How low is low enough ativan dose to quit?

[[ga...]]

Started at .25 ativan 3x day for approx. 6 mos. The current dose is .16 milligram if I figured it right. Still dealing with extreme wd symptoms after 16 days of the cut. How low of a dose before saying it is low enough to quit? Initial weight of the .25 dose was .025 grams and it was too much I believe. Still trying to figure this out.

[[El...]]

I believe the prevailing opinion for jumping from Ativan is 0.05 mg overall daily dose.  This would be for a medium-fast paced taper.  It has been recommended that the jump dose for a slow taper is 0.02 mg overall daily dose.  It is dependent on how symptomatic you have been and how tolerant you have been to cuts throughout your taper.

Hope that is helpful!

[[ga...]]

Just received the .0001 scale. The dose of ativan taken is 3x day for a total daily dose of .75 milligrams. If a .5 milligram dose tablet weighs .050 grams, and was cut in half for a .25 dose weighing .025 grams, what should the final dose weigh in grams? 

Current weight is at .016 which should be 16 milligrams of dose taken 3x day. Plan to taper at 5%.

Sorry, my brain is clear as muddy water. Does mg mean micrograms in weight or milligrams in dose?

Thanks so much!!

[[El...]]

I was slightly surprised to see that your 0.5 milligram Ativan pills only weigh 0.05 grams.  Generally, 0.5 milligram Ativan pills weigh in the vicinity of 0.06 grams.  Did you weigh 10 pills and take the average?  That is the generally accepted method for weighing and cutting pills.

Anyway, your 0.5 milligram pills contain only 0.0005 grams of active ingredient (Ativan).  The rest of the weight is fillers and binders. So if you split a 0.5 milligram pill in half, it will contain 0.25 milligrams of Ativan or 0.00025 grams.  Using, for example your 0.5 milligram pills, If they weigh after cutting 0.014 grams, only 0.00014 grams is Ativan (the rest is fillers and binders).

Does that help?  Let me know if you are confused!

[[ga...]]

So what would be the suggested weight, in grams, to make the jump? Using the .0001 scale.

[[El...]]

@[ga...] For a medium-paced taper the jump off is 0.05 mg per day.  So if the pills continue to weigh 0.05 grams, you would take 1 dose weighing 0.005 grams.  For 2 doses per day, you would take 0.0025 grams twice a day.  For 3 doses per day you would take 0.0017 grams, 0.0017 grams, 0.0016 grams.

If you are following a slowed-paced taper, the jump off is recommended to be 0.02 mg per day.  So, 1 dose per day would be 0.002 grams; 2 doses would be 0.001 and 0.001 grams; 3 doses would be 0.0007, 0.0007, 0.0006 grams.

Hope this is helpful!

[[ga...]]

Thank you!