Tapering Ativan physical symptoms

[[Am...]]

I am tapering Ativan for the last 4 months .  Went down from 3 mg day to 0.5 gradually dropping 0.5 every month.  I’m struggling with this last 0.5 mg.  I have such horrible abdominal spasms, pain, bloating .  I’m so scared I’m dying to it’s something super serious.  My anxiety is sky high and I’m feeling so down .  Has anyone experienced this?  What helped.  Super scare and feeling alone .  Thank you!

[[Co...]]

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

What dose pills do you use? If you do not have them already, Ativan is available in 0.5mg tablets. Most people find they need to spilt their pill to make smaller reductions at the end. So, you would at least halve the the 0.5mg pill; or even quarter it if you can manage that.

Halving (and especially quartering) these pills can be a bit of a hit or miss affair. If the pills are scored, they should divide fairly accurately. If they are not, they are generally not guaranteed to have the active ingredients evenly distributed within the pill. You should talk with your pharmacist about this.

If this is not an option for some reason, let us know and we can discuss other possible routes off for you. But, for now, since you are experiencing such difficult withdrawal symptoms, I suggest that you hold off form a further cuts until to you feel more stabilised.

[[Am...]]

Thank you Colin .  I have 0.5 tablets .  They are not scored.  I will sit tight with this dose for a while.  I’m just so anxious about my withdrawal symptoms.  Can they really be that painful and disruptive?  I had no idea!

[[Pi...]]

How long did you take Ativan?  I took it for decades.  I bought a scale on Amazon and cut my pills using a razor.  I often was not stabilized when tapering and found the taper difficult.

[[Am...]]

I took it for about a year for anxiety.  I have health anxiety so these stomach issues are quite distressing.

[[Am...]]

I’m just losing faith.  I struggled with anxiety was prescribed Zoloft.  The Zoloft agitated me so much I was prescribed Ativan.  I finally stabilized on Zoloft and started my taper .  At first things were ok I was managing .  Now the stomach issues are spinning me out and I’m losing faith in myself and whether I’ll ever get past this.  

[[Co...]]

1 hour ago, [[A...] said:

Thank you Colin .  I have 0.5 tablets .  They are not scored.  I will sit tight with this dose for a while.  I’m just so anxious about my withdrawal symptoms.  Can they really be that painful and disruptive?  I had no idea!

When you are ready, you might try dividing your pills using a good pill cutter. It is difficult to predict how well evenly distributed the active ingredients might be. But another possible option is grind up the pill and ask your pharmacist about a suspension agent for the powder. Or, weighing or eyeballing the power into roughly equal amounts (quarter-pill amounts, say).

[[je...]]

On 12/09/2023 at 04:10, [[A...] said:

I am tapering Ativan for the last 4 months .  Went down from 3 mg day to 0.5 gradually dropping 0.5 every month.  I’m struggling with this last 0.5 mg.  I have such horrible abdominal spasms, pain, bloating .  I’m so scared I’m dying to it’s something super serious.  My anxiety is sky high and I’m feeling so down .  Has anyone experienced this?  What helped.  Super scare and feeling alone .  Thank you!

If you went from 3mg to 0.5mg in 4 months that's a very fast taper. No wonder you're experiencing these severe symptoms. 

Generally we recommend cuts of no more than 5-10% of each new daily dose every 2-4 weeks. Your last cut was a 50% cut. When did you make this last cut and how severe are your symptoms? Are you functioning?

[[Am...]]

This was the taper my doctor gave me.  I agree 50% seems like a lot.  My last cut was mid August .  It’s the stomach cramping that has me freaked out.  I am also a bit edgy and not wanting to do things.  

Edited September 12, 2023 by [Am...]
Trying to remove quote

[[Am...]]

2 hours ago, [[j...] said:

If you went from 3mg to 0.5mg in 4 months that's a very fast taper. No wonder you're experiencing these severe symptoms. 

Generally we recommend cuts of no more than 5-10% of each new daily dose every 2-4 weeks. Your last cut was a 50% cut. When did you make this last cut and how severe are your symptoms? Are you functioning?

Sorry just trying to figure out the responding and quoting.  I made the last cut around Aug 16.  The stomach cramps started almost immediately - actually more like spasms.  Plus my anxiety is up and I’m not wanting to do things .  But I’m most freaked out by the cramps.  My doctor gave me the taper schedule - I had no idea it was too fast

[[je...]]

Your symptoms should be gradually settling down. The cramps are normal in withdrawal. I had it too when I cut too much. If I were you, I would hold my current dose for another three to four weeks just to give your body some time to recover from this fast taper. Then I suggest you take the last 0.5mg much slower. Will your doctor be open to that?

[[Am...]]

8 minutes ago, [[j...] said:

Your symptoms should be gradually settling down. The cramps are normal in withdrawal. I had it too when I cut too much. If I were you, I would hold my current dose for another three to four weeks just to give your body some time to recover from this fast taper. Then I suggest you take the last 0.5mg much slower. Will your doctor be open to that?

Thank you !  I appreciate the information.  Very helpful.  I think my doctor would be open to it.  He’s pretty good .   I agree I’ll stick where I am for a while.  It sucks to be anxious but I’m doing psychotherapy and I’m remaining hopeful.  I have to do this no matter how hard.  Support is wonderful in this group. 

[[je...]]

@[Am...] you're welcome. I know it can be very overwhelming when we realise what is happening to us, but everything will be okay. You're going to get through this.