Lorazepam taper

[[Lu...]]

After my first day of updosing to .5mg Ativan 3 times a day, I woke up and felt very strange.  A little anxious at first until I could get up and talk myself to calming down.  Feel very tired, sluggish, head feels strange and little surges of anxiety here and there.  Thinking about taking my afternoon dose to .25mg and see if I works for me.  What do you think? 

[[Lu...]]

Why do some docs switch to diazepam to cut from?  Is tapering from Ativan a lot harder to do compared to using diazepam?

[[Lu...]]

When I tapered from .5mg of clonazepam, it took me exactly one year to do it.  Should I expect a similar length to get off 1.5 mg Ativan (or diazepam if I cross over)?  I’ve been on Ativan less than a month.  Will that factor into my taper?  Seems weird that I’ve been on it less than a month and could end up taking me a year or more to taper off

[[Pa...]]

All benzo's are difficult to taper from, even Valium but it's said to be a little smoother because it doesn't have you suffering with interdose withdrawal.  Most people here taper from their original benzo because they feel more comfortable doing that or because their Dr's won't switch them.

 

We don't know how long it will take you to taper off of 1.5 mgs of Ativan, you may be able to go faster but your symptoms will determine this.  Your past withdrawal experience is likely playing into your current situation, the body seems to remember past use and this equates to great difficulty when tapering again.  Typically short time users of benzo's will have shorter recovery periods but as I said, your past use may be an issue. 

 

I like your idea to only take .25 this afternoon, reinstating at the lowest possible dose means less to taper from.