Have I done the tapering correctly?

[[de...]]

 

My psychiatrist prescribed lorazepam to help me sleep, 0.5 in the morning and 1 at night.I have never taken any psychiatric medication until now, at 44 years old. Healthy, athletic, good nutrition, I never had anxiety, NEVER!, always happy.

I have been taking orfidal(lorazedpam)1mg in a bit strange way since it was for sleep, but I knew it was not a good medicine. I'll explain how I took it and how I left it and if you can give me your opinion.

I have been taking lorazepam 1mg for 109 days (a little more than 3 months), but in those 109 days, I have not taken it every day, that is, I have kept track and I have taken lorazepam 48 of those 109 days.

In addition, I have also controlled the amount I took per day being:
0.5mg= 33 days
0.75mg= 5 days
1 mg (one pill) = 7 days
1.5mg = 3 days.

TOTAL= 48 days.

The last day I took it was April 3rd. 

My way of reducing lorazepam was to take, for the last 11 days, 0.5 and 0.25 the last 7 days. I don't know if I did the reduction correctly. These doses fall within the 48 days that you take lorazepam.

I have no physical withdrawal symptoms, only emotional ones of extreme anxiety which started on May 3, 1 month after completely stopping lorazepam. But I made the mistake of reducing duloxetine also a few days after finishing reducing lorazepam.

 

 

So it could perfectly be the reduction of duloxetine since I have reduced it too quickly according to what I have read in other groups. I have reduced it slowly compared to the official protocol of psychiatrists, but very fast for how it should be done.

My post is basically if from your experience, with what I have taken lorazepam I could be having benzo withdrawal syndrome. I think it's from duloxetine...

 

 

[[Ma...]]

It’s hard to tell because both can give similar withdrawal symptoms. But given the time between the last dose of Lora and the anxiety, it seems more like the Dulox.

Note that you can updose with the Dulox if you experience severe symptoms (asap after the last dose reduction), to stabilize before continuing further tapering. You could go back to the last dose you where okay or you can attempt a small updose. Either way: first you need to be stable again before tapering. 
Wait at least three months to be on the safe side (it also gives your nervous system time to recover from the benzo taper).
 

I would not go back on a benzo. That gives risk of adverse reactions or an even more difficult benzotaper afterwards. 

[[...]]

@[de...], hi, given your short and unsystematic use, i think your lorazepam tapering was excellent. My congratulations!) The anxiety is pretty common after getting off benzo. No wonder you feel it but sure it wasn't the best idea to taper off of duloxetine that soon. I think it must have added greatly to your chemical anxiety. This chemical anxiety is anyway going to subside over time. I guess the more consistently you go about withdrawing alien substance, the sooner it happens. Have you finished tapering off of duloxetine yet? How are you feeling now?