1-1.25 mg Ativan per day, at a loss for how to dose it throughout the day to avoid IDW - (sleep is paramount!)

[[iz...]]

 

Hello,

I have extensively looked into the Ashton method etc talked to coaches like Jennifer L and David Powers and Angie P, and somehow I am just still at a loss as to how to reduce my doses of Ativan. I don't know where to get support for this but have been told to come here by multiple people. I received steroid injections which went horribly wrong last October (2022) which wrecked my nervous system, leaving me unable to sleep or relax (went 6 nights no sleep at one point). I had never been on a benzo in my life, but after the steroids, everything felt terrifying/destroyed. I was having seizures, was hospitalized, sick as a dog for almost a year etc.. it was awful. The Ativan helped somewhat. The problem is, here it is almost a year later and I am still on it, still having the awful debilitating anxiety every morning and throughout the day, afraid to leave the house (previously a world traveler/photographer)... it's a heartbreaking situation. My partner left, my son had to go live with his father (he's only 11) ... bottom line, life is a shambles at this point. I know I need to get off the Ativan, have been trying for months with no luck... and am terrified to go back to the insomnia that was a form of torture -- as it is, I still don't get enough sleep (5-6 hours broken every night, which is hell for me but at some points I was getting 15 minutes per night so I am afraid to complain). The bottom line is, I need some specifics with the dosage. Right now I'm taking .75 at night to sleep and .25 at noon... but some days I take .75 at 8pm (bedtime), .3 at 9am and .3 at 3pm... or sometimes .75 at 8pm, .4 at 9am and .5 at 3pm... if that makes sense. So never more than 1.25 but never less than 1... Bottom line, I need to get off Ativan and I feel like I'm doing something wrong. I NEVER feel right, probably in interdose withdrawal, I need to reduce that .75 at night but terrified of just going straight back to worse sleep (my sleep sucks right now as it is, I simply do not get tired anymore after the steroids)... I just need to figure out how to do this. I think at one point I took .5 at night, .5 at 9 am and .5 at 3pm... (1.5 total) but that only lasted a short while... I'm just, as I said, lost. I do have the liquid version of this so I have flexibility there. I just need more specifics. I can't switch to valium, I originally tried valium when this whole steroid fiasco began... long story, it just wasn't good. Thank you for any help you can provide or direct me to. Stephanie

 

Edit - *I made a mistake by saying .3, .3, and .4, .5.... what I meant to add is that the night dose is a pill, the daytime doses are in a syringe (liquid) and the .3ml actually = .15 mg ... and .5 = .25 mg... sorry about that. Brain fog. But either way, still trying to figure out how to cut the night dose without wrecking my sleep. Maybe it's not possible. As it is, my sleep is lousy if I take less during the day, which is mind boggling to me. I figured if I took the .75 at night consistently that should be enough but it seem not to be. 

 

Edited September 23, 2023 by [iz...]
adding info

[[mi...]]

I was originally put on Ativan for a similar reason after reacting terribly to Flagyl. After two months I got worse and had horrible interdose withdrawal. I went inpatient and they put me on Klonopin and while it was rough for awhile it eventually stabilized me dosing once a day at bedtime. I felt close to back to 100% for over 18 months and was able to taper down about 2/3 of the way. I am not a mess because they changed my brands on me and my cns went crazy again (plus I probably didn’t hold enough between cuts). So I’m not at a good place at the moment but for a long while I was. I too can’t tolerate Valium at all, makes me feel like hell. But Klonopin has a longer half life than Ativan so it’s worked as an alternative to Ativan. Might be worth a look.

[[je...]]

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

The bottom line is, I need some specifics with the dosage. Right now I'm taking .75 at night to sleep and .25 at noon... but some days I take .75 at 8pm (bedtime), .3 at 9am and .3 at 3pm... or sometimes .75 at 8pm, .4 at 9am and .5 at 3pm... if that makes sense. So never more than 1.25 but never less than 1... 

If you take 0.75 and 0.3 and 0.3 it adds up to 1.35mg. And if you take 0.75 and 0.4 and 0.5 it adds up to 1.65mg. So if your doses vary between 1mg, 1.35mg and 1.65mg, I think the fluctuations are too big. Our bodies crave consistency. It's really important to consistently take the same dose over a 24hr period in order to keep your blood serum levels consistent. My suggestion would be to decide on a stabilizing dose somewhere in the middle and to try and stick to that dose for two weeks or so, to see how your body reacts before you start cutting. This will also help to determine whether you are dealing with interdose withdrawal. But right now with such large dose fluctuations it's really difficult to say what exactly is causing your symptoms. Just to give you an idea, we generally recommend cuts of no more than 5-10% of each new combined daily dose every two weeks or so. If you fluctuate between these doses you are basically cutting and updosing over certain periods of time (and you're cutting by a lot more than 10% each time). And all of this is influenced by how long you stay at each dose.  

I'm really sorry about all the issues you've had to face up to this point in your life. I hope we can help you navigate this taper. 

[[st...]]

@[iz...] I'm so sorry you are going through this. It's heartbreaking when your not who you used to be. I speak from experience. Hang in there we are all here to support you.

[[iz...]]

Thank you so much ;( I am just so so so so tired. 

[[iz...]]

Hello. I realized I made a mistake in the post, which is that at night I take the .75 (1/2 a mg and a 1/4 mg) and during the day is when I'd use the liquid version which is in a .5ml syringe but the .5ml = 1/4 mg or .25 pill.... so I'd been trying to only do one .5ml (.25 mg) but I always notice it and feel like garbage after a few days... so I sometimes skip that and do .3ml and .3ml of the syringe (.15 mg and .15mg) and sometimes I do .4ml. and .5 ml.... which would then be nearly the full 1.25mg I think... arghhh. does this make sense? or is my math still wrong. Either way, you're right about the lack of consistency... I'm just not sure where to make the cuts. Should I still keep my night dose the .75mg? and then during the day keep doing .3ml and .3ml? (.15 mg and .15mg). I skipped a noon dose yesterday and woke up feeling like a truck hit me. It was astounding. Despite still taking my .75 mg that night... and despite not feeling lousy leading up to bed... Granted I have other major health stuff going on, like the auto immune stuff, etc... from the steroids but still. Did not expect to wake up aching all over like that. 

Edited September 23, 2023 by [iz...]

[[iz...]]

4 hours ago, [[s...] said:

@[iz...] I'm so sorry you are going through this. It's heartbreaking when your not who you used to be. I speak from experience. Hang in there we are all here to support you.

Thank you I just figured out how to respond to individual responses lol. Thank you, means alot to hear that. 

[[je...]]

42 minutes ago, [[i...] said:

Hello. I realized I made a mistake in the post, which is that at night I take the .75 (1/2 a mg and a 1/4 mg) and during the day is when I'd use the liquid version which is in a .5ml syringe but the .5ml = 1/4 mg or .25 pill.... so I'd been trying to only do one .5ml (.25 mg) but I always notice it and feel like garbage after a few days... so I sometimes skip that and do .3ml and .3ml of the syringe (.15 mg and .15mg) and sometimes I do .4ml. and .5 ml.... which would then be nearly the full 1.25mg I think... arghhh. does this make sense? or is my math still wrong. Either way, you're right about the lack of consistency... I'm just not sure where to make the cuts. Should I still keep my night dose the .75mg? and then during the day keep doing .3ml and .3ml? (.15 mg and .15mg). I skipped a noon dose yesterday and woke up feeling like a truck hit me. It was astounding. Despite still taking my .75 mg that night... and despite not feeling lousy leading up to bed... Granted I have other major health stuff going on, like the auto immune stuff, etc... from the steroids but still. Did not expect to wake up aching all over like that. 

I can't really comment on the maths for your liquid. It depends on the concentration of your liquid and I'm really bad at calculating maths for liquid - I haven't yet wrapped my brain around that, I'm sorry. So for now I'm just going to work on the assumption your maths is correct.

Can you tell me a bit more about the liquid you're using - is it commercially manufactured, compounded or homebrew? How long have you been using the liquid?

In your first post you said you right now you are taking 0.75mg at night and 0.25mg at noon. How does this work for you generally?

[[st...]]

@[iz...] I'm so sorry you are going through this. It's heartbreaking when your not who you used to be. I speak from experience. Hang in there we are all here to support you.

[[st...]]

@[iz...] your welcome. Sending Hugs we all need them.

Edited September 23, 2023 by [st...]

[[st...]]

@[iz...] you can message me anytime. Stardustluna 

[[iz...]]

On 23/09/2023 at 18:23, [[j...] said:

I can't really comment on the maths for your liquid. It depends on the concentration of your liquid and I'm really bad at calculating maths for liquid - I haven't yet wrapped my brain around that, I'm sorry. So for now I'm just going to work on the assumption your maths is correct.

Can you tell me a bit more about the liquid you're using - is it commercially manufactured, compounded or homebrew? How long have you been using the liquid?

In your first post you said you right now you are taking 0.75mg at night and 0.25mg at noon. How does this work for you generally?

It is compounded. I have been using the liquid for months now for the daytime doses only - and using around .25 at noon only works for about 3 days and then it’s like my body realizes I need that second .25 dose (battery acid feeling, buzzing etc) and I usually cave and take it … and then I’m back at 1.25 total for the day… but for example today and yesterday I only had .75mg + .125mg +.125mg … and I was just fine today. Ears are ringing right now but I’m about an hour away from taking my evening dose before bed so I feel like I’ll make it. (I take it around 7:30pm). Sigh.. sorry if this is alot of info. Thanks 🙏 

[[je...]]

If you take the extra 0.25mg, how often would you take that?