Weaning off of Ativan. Need to find a scale

[[bi...]]

 

 

Hello everyone. I hope this is okay to post here. I am glad that you are all here. You all seem very helpful to people in need. I am having a problem cutting my dosages. I am on Ativan. I take 3 mg a day 1 mg at 9 AM another at 3 PM and then another at 9 PM. I seem to be stable. (I was originally at 6 mg a day). I would like to do a 10% cut and make each pill .9 but I don’t know how to do that. I hope there is a scale that can weigh below 1 mg.

 

I originally started on .5 mg of Ativan 3 times a day in January 2023 for health Anxiety. Then in February, my doctor bumped it up to 1 mg 3 times a day. Then in March he bumped it up to 2 mg three times a day. I don’t have a history of using benzos other than now. I don’t have a history of drinking or smoking or doing rec drugs. I took this prescribed medication as needed 3 times a day, and it turned into every day unfortunately. I had no idea it was going to be hard getting off of these. I was never on an official schedule until I started weaning off of this medication, that’s when I got on a set schedule. A lot of times when I’d pick up my new prescription I still had pills left over. I’ve read the Ashton Manual, and I even printed out some of it and showed my doctor, but he unfortunately prefers not to put me on Valium. So I am kind of stuck with strictly Ativan. I do have some stress in my life, but I want to figure out other ways to deal with it other than taking Ativan. I take care of my elderly parents and I also have two grown young adult kids that need me. I feel like my family is suffering the most because I’m not 100% me. I feel like I’ve made good progress so far coming down from 6 mg to 3 mg a day. I just need to find a good scale that can weigh out a pill below 1 mg. I see some people recommending the GEMINI-20 Precision Milligram Scale. Can that scale weigh out below 1 mg? I want to try to get as low as I can before I stop taking the Ativan. Any help or suggestions or advice anyone can give I would greatly appreciate it. I don’t have anybody to talk to about this. By the way, I started weaning off of this medication just before 6 months hit. Late June is when I started.

 

Thank you again for any suggestions and advice. 

 

[[Pa...]]

Hello bllygoat, welcome to BenzoBuddies,

Congratulations on your taper, you've done an excellent job.  I can see you have a full plate so staying functional is your top priority.  Using a scale for dry tapering purposes is handy, but just so you know, Ativan also comes in a liquid formulation from the manufacturer in some countries?  DailyMed (nih.gov)

We have many members using scales to taper, I'm sure you'll get some good pointers about which ones to use, putting your request in the subject title was smart.  Or, you can use our excellent search function, I know there are many threads on this subject.  Most I believe use the less expensive version. 

Pamster

 

 

[[Co...]]

 

 

Hello @[bi...] Welcome to BenzoBuddies.

Unless you have a history which informs you otherwise, do not assume the worst. The fact is that although 6-7 months is certainly enough time to develop dependency, the depth of your dependency is probably not as great as someone on a similar dose and for many years.

In the first instance, in your shoes, I would just taper off the pills directly, without switching to Valium or traying to make tiny cuts to your pills.

What dose are your pills? Assuming they are 1mg, can you reliably quarter them? The usual course is to remove a quarter pill from one dose and repeat this in stepwise fashion. And since your dose in the evening needs to last you 12 hours (compared with 6 hours for the other two doses), perhaps reduce the evening dose last. You would make further cuts according to how you react, but every 1-2 weeks (and see how you go) is a usual timeframe.

Your schedule might look something like this (purely an example):

1st cut: 1mg - 0.75mg - 1mg
2nd cut: 0.75mg - 0.75mg - 1mg
3rd cut: 0.75mg - 0.75mg - 0.75mg
4th cut: 0.75mg - 0.5mg - 0.75mg
And so on.

As I said, initially, you might aim to make a new cut every 1-2 weeks, but you should adjust this according to how you react.

You might enquire with your doctor about acquiring 0.5mg tablets, as these will allow you to more easily make smaller cuts - this might become more useful as your dose decreases.

What score lines do your pills have? As a general rule, pills with score lines are guaranteed to have the active ingredients divided evenly across score lines, but might be less reliable if divided differently. Just something of which you should be aware.

I would also caution against dragging out your taper for longer than required. The longer you take Ativan, the deeper your dependency might develop. But not for a moment am I suggesting that you just quit or taper off at a very accelerated rate. Just finish your taper at a rate which is reasonably accomplishable without experiencing too much distress.

[[bi...]]

3 hours ago, [[P...] said:

Hello bllygoat, welcome to BenzoBuddies,

Congratulations on your taper, you've done an excellent job.  I can see you have a full plate so staying functional is your top priority.  Using a scale for dry tapering purposes is handy, but just so you know, Ativan also comes in a liquid formulation from the manufacturer in some countries?  DailyMed (nih.gov)

We have many members using scales to taper, I'm sure you'll get some good pointers about which ones to use, putting your request in the subject title was smart.  Or, you can use our excellent search function, I know there are many threads on this subject.  Most I believe use the less expensive version. 

Pamster

Thank you Pamster for your reply I appreciate it very much!!

[[bi...]]

3 hours ago, [[C...] said:

Hello @[bi...] Welcome to BenzoBuddies.

Unless you have a history which informs you otherwise, do not assume the worst. The fact is that although 6-7 months is certainly enough time to develop dependency, the depth of your dependency is probably not as great as someone on a similar dose and for many years.

In the first instance, in your shoes, I would just taper off the pills directly, without switching to Valium or traying to make tiny cuts to your pills.

What dose are your pills? Assuming they are 1mg, can you reliably quarter them? The usual course is to remove a quarter pill from one dose and repeat this in stepwise fashion. And since your dose in the evening needs to last you 12 hours (compared with 6 hours for the other two doses), perhaps reduce the evening dose last. You would make further cuts according to how you react, but every 1-2 weeks (and see how you go) is a usual timeframe.

Your schedule might look something like this (purely an example):

1st cut: 1mg - 0.75mg - 1mg
2nd cut: 0.75mg - 0.75mg - 1mg
3rd cut: 0.75mg - 0.75mg - 0.75mg
4th cut: 0.75mg - 0.5mg - 0.75mg
And so on.

As I said, initially, you might aim to make a new cut every 1-2 weeks, but you should adjust this according to how you react.

You might enquire with your doctor about acquiring 0.5mg tablets, as these will allow you to more easily make smaller cuts - this might become more useful as your dose decreases.

What score lines do your pills have? As a general rule, pills with score lines are guaranteed to have the active ingredients divided evenly across score lines, but might be less reliable if divided differently. Just something of which you should be aware.

I would also caution against dragging out your taper for longer than required. The longer you take Ativan, the deeper your dependency might develop. But not for a moment am I suggesting that you just quit or taper off at a very accelerated rate. Just finish your taper at a rate which is reasonably accomplishable without experiencing too much distress.

 

Thank you for replying Colin!! I really appreciate it. I appreciate all your input and help. I definitely don’t want to drag out this taper. I would like to at least do a 10% reduction each week or two. I like the example schedule that you wrote out. I appreciate that very much. I have 2 mg pills and 1 mg pills and I have 0.5 mg pills. The 2 mg and 1 mg pills are scored and they are both made from Teva pharmaceuticals. The 0.5 mg pills are “not” scored and are made from leading pharmaceuticals. 

 

[[bi...]]

I forgot to tag you Colin @[Co...]

Thank you again for the help I appreciate it!

[[Co...]]

2 minutes ago, [[b...] said:

I forgot to tag you Colin @[Co...]

Thank you again for the help I appreciate it!

No problem. Glad to be of assistance.

I had read your previous response a few  minutes earlier. FYI, quotes create similar notifications.

[[bi...]]

@[Co...] Do you think my 0.5 Ativan pills are okay to cut up into pieces and still have the correct dosage? Thank you again

[[Co...]]

I do not recall members reporting particular problems. Of course, members do report difficulties when making cuts via pill-dividing, so it is not possible for us rule out large inaccuracies being the cause. I suggest you talk with your pharmacist about dividing any pills which do not have score lines for this purpose. It might be a case of trying and see how you fair.

[[he...]]

If you have the money, I would recommend the scale in my profile. If you don't want to spend that much, the Gem 20 is well regarded in the benzo community and has helped countless people jump off successfully. I also link to a pill splitter and metal nail file that worked great for me. The pill splitter is a lifesaver; it's 1000 times better than the drugstore kind with the razor blade.