Please advise tapering from lorazepam with diazepam

[[gn...]]

I am here for advise. I last year i had a terrible personal situation where i ended up in the hospital. They have put me on lorazepam and other benzos for quit some time since June 2023. I tried to quit several times cold turkey as i thought i could do it, but that didn't worked. Was even on doctor advise. So i ended up with several pyshical complaints in my body and nothing could be found but they never relate it to these periods i was pulled of from lorazepam. Used it daily for 1mg.  After i was going really bad in february 2024 they put me on 3 x 1mg lorazepam per day and i was feeling better. Then after 2.5 weeks i started to go up and down fast in moods.

So they switched me to 3 x 5mg diazepam. They told me to keep 0.5 2 x times per day for 2 days and then quit lorazepam. 

Well that didn't worked well and they put me on 0.5 mg lorazepam 3 x per day with 3 x 5 mg diazepam.

That gave my life back. Then i was advised to taper the lorazepam with 0.05 mg per 4 days. So i did and it went pretty straight until i went with 3 x 0.25 mg lorazepam. I noticed little things return. Anxiety and muscle pain but i thought it would pass. After my last 0.05 and 2 days passing i got the feeling that i might tapered too fast. From 0.50 lorazepam to 0.25 was ok.

I feel i am falling back

My questions are :

should i go back to 0.25 and then taper it slower instead of 4 days maybe holding it for a couple of weeks and then go down to 0.20 and keep that also longer ?

i do this together with 3 x 5mg diazepam. I rather not want to increase to diazepam.

For me on 0.25 mg lorazepam with 5 mg diazepam felt ok. It gave my life back. No stress. 

Is it ok to combine both longer and that i first taper of lorazepam slower and then diazepam ?

I can't taper lorazepam alone and diazepam seems like to act as a bridge.

Using 2 benzos is not something i read about here, but lorazepam at 0.25 mg gave me a steady mind with 5mg diazepam 3 x a day.

I really trying to find a way out. Every 4 days 0.05 x 3 a day reduction might have been to fast.

I going to discuss this with my docter. In my mind i don't wanna go back to 0.25 x a day with lorazepam. 

So tired of this. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[[Re...]]

Hello @[gn...]Welcome to BenzoBuddies,

I am really sorry you are experiencing difficulties when reducing lorazepam. 

Yes, you did a rapid reduction there that might very well explain your symptoms. Reducing with 0.05 mg every 4 days is steady, but fast reduction. 

The general recommended reduction is 5-10% of your previous dose every two-three weeks, some reduce even slower. As I understand you reduced 0.05 mg every 4 days, that is 3 % of your initial dose (the 1,5 mg) but consequently a higher proportion of each of your following doses, which was probably too much for your nervous system to handle. 

Yes, it is okay to take two different benzos, you might want to consider going back to the dose you felt stable on, depending on how severe your symptoms are; can you remain functional and fulfill your daily duties? 

Could you tell us which method you used to taper? Manufacturers liquid maybe? Are you completely off lorazepam now? 

Take care 

 

[[gn...]]

Thanks for your answer. Really appriciate it. Since yesterday morning i am on 3 x 5 diazepam only. I finished my last 4 days of 0.05 mg lorazepam.

 

The things i am feeling is muscle reflections when i wake up in the morning. I am more going a bit up and down but not as previous as before the diazepam was added. 

My stable position was around 0.25 mg lorazepam. I held a diary everyday and noted everything.

Some facts :

Until 0.25 lorazepam 3 x a day with 3 x diazepam, was the latest stable i could remember.

tapering 4 days each time was also too fast for me. I must see it as a snowball which is getting bigger and bigger as it goes down. The first initial steps where pretty much unoticable until 0.25 and then my body couldn't handle it correctly.

But as i never had to deal with this in life i can't really tell if this is what i am feeling is something that is 'normal' under these circumstances. So is this feeling normal and i have to deal with it and let it give a week or so, to see what happens. Or do i need to take a step back which might not or might needed

 

For now my saviour is really the 15 mg diazepam per day. 

Also i healhty, i do fitness every 2 days, i swim and get on my bike and go outside.

I need to keep my body in good condition to come through this. I am not fighting against this drug, as it now also have saved me.

The only thing i am really pissed about is the way doctors just subscribe these drugs without a plan to get you out.

But i try to be as positive as i can be. I have touched the darkness and i swore never to go back. So if i have to do a step back and taper lorazepam back from 0.25 then i will accept it. Tomorrow i will discuss this with my psylogist.

 

Thanks again for your time and support.

 

[[Re...]]

@[gn...] I really like your positive attitude! The symptoms you have been experiencing are common in benzodiaze withdrawal. I can assure you that these do get better, but might take more time than expected. Healing is not linear when it comes to benzodiazepines, it is rather a process with waxing and waving symptoms, windows and waves.

Everyone's experience is a bit different, some of us remain functional, some are really sick. It is, in general, an upwards process with a good prognosis. 

More information : https://www.benzoinfo.com/bws/

The Ashton Manual : https://www.benzoinfo.com/ashtonmanual/, work of the late Professor Dr. Heather Ashton, it describes the process very well, I think. 

I am adding these for you to get informed about the topic. 

Good luck, I wish you well!! 

[[gn...]]

Thanks again for the info. Unfortunately i tried to get back to 0.25 but it doesn't work that good. I had a good talk with my psychiatrist and he said that it sometimes is needed to get back. I need to listen to my body. So i am now back at 0.5mg lorazepam 3x  with 5mg diazepam 3x a day.

I feel like i have failed but my body tells me that i am not feeling ok. 

Also because i am now on 2 benzos and i am having issues with getting off lorazepam already. So i need to keep in count that getting of could take me years off. 

Does this happens more with other people ? I feel like i have jumped to start again. I am still devoted to get better. I want to feel better and can act normal. But what do you think ? Is this all because i tapered too quickly my body was not ready for this ?

Or does my body wants more ? Otherwise i am in a loop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 25 by [gn...]