Dry cutting & holding Lorazepam; questions about cutting towards the end of taper

[[BW...]]

Hi all,
I'm almost down to .25mg lorazepam (1/2 of a .5mg pill).  I have a lab-quality scale, and have been dry cutting & holding about 5% off previous dose every 2 weeks.  Sometimes I've done about 7% every 2 weeks.  I dose 3x/day, spaced every 8 hours.  I have 2 questions:
1) As I get lower, I think it's going to be harder to get 3 small doses.  Has anyone here gone from 3 to 2 doses of a fast-acting benzo like Lorazepam on your taper?  Not sure what to do.

2) My understanding is that you shouldn't cut more than 10% off the previous dose each month, but as I get lower, that's going to be harder to do.  Any advice on how to deal with the smaller cuts at the end?  I want to jump at .10mg.

I do know about water tapers and I'm not planning on switching to Valium.
Thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions/experience you may have!
BWarrior
 

[[Ma...]]

7 hours ago, [[B...] said:

Hi all,
I'm almost down to .25mg lorazepam (1/2 of a .5mg pill).  I have a lab-quality scale, and have been dry cutting & holding about 5% off previous dose every 2 weeks.  Sometimes I've done about 7% every 2 weeks.  I dose 3x/day, spaced every 8 hours.  I have 2 questions:
1) As I get lower, I think it's going to be harder to get 3 small doses.  Has anyone here gone from 3 to 2 doses of a fast-acting benzo like Lorazepam on your taper?  Not sure what to do.

2) My understanding is that you shouldn't cut more than 10% off the previous dose each month, but as I get lower, that's going to be harder to do.  Any advice on how to deal with the smaller cuts at the end?  I want to jump at .10mg.

I do know about water tapers and I'm not planning on switching to Valium.
Thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions/experience you may have!
BWarrior
 

I’m wondering same. Im down to 0.22 mg once daily.. I am so petrified to split it because a majority of my symptoms are in the morning. I can’t stand a 50% cut which would increase my morning symptoms 50%. I think the low doses you’re talking about can only be achieved by water tapering 

[[BW...]]

Mao205, 
I can understand not wanting to split doses at the point you're at in the taper.  Are you dry cutting and using a scale?  I hope others can weigh in on our concerns.

BW

[[Ma...]]

40 minutes ago, [[B...] said:

Mao205, 
I can understand not wanting to split doses at the point you're at in the taper.  Are you dry cutting and using a scale?  I hope others can weigh in on our concerns.

BW

Yes dry cutting with scale. Are you having withdrawal symptoms? It’s hard to tell for me because I started Ativan for ssri withdrawal for the morning cortisol and adrenaline rushed and akathisia.. it’s honestly not helping the first two anymore and I’m having a paradoxical effect to it so I need to get off.. I can’t imagine doing 10% of my dose a month that would take 1.5 years to get off 4 months of Ativan.. and I’m never stable so it’s impossible for me “hold and stabilize”

[[BW...]]

I'm not 100% sure if my health issues are benzo-related.  I have a really bad mucus issue that has been going on for over 2 years now.  It started about the same time I realized I was having withdrawal symptoms from my body becoming tolerant to the benzo, so I believe it's related, but I haven't found anyone else who has this issue to the extent I have it.  So far, this is the only symptom I've had since the taper but I was having bad symptoms before I started tapering & had to updose from 1.0mg to 1.5mg to stabilize before I started tapering.  
I know what you mean about the timeframe on getting off of the benzo.  I was on it for 5 years before I started tapering last July.  I've gone down from 1.5mg to a little over .25mg.  it'll take me another several months to get off of it.  It's definitely been a long journey.  

[[BW...]]

I am still doing a dry cut & hold taper.  I am currently dosing 4x/day, with the total daily dose at .20mg.  I am using a lab-quality scale to measure my doses.  I am going to need to cut down to dosing 3x/day due to the small cuts I am making.  Does anyone have any advice for the best way to go about doing this?   TY.  

[[Ta...]]

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

I am still doing a dry cut & hold taper.  I am currently dosing 4x/day, with the total daily dose at .20mg.  I am using a lab-quality scale to measure my doses.  I am going to need to cut down to dosing 3x/day due to the small cuts I am making.  Does anyone have any advice for the best way to go about doing this?   TY.  

I've been off of lorazepam for only 38 days now, so I'm not an expert. I was on it for almost 20 years. How are you feeling?

[[BW...]]

I have other health issues that make me not feel great, but as far as the tapering is going, I'm actually doing pretty good all things considered.  I'm going to make another cut tomorrow.  I've been making cuts to even out all the doses, but I'm trying to figure out when/if I should start just cutting my afternoon dose down so eventually that dose will be gone & I'll be down to 3 doses.  

[[El...]]

@[BW...] I am so glad your taper is hoing well!  But, I am somewhat confused about your dosing amounts and times of dosing.  When you say you want to eliminate your afternoon dose, will you then be dosing 3 times per day, 8 hours apart?  Do you want to combine your 4 doses into 3?

I look forward to hearing from you!

[[BW...]]

@[...]EllieM--you are correct--I would be dosing 3x/day instead of 4, 8 hours apart.  I think instead of combining doses I would like to start just cutting on the 2pm dose until it is eliminated.  I am currently dosing 6 hours apart.  Does this make sense?  Just hoping you and others might share their experiences or provide some guidance. 

Edited September 28 by [BW...]

[[El...]]

@[BW...] So sorry!  I guess I still am not understanding.  For example, say you are currently dosing at 8 am, 2 pm, 8 pm, and 2 am at 0.05 mg, 0.05 mg, 0.05 mg, and 0.05 mg.  If you reduced the 2 pm dose to 0, while keeping the others the same weight and at the same time, wouldn't you have a dip in blood serum levels between 8 am and 8 pm?  Am I misunderstanding you?  Sorry for my confusion!

Edited September 28 by [El...]
Times

[[BW...]]

@[El...] No, you are understanding me; in fact, those are the times I currently dose (actually, I take my evening dose at 8pm)!  I guess that's my question: how to get lower in my taper and still safely do it.  My thought was as I reduce my 2pm dose, I could slowly move the other 3 doses so they are eventually 8 hours apart.  But again, I'm hoping you & others might provide some guidance, or other ideas on how to make this work.  Thanks.  

Edited September 28 by [BW...]

[[El...]]

@[BW...] Oops!  I meant 8 pm.  I have edited it above.

What times do you eventually want to take your doses?  I dose at 6 am, 2 pm, and 10 pm. Maybe that is why I am not "getting my head around" lowering your 2 pm dose?

[[BW...]]

Do you think it would make more sense to cut the 2am dose?  I guess I'm concerned about insomnia if I cut that dose.  Is there something else I can be clearer about?  If you're not sure why I want to cut a dose out it's because as I get lower it's getting more difficult to cut 4 pieces from the pill at such small amounts so I think at some point I'm going to have to do it.  I use a lab-grade scale to weight the pieces, but it's still going to get difficult, I think.  Thank you.  

[[El...]]

@[BW...] I certainly do understand how difficult it will be to weigh such low doses!  I guess one of the concerns I have is that you plan to reduce your 2 pm dose at the same time you are trying to adjust your dosing times...or you are making 2 changes at once.  If you run into a "hiccup" how will you know if it is a reaction to the reduction in dosage or a change in the dose time...or a combination? I have always thought it was best to make only one change at a time (so as to not muddy the waters).  I would be concerned that at some point, you are going to have a lower dose at 2 and a greater than 6 hour gap somewhere.  But you know your system best and what works for you. 

If you want to proceed along those lines, I could perhaps give you some ideas of how to proceed if could let me know what is your typical percentage reduction.

[[BW...]]

@[El...] That's a good point. Maybe I'll just keep going as I'm doing right now.  What do you think of what I'm doing currently?  I make a .001g cut every 2 weeks, which usually works out to 5% every 2 weeks (10%/month).   I cut that amount from one dose and hold, so I'm usually on a bit lower of a dose on one of the 4 doses on any given week.  Then, the next time I make a cut, I cut .001g from a different dose, and so on.  I hope that makes sense.  I can't go any lower on the scale, so I can't make a .001g cut across 4 doses ( I weigh each dose separately).  Any suggestions you have for going forward would be helpful.  Thanks for your help so far!

[[El...]]

@[BW...] Yes, your plan seems very logical, especially at your low dose.  I usually think it best not to "fix what isn't broken".  And this is working for you.  Unfortunately, there will probably come a time, because of the limitations of the scale, that you will have to go to 3 doses...then 2...then possibly one (depending on your "jump" dose).  So, I guess it is just a matter of when you want to make that transition to 3 doses.

Everyone is distinctly different.  I started at 7 doses(!!) per day, reduced to 6, reduced to 5, reduced to 4, and am now on 3.  I never had a problem doing so.  (Aside: For some odd reason, when I finally got down to 3 doses, my doctor was pressuring me to go back to 4 doses...when I tried, it was a "nightmare".  So clearly going back up to 4 doses didn't work for me.)   Anyway, we are each unique.  What I could/can tolerate, you may not, and vise versa.  So, I guess you must decide what is best for you.  Certainly, if it were me and if I was undecided, I would just proceed along as I had been until I felt the need to change.

Congratuations for getting so low!  I wish I was there!

[[BW...]]

@[El...] It hasn't been easy. I've had a couple of setbacks, and never dreamed it would take me as long as it has (I've been tapering for 2 years).  And really, I still have a ways to go. Thanks for the encouraging words.  

[[Ta...]]

17 hours ago, [[B...] said:

@[El...] It hasn't been easy. I've had a couple of setbacks, and never dreamed it would take me as long as it has (I've been tapering for 2 years).  And really, I still have a ways to go. Thanks for the encouraging words.  

I used a liquid syringe to taper lorazepam. I would smash the pill, and measure out three equal doses. But at the end, the drug became paradoxical for me, so I had to jump off. Now I am suffering. So if you can go slowly and evenly down, you will be better off. 

I am so glad that you are feeling alright!

[[BW...]]

@[Ta...] I'm sorry that you are suffering.  I'm trying to go slow & steady but as I get lower I know it's going to be difficult.  I tried to get a compounded liquid awhile back but it didn't work out for me.  What kind of symptoms are you experiencing?  I hope it gets better soon for you.