How should I Taper off Lorazepam ( Ativan )

[[Sa...]]

well if it was up to my i would sbstitute with Valium but no one will help me  i cant get valium   i will read up about titration because i have no idea what that means Thanks

 

At the top of the screen hit "BenzoGuide" then hit "Methods".  Scroll down and you will see an explanation on titration.

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/buddiesguide/methods

 

Sandy

[[Jo...]]

thanks Sandy i will   

[[Jo...]]

everyday for months i would have daily withdrawal  at first i had no idea that i was going through withdrawal i couldnt understand why i couldnt think or stand up or y my eyes would hurt so much y my head would hurt so much and why i had terrible stomach pains or y i couldnt sleep

if i knew any of this i would have never takin the first pill

i wish i never took them at all

I still cant believe the dr wont help me get off

Im just so worried about everything   

will i always feel like this

will i have a seizure

 

i hope not  Thanks to everyone here  u guys make me feel better and give me hope

[[Jo...]]

ive just been toughing it out and taking .5 a day until i can find a doctor to help me taper  withdrawal everyday though

[[Ta...]]

Hi Joey,

 

I hope your cold goes away soon. It's no fun when it's "mixed" with w/d. 

 

If you decide to titrate lorazepam and not switch to klonopin or valium, we can help you. I do it every day and it's really not a big deal. You would need a cylinder and a syringe, that's all. That may be easier on you, if you can't get a dr to give you valium. Try to stabilize daily dose first, though.

Hang in there Joey.

 

Tanya 

[[Sh...]]

ive just been toughing it out and taking .5 a day until i can find a doctor to help me taper   withdrawal everyday though

 

Hi Joey,

I'm sorry you're having a rough time with your doctor.  I also had to find a new doctor to help me taper as mine totally abandonded me when I told him I wanted to stop taking Ativan.  I had horrible w/d's when I cut my dose in half and he thought that I should be fine.  It took me a few weeks, but I found a new doctor who switched me to valium and I tapered down.  My old doctor didn't have a problem writing prescriptions for 60 Ativan at a time, but flat out refused to switch me to Valium.  He said it was "more addictive" than Ativan.  Yeah, right. 

 

Anyway, please be careful with cutting your dose in half and also in the shout box it says you haven't taken it for two days.  Ativan has a very short half life to begin with, let alone cutting it out completely, and you could have some crazy withdrawals.

[[Sa...]]

and you could have some crazy withdrawals.

 

She's not kidding!

 

Please be careful.

 

Sandy

[[Jo...]]

i know i went 5 days without ativan i thought i was going krazy  i coldnt stand up i couldnt see i couldnt think i had weird thoughts  my head was killllling me  then i found this site  helped so much 

 

same my doctor keeps give me 60 lorazepam with as many refils as i want but when i asked him 2 help me taper he said no keep taking more

 

2day a new dr set me up with a schedule 2 taper  but only using Lorazepam

 

2weeks .5 am .5 pm

2weeks .25 am .25 pm

2weeks .25 pm

then done  i will try  at least hes helping and i have a lot of extra pills in case i wanna go slower

[[Co...]]

Hi Joey,

 

That taper is rather fast. What is the smallest dose you can manage from your Lorazepam tablets (how small will the divide)? I suggest, at the very least, that after the two weeks of taking two 0.5mg doses per day (1mg per day in total), spend two weeks at 0.25mg three times per day (0.75mg per day in total). Also, consider allowing more time between the cuts. Most people would find that rate of withdrawal too quick.

[[Jo...]]

i know  ur right but at least its something  and i dont have 2 go cold turkey

i know it seems fast but its some hope  he doesnt want to use valium  i think this will work

 

ill go  1mg 2 weeks

        .75  2 weeks thanks 4 pointing this out

        .5    2 weeks

        .25  2 weeks

then i will take .25 when nec if nec 

 

tha small cut i can make is .25  i dont understand titration or the materials needed 2much work and thinking

 

will a pill cutter work on a small .5 chalky tablet?  if so where can i buy a pill cutter

 

if this plan doesnt work ill get another dr  or this dr said i can take longer if nec  hes a good guy pysciatrist

[[Sh...]]

Hi again Joey,

 

I agree with Colin, that's a super fast taper.  I was on .5mgs of Ativan and switched to 5 mgs. Valium and it took me 5 months to taper from that dose.  You're on double the amount I was. 

 

You can try a pill cutter to cut it in half.  I got my pill cutter in the local pharmacy but I found I got a better cut when I used a razor blade or knife (not serrated).

 

When I tapered Valium, I would crush a half a pill between waxed paper with the back of a spoon and then divide it with a razor blade.  I took whatever dose I needed in powder and dumped the rest.  You could try it with the Ativan.  The pills are really tiny and it would be hard to cut them really small.

 

What if you took the taper slower by cutting a .5 pill in half to get .25, then crush .25 (half of the .5 pill) and divide that powder into two piles and one of those piles would equal .125?

 

You could then step down by .125 (which would equal 1/4 of a .5 pill) and it would look like this:

 

Start: 1 mg

.875  2 weeks

.75  2 weeks

.625  2 weeks

.5  2 weeks

.375  2 weeks

.25  2 weeks

.125  2 weeks

0

 

Colin, I apologize in advance if I'm over-stepping here with this post.  I'm not a moderator but I wanted to help if I could. 

 

That said, Joey I would still try to get the Valium.  From my experience, it was so much smoother than when I cut Ativan directly.

 

 

HTH!

 

[[Co...]]

Colin, I apologize in advance if I'm over-stepping here with this post.  I'm not a moderator but I wanted to help if I could.   

 

Hi Shellzer,

 

I guess we need to make it a lot clearer of how BBo operates.

 

Members should be helping each other, making useful suggestions, giving support and help with tapers. Your post was all of those things! We don't operate a top-down approach. I will be posting something about the different roles of members and the team, and what we should expect from each other. What I will say now is that the primary role of the team is to provide an environment where people can support each other with their benzodiazepine withdrawal. It is not about telling telling members what they must do.

 

Keep doing what you do, Shellzer!

[[Jo...]]

thanks shellzer  i appricate and acept advice from anyone here  were all a team and id hope we all have good intentions  thanks

 

they wont give me valium  i will try the one my dr set up with colin's addition of .75

if it is too fast i will move to shellzer's plan  i have a lot of pills now

im not worried i will go at whateva pace works and feels best

 

thanks again for both of ur help  means tha world 2 me thanks 4 ur support

 

i will start 2moro  ill keep u posted in tha last 10 days i have only taken 4mgs  so even starting at .5 am .5pm is a step up  i will not suffer withdrawal needlessly

i will try the one my dr set up with colin's addition of .75

if it is too fast i will move to shellzer's plan

so 4get tha pill cutter  just use a razor blade??? i can buy them at the drug store or what?

Thanks again

[[Jo...]]

or depending on how much each 1mg pill weighs i may b able 2 use my old digital marijuana scale to make smaller more accurature cuts for shellzer's plan

[[Sh...]]

 

 

Keep doing what you do, Shellzer!

 

Thanks Colin! 

[[Sh...]]

thanks shellzer  i appricate and acept advice from anyone here  were all a team and id hope we all have good intentions  thanks

 

they wont give me valium  i will try the one my dr set up with colin's addition of .75

if it is too fast i will move to shellzer's plan  i have a lot of pills now

im not worried i will go at whateva pace works and feels best

 

thanks again for both of ur help  means tha world 2 me thanks 4 ur support

 

i will start 2moro   ill keep u posted in tha last 10 days i have only taken 4mgs  so even starting at .5 am .5pm is a step up   i will not suffer withdrawal needlessly

i will try the one my dr set up with colin's addition of .75

if it is too fast i will move to shellzer's plan

so 4get tha pill cutter  just use a razor blade??? i can buy them at the drug store or what?

Thanks again

 

Sounds like a good plan, Joey.  I wish you well. 

 

I got a pack of razor blades in a hardware store in the paint isle.  People use them for scraping paint off of windows.  I'm sure if you look around, they shouldn't be hard to find.

 

You can try a pill cutter, but honestly it didn't work as well for me.  The pills would shift a little in it and the cuts wouldn't be equally divided in half.  If you use a razor blade or knife, try to cut straight down to keep the cut even.  Do it on waxed paper so you don't lose any.  Do you have .5 mg pills?  I was on the .5 pills. 

 

Isn't it sad that we have to resort to such measures just to safely come off of a medicine our doctors gave us?  

[[Co...]]

A safer option than a razor blade is to obtain a craft knife from an art supply shop. I would carefully line up the knife on the pill, and then, with the other hand, place over the top a paper towl to capture the two pieces, as that are likely to shoot out (especially with harder pills).

[[Jo...]]

shellzer ur right  its so sad that this is what its come to just 2 get off medicine a trusted dr would give me  i still wish i neva took tha first pill

 

i have 46 1 mg pills  and my new dr gave me 30 .5mg pills

 

so i should have enough to do my plan or ur plan wit a few extra just in case  i will head to the hardware store 2moro  and go get tha wax paper

 

i made a calender schedule to plan and keep track and will start on monday

 

thanks again 4 all tha help

[[Jo...]]

advil for my migranes    and lorazepam are ok 2 take in the same day right?

[[Jo...]]

shellzer had did u cut the .5  they are so small and there is no line in tha middle

i got tha pills

i bought the razor

i bought the wax paper

but how can i b sure i m cutting them right in the middle?

[[Sh...]]

There's no line in the middle?  Mine had a line and I would cut along that line.

I know it's hard to dry cut those little pills.  I cut them in half to take .25 AM and .25 PM.

[[Jo...]]

shellzer what country do u live in?

advil and lorazepam r ok right?

such a small pill controlling my life  still cant get over that

[[Sh...]]

I'm in the US.

 

Advil is a pain reliever, right?  I've never used it.  I used ibuprophen during my taper with no problems but I've heard of some people complain that OTC pain relievers caused withdrawals to act up.

 

I know how you feel about the meds controlling your life.  I felt so trapped and resented taking every dose of Ativan and Valium until I finished my taper.  I hated it.  I was so angry at my doctor for prescribing it and never warning me what would happen.  And then he abandoned me on top of it.  The coward!

[[Jo...]]

im in canada

 

advil is ibuprophen

 

same xpeience no 1 told me anything some days id take 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 whatevea i felt like the dr just keep feeding them 2 me when i asked him 2 taper  he told me to take MORE 

 

i wish i neva took the first one although for the first 2 months it really did help me do alot of things

 

but now im so mad i dont even want to take the pills to taper 

i will though i have 2

 

to quit i have 2 take more  why prescribe it in tha first place

i wish i could go back in time and just live with my anixty and agoraphobia without pills

o well at least there is hope now and i will b off them soon

thanks 4 everything

[[Jo...]]

Hey guys im back      thanks for everyones help  i have quit lorazepam and due to tapering the withdrawl was not so bad  i couldnt come on here because reading and thinking about benzos made me want to take them

 

SOme problems though

 

  since quitting lorazepam i m back to smoking marijuana daily  i will smoke 5 grams a day 

  the lorazepam had made me quit marijuana and i felt good  also the weed makes my anxity sooo bad

 

  also i constantly feel the urge to take lorazepam or clonazepam  i have 200 pills left

  its like i always want to b tranquilized im too afraid to take ativan or clonazepam incase i cant get any more

 

my anxiety and insomnia are sooo bad    the dr gave me trazodone  but i refuse to take anti depressants also i really dont want to smoke weed  but i find myself needing to take something i really dont know what to do