Help me off lorazepam

[[Dr...]]

Hello,  I reacted very poorly to the pandemic announcement in March.  My General Practitioner gave 180 1mg lorazepam per month for 3 months while trying many anti depression drugs.  Finally Zoloft seemed to cure me (or maybe the 5 months did).  The lorazepam bottle said to take 2 at bedtime and 4 as needed.  So basically I took 6 1mg lorazepams for 3 months.

Now I've worked down to 3 1mg per day. 

I'd like to switch to a longer 1/2 life and taper from there.  Can anyone offer suggestions.  I'll see my GP next wednesday.

thank you,

[[Pa...]]

Hello DrHassell, Welcome to BenzoBuddies!

 

Are you experiencing symptoms, I just need to know because many people can stop taking these drugs with little to no problems, are you feeling anything like whats described in chapter 3 of  The Ashton Manual?

 

Ativan is one of the more short lived benzo's but many taper directly from it by dosing more often throughout the day.  Some will crossover to Valium or Klonopin but they come with their own set of issues as well. 

 

If you'd like to start a thread on the Planning your taper (Taper Plans) board, members there will offer suggestions.

 

If you'd like to connect with others going through this, feel free to start a thread on the Withdrawal Support (during your taper) board.

 

Pamster

 

[[Dr...]]

I guess the only problems I'm having is inter dose withdrawal.  (not extremely bad), but I sure would like to only have to take a dose once or twice per day.  And now that i'm down to 3 1mg tablets, how do I accurately take off 10% of the tablet?

[[Pa...]]

It sounds like you're one of us if you're experiencing interdose withdrawal, I'm sorry.

 

Pill cutting is an art form around here, we have some very talented members.  You can also crush and weigh your dose on a scale, get a compounded liquid, or the liquid form of the drug or do your own homebrew titration.

 

I wonder if you might be able to cut your pill into quarters making your first reduction 8.33%

 

 

[[Dr...]]

If I understand your first sentence correctly, you simply stopped lorazepam completely and switched to the equivalent dose of diazepam.  Is that correct?  I hope I can also do that with no trouble and then start your suggested taper.

thank you,

[[Pa...]]

If I understand your first sentence correctly, you simply stopped lorazepam completely and switched to the equivalent dose of diazepam.  Is that correct?  I hope I can also do that with no trouble and then start your suggested taper.

thank you,

 

I'm not sure who you're addressing but the Ashton manual suggests tapering in the diazepam.  The mechanisms of action are different, it takes diazepam longer to build up in the blood so if you simply stop the Ativan at the same time you start the diazepam you'll be left without much coverage, this will put you into withdrawals before you even start your taper.

[Guest [pa...]]

If I understand your first sentence correctly, you simply stopped lorazepam completely and switched to the equivalent dose of diazepam.  Is that correct?  I hope I can also do that with no trouble and then start your suggested taper.

thank you,

 

I'm not sure who you're addressing but the Ashton manual suggests tapering in the diazepam.  The mechanisms of action are different, it takes diazepam longer to build up in the blood so if you simply stop the Ativan at the same time you start the diazepam you'll be left without much coverage, this will put you into withdrawals before you even start your taper.

 

He's addressing me. It was a bit confusing (I described a table from Ashton Manual in words), so he made a new subject and I posted a link to the table in Ashton Manual and deleted the old post.

[[Pa...]]

If I understand your first sentence correctly, you simply stopped lorazepam completely and switched to the equivalent dose of diazepam.  Is that correct?  I hope I can also do that with no trouble and then start your suggested taper.

thank you,

 

I'm not sure who you're addressing but the Ashton manual suggests tapering in the diazepam.  The mechanisms of action are different, it takes diazepam longer to build up in the blood so if you simply stop the Ativan at the same time you start the diazepam you'll be left without much coverage, this will put you into withdrawals before you even start your taper.

 

He's addressing me. It was a bit confusing (I described a table from Ashton Manual in words), so he made a new subject and I posted a link to the table in Ashton Manual and deleted the old post.

 

Thanks so much, I'm glad you're helping out.