Ativan taper

[[Ja...]]

Hi I’ve been taking lorazepam  since sept 20 2021 I started at 1mg a day. I have tapered from 1 mg to 0.75mg now I’m in day 9 taking 0.50mg a day for another 5 days and that will be 2 weeks then I was going to do .25 for a week and jump of them. Do you think that’s a safe way of doing it trying to avoid seizures. My doctor wants me off of them as soon as possible. I am in Canada and she advised there is no liquid form. Does anyone have any info if this plan is safe for me to do?

[[Ab...]]

Hello Jada11!

 

I’m new here so I don’t know if I can be of much help, but I’ll try.

I’m on Lorazepam too. Started on July 7th with a dose of 0.5mg every night. In October I started reducing my daily dose and by mid November I was on 0.25mg and doing fairly well. Then my doctor told me that at such low dose I should start skipping a dose every other day. Well it didn’t work, the nights I didn’t take my dose I’d sleep for 1 hour or so and then during the day i had palpitations and was wired up big time. So I realized that the reductions had to be more gradual.

But each person is different, maybe you are lucky and can get off this medication easier.

Best of luck anyway!

[[sl...]]

Hi Jada11,

To my understanding, there is really no way that anyone can know if your current taper plan will be "safe" for you; I don't think you have any significant risk of seizures given that you're at a relatively low dose and tapering. But as for whether or not you will tolerate this rate of withdrawal to the end and into acute recovery (post taper) I can't say and I think you'll be the best judge of what speed and risks to take given your previous tapering experience.

 

We typically suggest a much slower tapering rate on the forum, but that's because people often join the forum when a reduction scheme such as yours hasn't worked and they need something slower. Since you've made it so far with your current approach I'm hopeful that you'll be able to continue, but if you want to be cautious I would suggest at least giving yourself a little more time at each reduced dosage if your prescription and other constraints allow.

 

One thing I suggest regardless of taper rate is keeping a daily tapering journal including at a minimum the date, your dosage, any withdrawal symptoms and severity. Records like this I've found to be invaluable for both adjusting and improving my taper, and communicating with medical providers.

 

I hope you're able to continue as you have been and get off this medication for good. If you have trouble or need help implementing an alternative approach please let us know.