate me!

 

Good luck and let me know how you go.

 

Forest

[[ma...]]

Hi Guys

 

Not sure if I can help however I dry cut tapered from 2mg of Ativan although at times I was taking up to 4mg per day. I would advise you to stick to your new dose until your symptoms subside.

 

Whenever I did a cut I would wait until symptoms subsided then do another cut. As you can imagine it became very time consuming when at the really low doses as cutting and weighing the small amounts was a pain!

 

I am pleased to say though that I took it extremely slow and steady so I could continue to enjoy life with minimal upset from withdrawal symptoms and jumped nearly 3 months ago so you too can do it  

 

I have just started a taper from Zopiclone which is not going as well at all - I hate the drug and it seems to hate me!

 

Good luck and let me know how you go.

 

Forest

 

Hi Forest1980,

Congratulations for your successful taper! And thanks for your advice Its very good to hear from someone who made it. If you don't mind sharing, which part did you find more difficult in terms of symptoms, the first or the second half?

Also, good luck with Zopiclone

[Guest [ch...]]

Slow, slow, slow is the name of the game while tapering. Things get tough as you get closer to 0. Healing from long-term Ativan use takes a long time; I found it took almost 2 years (including the taper time) to fully heal. The only way to avoid acute withdrawal symptoms is to taper so slow that you heal on your way down. Most people instead taper too fast and taper themselves into acute and then suffer for a long time after reaching 0. If you're following the blue curve on your planned taper schedule, I think that's too fast. The orange curve would be better. Or come up with an even slower plan.

 

I found there's no magic bullet except time. Supplements were not helpful. Other psych drugs are counterproductive. I'm not a fan of SSRI's; if I were you I'd consider dropping the Effexor. I found good diet and exercise helpful. Also relaxing activities such as yoga. I found therapy to be a waste of time and money. My main issue while tapering was insomnia, but I found I could tough it out and manage to function (to some extent) at work. I think it's good to keep working if you can; it provides distraction. It's good you're still taking on new challenges and living your life during this period.

 

You will heal and get back to 100%. Really!

 

Good luck!

 

CP

[[ma...]]

Slow, slow, slow is the name of the game while tapering. Things get tough as you get closer to 0. Healing from long-term Ativan use takes a long time; I found it took almost 2 years (including the taper time) to fully heal. The only way to avoid acute withdrawal symptoms is to taper so slow that you heal on your way down. Most people instead taper too fast and taper themselves into acute and then suffer for a long time after reaching 0. If you're following the blue curve on your planned taper schedule, I think that's too fast. The orange curve would be better. Or come up with an even slower plan.

 

I found there's no magic bullet except time. Supplements were not helpful. Other psych drugs are counterproductive. I'm not a fan of SSRI's; if I were you I'd consider dropping the Effexor. I found good diet and exercise helpful. Also relaxing activities such as yoga. I found therapy to be a waste of time and money. My main issue while tapering was insomnia, but I found I could tough it out and manage to function (to some extent) at work. I think it's good to keep working if you can; it provides distraction. It's good you're still taking on new challenges and living your life during this period.

 

You will heal and get back to 100%. Really!

 

Good luck!

 

CP

 

chessplayer, the blue line is the one I'd like to be following but, it's funny, as I correct it with the holding periods, it becomes more and more coincident with the orange line which corresponds to the Ashton lower limit.

I totally agree with you on the importance of exercise and diet. And also on the SSRI's and natural alternatives. But I can't just drop the Effexor. I'll have to taper it as carefully as I'm doing with the benzo because it's withdrawal symptoms are, at the best, just as bad. I become very sick when I forget to take a single dose. So, I want to get rid of it very badly, but I've been reading it's not wise to quit the two drugs at the same time. Do you have a different experience?

All the best to you too And thanks for the positive words!

 

[[fi...]]

*following* (with a *bump* hehe)

[[ho...]]

My advice to you would be to trust yourself and find someone to help in person. From forst hand I have took advice from some posts on here and ended up very lost to have another persons advice the compete opposite. So I think your best bet would be to get the information needed to taper and thats it. Sorry not sorry

[[Lo...]]

My advice would be to be very careful with both Effexor and Ativan. Effexor has a very short half life and so does the ativan. I would find a really good doctor and go very, very slowly. You cannot go too slow with Ativan. The cuts do catch up with you, even the small ones. If I were you, I'd taper very slow to about 0.5mg of Ativan, and hold there for a longer amount of time. The last 0.5mg is really, really tough.

[Guest [ch...]]

Agree with L-free totally about tapering slow.

 

I have no experience with Effexor. I was on Lexapro for a while, which was totally unhelpful and counterproductive to healing. I was able to just drop the Lexapro. But I know that a lot of people have a lot of trouble getting off SSRI's. Many have to taper those real slow, and many suffer similarly to us benzo sufferers. There is a site www.survivingantidepressants.org for AD withdrawal. Doctors love to give AD's for benzo withdrawal and I always counsel people not already on them "no no no!" because it's just adding another addictive harmful drug to the mix. Like treating a broken arm by breaking your leg too.

 

Given you're already on the Effexor, and have experienced difficulty getting off, it's probably wise to taper that too. I don't have enough experience to advise whether to taper the two together or one at a time in some order.

[[Lo...]]

Agree with L-free totally about tapering slow.

 

I was on Lexapro for a while, which was totally unhelpful and counterproductive to healing. I was able to just drop the Lexapro. But I know that a lot of people have a lot of trouble getting off SSRI's. Many have to taper those real slow, and many suffer similarly to us benzo sufferers. There is a site www.survivingantidepressants.org for AD withdrawal. Doctors love to give AD's for benzo withdrawal and I alwaysI  counsel people not already on them "no no no!" because it's just adding another addictive harmful drug to the mix. Like treating a broken arm by breaking your leg too.

 

Given you're already on the Effexor, and have experienced difficulty getting off, it's probably wise to taper that too. I don't have enough experience to advise whether to taper the two together or one at a time in some order.

I was also prescribed Lexapro when I was withdrawing from ativan and didn't even know it. Took it a few times and made me so agitated I couldn't stand it. My ativan dose went up through this bleak period. Dr trying to restart, Prozac, too. Nothing worked. Apparently, my CNS had been compromised from Ativan enough, so my body couldn't tolerate a single SSRI. Don't really want to go into discussion about effectiveness of SSRI's (too complicated), but, for me, they no longer look like an option after the Ativan. My body and brain had becomes extremely psych drug sensitive after the Ativan experience. Also, as weird as it sounds, I had to give up on coffee, completely, which was something that gave me few problems before the ativan years and even while taking it sporadically.

 

Having said that, you're in a different situation, as you have been on Effexor for a while now. Don't have enough experience about Effexor, except trying it for a couple of days in my early 20's when I was unmedicated. It felt way too stimulating to me back then, so I quit after 2 days. The only SSRI that I tolerated reasonably well was Prozac and had been on it for 11 years before going on Ativan. I tried to come off of it in 2008 (no benzos involved back then) C/T and was not successful, but the experience wasn't as horrific as Prozac has a longer half-life than Effexor. Looking back, if I'd taken a year to get off of Prozac properly, I may have been successful, but I knew nothing about tapering.

 

I got off Prozac much too fast in 2013, and went from 20mg to 0mg in just a month, as something felt "off". Felt like I was too stimulated, but was blaming it on Prozac, not the ativan. Never occurred to me that a sedative could make me feel agitated after a while. Just didn't make sense back then. I am honestly not sure how I could have handled the situation better at the time since I didn't have the knowledge I have now.

 

But knowing what I know now, I'd probably keep the Prozac on board and just worked on stabilizing/tapering the ativan first and deal with the SSRI later. Dealing with benzo wd and SSRI wd at the same time was way too much for me to handle.

[[Fo...]]

Hi

 

I actually found the first half the toughest, I think this was also due to the fact that I was still coming to terms with my breakdown and healing from that. The second half I took particularly slowly and found myself taking a ridiculously small dose for months on end. Logically I probably could have jumped sooner however I waited until I felt ready and one day it came naturally that I simply did not take it!

 

I think the crucial thing in tapering is going at a pace that is right for you, note you symptoms, stabilise then cut and when cutting even if it is a very small amount be proud as it is one step closer to to your finish line 

 

I wish you a huge amount of luck on your journey - I am sure you will smash it and heal.

 

Forest x

[[ma...]]

Hi guys

Thanks a lot for all the advice and kind words. Today I'm very tired but I would like you to know that I think you are awesome, not only for the way you face your own benzo battles, but also for giving some of your time and energy to help and motivate others like me.

I learned about my "addictions" already three months ago but I'm still in shock. Sometimes I forget about all this but then I realize how long it will take to be free from these terrible meds that I so naively started taking, and I only think what have I done with my life. Why did I do this to myself instead of doing the harsh life changes that I ended up having to do years later?! I didn't know, I didn't have enough self respect, I didn't listen to myself, I was blinded by others' perspectives, I tried to live a life that eventually burned me out. But at least, that I know, I was lucky to find BB