Ativan

[[Br...]]

Can anyone tell me how many doses a day you should take ativan to avoid interdose withdrawals? I take it 3 times a day at 9:30 am 4:30 pm then 10 pm 

[[Ka...]]

@[Br...] That spacing seems right to me. Leaving 6 hours or so between doses sounds sensible. 

[[El...]]

@[Br...]I take mine 8 hours apart - 6 am, 2 pm and 10 pm.  I think the half life of Ativan is about 12 hours (dependent on several factors).  You are close to that when you space your 10 pm dose to 9:30 am, so it could be that your blood serum levels might be getting pretty low by 9:30 am.  But, I am certainly no expert in this!

[[Br...]]

@[El...] can i change it to 8:30 am instead?

[[Br...]]

@[Ka...] thank you

[[Ka...]]

You are welcome. Hoping things are going ok. 

[[Br...]]

@[Ka...] i’m doing really horrific for only being on 7 weeks and tapering half of that or more and only 23 years old they just changed my brand and it got even worse i have chronic fatigue and pem symptoms a lot of body pain think i caught covid on top of this 

[[Ka...]]

That is a lot to deal with. So sorry. I’ve had CFS so understand completely. 
If you keep your dose equal distance apart that will help your system. Take care. 
 

[[ns...]]

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

@[Ka...] i’m doing really horrific for only being on 7 weeks and tapering half of that or more and only 23 years old they just changed my brand and it got even worse i have chronic fatigue and pem symptoms a lot of body pain think i caught covid on top of this 

BreeB, hi, sorry your having such a difficult time. 

Wanted to jump in and tell u that my refil of lorazepam is from Teva. I tried it twice. I had allergy after but felt better than usual later on. Then I took it again at 11pm and it gave me energy, restless legs. Went back to my previous prescription at 5am and fell asleep,  felt better. I do believe the change in brands can cause issues for some and believe i had a reaction to it. 

It could be your new Teva has made things more difficult for you can't be sure but if you believe that it's the medication talk to your doctor or pharmacy ok.

I'm so sorry your suffering, covid can exacerbate symptoms and could be the reason for uptick in symptoms. 

I pray you will recover soon

Ns

[[Br...]]

@[Ka...] did you recover? i will keep my doses i am thankfully already down from 2 mg to 1 mg 

[[Br...]]

@[ns...] i know the brand change has caused issues but I called and they said there is nothing they can do.. thank you so much 

[[Ka...]]

Yes… and no! 
So you’re at 1mg - have a look at my tapering. Take it slow & steady, listen to how you feel & go gently. 

 

[[Br...]]

@[Ka...] my doses aren’t the same number of hours apart so that’s bad? 

[[Br...]]

@[ns...] how did you get your pharmacy to get you the original brand of lorazepam?

[[Ka...]]

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

@[Ka...] my doses aren’t the same number of hours apart so that’s bad? 

No not necessarily. Due to short life I think it’s probably best to space evenly - if it’s possible. So reduces inter dose problems. 
I know this from experience - I did it all wrong myself! then got organised. 
 

[[ns...]]

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

@[ns...] how did you get your pharmacy to get you the original brand of lorazepam?

BreeB, hi, I didn't,  I have some left over rim tapering. Just took my old brand and having terrible reactions again. It's so odd, at 5pm last night I took Teva, had bad allergy, but them I felt better than usual. Took again at 11pm had too much energy, it was in my min that teva was better at the time. Couldn't sleep, restless legs etc. Took old brand at 5am, went to sleep felt better this morning.  Took old brand again at 11am feel terrible again, now have poops, bad allergies and back to the terrible symptoms I have everyday with the old brand! Idk,  think I might try the teva again at 5pm to see if it's just in my head, I really thought it was better until I went to bed so idk

I'm sorry,  no rhyme or reason I guess 

Sorry,

Ns

[[Br...]]

@[Ka...] i tried to switch to valium we only tried switching my night time dose and it made made deathly sick the next day and i had a headache for a week after so i have to stay on the ativan sadly 

[[Ka...]]

Well at least you gave it a go. 

[[Br...]]

@[ns...] i think it takes a while for the body to adjust to a different brand i haven’t had any allergic type reactions just a lot of body pain and fatigue and agitation. my period is coming also. im sorry you are having a bad time too. i want off of this stuff asap im 23 

[[ns...]]

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

@[ns...] i think it takes a while for the body to adjust to a different brand i haven’t had any allergic type reactions just a lot of body pain and fatigue and agitation. my period is coming also. im sorry you are having a bad time too. i want off of this stuff asap im 23 

BreeB, me too. I have had a reaction to lorazepam so it's miserable even taking it to taper but I can ct. I was already forced tapered 3 yrs ago and ended in PAWS so with that together with a paradoxical reaction I'm pretty much in misery all day long. I want this stuff gone from my body and brain asap! So I can definitely understand how you feel! It will happen,  stay the course, fight on, stay strong and change your focus as best u can

Take care

Ns

[[ns...]]

23 hours ago, [[E...] said:

@[Br...]I take mine 8 hours apart - 6 am, 2 pm and 10 pm.  I think the half life of Ativan is about 12 hours (dependent on several factors).  You are close to that when you space your 10 pm dose to 9:30 am, so it could be that your blood serum levels might be getting pretty low by 9:30 am.  But, I am certainly no expert in this!

Hi BreeB,  the only way to be in exsct spacing would be every 8 hours. Your night dose is almost 12 hours. If you can space out every 8 hours that's 3x per day.  I take every 6 hours 6x4 =24 hrs. I would rather be st 8 hrs but I think it would be too much of a shock to my system. Either way, i think its important to keep your doses evenly spread out, I. A regular schedule like every 8 or every 6 hours. Idk that's the way it was explained to me 

Ns

[[Br...]]

@[ns...] i’m worried to change my dose times i feel like my body is already so messed up 

[[Br...]]

@[Ka...] i don’t know if klonopin would be any better but im scared to try anything again since im so sensitive but i dont know if ativan being so short acting is killingme even though im dosing 3 times a day 

[[ns...]]

Just now, [[B...] said:

@[ns...] i’m worried to change my dose times i feel like my body is already so messed up 

I hear you. Me too. Just thinking out loud. I know it's too hard to change in mud steam, I couldn't change either. If it's working for don't change it. I would rather be at 8 hours but don't know if I could either.

Sn

[[El...]]

@[Br...]I haven't been checking the site for a couple of days.  I think the main point is that your body craves consistency.  If you have long intervals between dosing, your blood serum levels drop and the result is usually interdose withdrawal.  If you are hesitant to change your dosing times because you are feeling so unwell, perhaps, you could do it in a step-wise fashion?  For example, move your 9:30 dose back 1/2 hour for a day or so...the move it back another 1/2 hour...etc.  this might be less jarring on your system.  Just an idea that you might try?

Also, it seems like everytime I get a refill, it is from a different  manufacturer.  After reading about other people having problems switching, I decided that when moving to a new brand I would use, again, a step-wise switch.  I dose 3 times per day.  When switching to a new brand, I make 1/2 my afternoon dose the new brand, and 1/2 the old brand, keeping the morning and evening doses the old brand.  After a day or so, I do the same with evening dose, the again, with the morning dose.  The I switch the whole afternoon dose to the new brand...then the evening...then the morning.  This takes me about 2 weeks to do and it is a tedious process weighing up to 6 doses a day.  But I have never had a problem switching brands.  But it could also be that I am just not sensitive to a switch?  Just an idea if you are continuing to suffer from a brand change.

Hoping you are feeling better!