Tapering off Ativan Support Thread

[[be...]]

It seems to be the only way for me. Can't come down slow enough otherwise. Although, I'm day 9 after my last cut to .27 and I'm a mess. Hopefully I'll see some light soon.

[[Ti...]]

BDL--Are you still able to work out??  Are you getting any of the fatigue/flu sx?  Just curious since I have seen a lot of that with Ativan...

 

Take care,

Tina

[[be...]]

Hi Tina. Well before today I would have answered "not really". But I've been in bed most of the day because I've been slammed so hard. I would say it is flu like. Although, I would take the flu any damn day over this.

I work out when I can. but it's been about a week. This last cut isn't letting up like I hoped it would. Although it's only been a little over a week so I'll give it a few days before I worry. If I wake up feeling good enough in the morning I am going to the gym. Even if I'm symptomatic it helps me sleep at night and makes anxiety more manageable.

I'm bummin' today for sure. But the single most helpful thought is that I KNOW it will pass.

I also walked around in my yard praying with my hands in the air today. Not usually my style but I was desperate to feel some higher presence that might help me or give me reassurance. Call it what you want but it helped a huge amount. I still feel physically achy but my mind is peaceful. For now.

[[La...]]

I also walked around in my yard praying with my hands in the air today. Not usually my style but I was desperate to feel some higher presence that might help me or give me reassurance. Call it what you want but it helped a huge amount. I still feel physically achy but my mind is peaceful. For now.

 

My prayer life has certainly changed for the better since this experience. I'm glad that helped,  benzo down.

 

I've been fortunate so far since I jumped. The most persistent symptoms are the  burning headache in the morning & evening, some eye pain & itching. When I push myself like I did today I get foggy, tired & achy with an annoying electrical buzz thru my body but still way better than I was.

 

It will pass for all of us in time...

[[Ti...]]

BDL-yeah I had no fatigue, weakness, or flu sx until early march. Now I have been slammed. I drive by the gym 2x a week and am jealous of all those people who can go work put no problem. Lol.  I physically cannot right now. Just so exhausted, achy, lightheaded and short of breath. This will pass with time, but it really does suck how long it takes for some of us. Until then, distraction is key!

 

Tina

[[Ho...]]

Hey fellow Ativaners (BDL, Lavendar, Michelle, Cedartree, Tina),

 

Can you guys give me any guidance on how fast I could taper my Ativan.  I mentioned before that my Pdoc started me on this about 6 weeks ago (mid-April).  Started with .5 3 x a day, moved to .25 4 x a day after about 2 weeks.

 

Ativan makes me feel like a zombie, thus my desire to get off.  I started my taper on Tuesday with .85 over the day divided into 4 equal doses.  Just wondering how long I should drag out the taper.  I see like a bunch of you that I've only been on Ativan for a short period of time (6 weeks), so I'm wondering what your experience has been in the times between your cuts, and overall how long you are going to take to get off this.

 

I'm thinking maybe asking my doc to do 15 - 20% every week or two so that I'm off this stuff in less than 3 months (hubby would like me to go faster....grrr).    But I also know this is just a guideline and I need to listen to my body (i.e. if I hit a wall, don't stringently stick to the schedule).

 

What are your thoughts?  I was thinking something like this (total dose for the day):

 

.85 Week 1

.7  Week 2

.55 Week 3

.45 Week 4

.35 Week 5

.3  Week 6

.25 Week 7

.2 Week 8

.15 Week 9

.12 Week 10

.09  Week 11

.07 Week 12

.03  Week 13 (and then hopefully off)

[[be...]]

I think your plan looks pretty sound. Although Im presently finding that I cant cut quite that fast. When I started amount was fine but now that Im at .27 im going to hold a while. Im now 12 days out from my last 18% cut and Ive not begun to stabilize yet. Blech.

 

But that is not to say you couldnt go faster. The most important thing as you wrote, is to listen to your body. You'll do fine.

[[ce...]]

I think your plan looks pretty sound. Although Im presently finding that I cant cut quite that fast. When I started amount was fine but now that Im at .27 im going to hold a while. Im now 12 days out from my last 18% cut and Ive not begun to stabilize yet. Blech.

 

But that is not to say you couldnt go faster. The most important thing as you wrote, is to listen to your body. You'll do fine.

[[Ho...]]

Thanks for the input.  Got a bad case of the jitters and the boo hoos yesterday, and jitters today, so I assume that it is the Ativan taper down (Wed was my first full day of the lower dose).  Also getting a bad headache once I hit the time for my next dose (which goes away when I take it).  Assume this is also the w/d

 

Have done Kpin w/d before, but it went a bit differently -- insomnia was the biggest thing (I took it at bedtime), and I did get the jitters, and really bad vertigo.  Kicked in immediately with a cut, and lasted 3-4 days with each cut, and 10 days after I jumped.

 

Is Ativan w/d similar?  It's weird having the jitters (from the lesser dose) and being "sedate" (from still taking too much of this stuff) all at once.  I know Ativan is a shorter acting drug, so just wondering what differences I might expect (including the time your body takes to adjust to each cut -- seems like yesterday was the worst).

 

Anybody found anything that calms down the jitters.  Except more meds, of course. 

[[be...]]

Theres no telling how it will go, but my guess id that it wont be a whole lot different from your k experience. But Ativan is weird in its own weird way and whi knows?

Take one step at a time and eventually youll be done.

 

As far as the jitters go, I have found much relief in Tazo 'Calm' tea. That stuff is majical for light to moderate anxiety. For me anyway.

 

Also as my signature reads, exercise. Does wonders for the old noggin. Again, not for everyone.

[[Ho...]]

Thanks for the suggestions.    Trying to walk, but any other kind of exercise is out of the question....wish I could but I'm so loopy (sedated and dizzy from the Ativan itself) that I'd be afraid of what would happen....plus my docs are trying to get a hypotension problem I've got figured out at the same time, so I have to be careful there. 

 

Will absolutely try the Tazo tea...thanks for the suggestion!

 

With Kpin I was taking .125 daily for five months (if I do the math correctly, is the equivalent of Ativan .5 throughout the day), and I just did two drops....one at 50% for about 6 weeks and then off.....so this making smaller drops more often is a little bit odd to me.  On the other hand, if it makes it smooth.....

[[La...]]

Heya Hoosierfans. Your plan looks great to me as long as you're tolerating the Ativan. I finally jumped off where I did because I wasn't tolerating it well & titration would've been difficult.

 

Walking is excellent because you can do just as much as you can handle that day. It really does help, especially with the anxiety.  Days I wasn't doing so well I lay on the floor & did progressive muscle relaxation & stretching.

 

Sorry about the bad headache, it does get better as you go but it's still my most persistent symptom at three weeks off & I haven't found anything that really helps it. If anyone has any suggestions let me know. 

 

I was curious about the Tazo Calm tea cause I've never tried it so I looked up the ingredients. Good to know what's in your tea! Looks like a nice blend, I'm going to try it, benzodown.  I'm sitting here right now drinking homemade mint tea punch. Yumm! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[[Ho...]]

Thanks, Lavender.  Yeah, I'd say I'm not really "tolerating" the Ativan which is the whole reason for getting off.  It's basically put me where I'm in bed a lot of the day due to sedation / dizziness.  So that's my whole conundrum -- whether to go a little faster b/c Ativan makes me feel awful (people take this stuff to feel better??!!!) or to go slow just to make sure I don't get WORSE (i.e. anxiety and depression worsen, nausea, worse dizziness etc).  At least I'm a little bit functional right now for my family. 

 

BDL, meant to post earlier that the liquid may be the culprit in your hard adjustment at this level since this is the first level that you've been on a liquid.  I wouldn't believe it if I didn't experience it myself, but last fall my Pdoc put me on a little bit of Prozac on top of my Effexor, which made me feel awful -- when I told her I wanted off, she wanted to switch me to liquid to taper slow.  So one day I took a 5 mg pill, the next day 5 mg equivalent of liquid and I felt AWFUL....as if I was in total withdrawal....I gave it three days on the liquid and then asked to go back to the pills and just dry cut.    I'm super sensitive to meds, but there must be something with the pathways of deliverance / form that made it less or more bioavailable in my body.  So you could be experiencing that even though the "math" is right.  Just to say, hang in there!!!  Hopefully the other cuts will go smoother b/c your body will have adjusted to the liquid.

[[be...]]

Thanks Hoosierfans. Although my first round of liquid went ok. I really think its the cut in doseage thats doin this to me. Im still actually only 11 days out from this last cut so Im going to give it to the 2 week mark before I panic. Saw my doc today and we decided to hold this dose for a month. My hope is that hell or high water, I will completely stabilize. I need some time away from all of this. Ill tackle the taper again when Im feeling better.

[[ce...]]

Hey Benzodownlately.  Hope you're able to get some relief so you can continue your taper.  Take it easy. 

[[Ho...]]

Ooops, BDL, I read your signature line and posts wrong...thought you started getting difficulty with the first cut to the liquid.  Hope you are feeling better soon.  (((Hugs))))

[[Ho...]]

Just wanted to check in with my fellow Ativaners to see how you are doing this week.

 

Have a Pdoc appointment on Thursday and hoping she's supportive of my taper plan -- cut another 15% today after last week since the cut didn't seem too bad (day 2 of cut was worse w/ crying and a bad night of sleep).

 

Also thinking that Ativan is the reason my tummy has felt so poorly the last month, so we'll see what the doc says.

[[La...]]

Thanks Hoosierfans, I'm surviving. Went back to work today & I'm so tired I'm buzzing all over but I survived. Now just have to make it thru the rest of the week. My most persistent symptoms are the head/neck/sinus/eye ache, the itching & the insomnia. I've been reading some interesting threads on the insomnia- especially Jittery's.

 

Good luck with your Dr's appt. My PCP isn't exactly supportive but at least she gave up trying to shove more meds down me.

I had lots of crying jags thru my taper - better now. It wasn't always bad though, sometimes I felt better after. Same thing with the tummy- I had nausea every morning for awhile. The day I woke up without it was cause for celebration

 

BDL sounds like he's been having a really tough time, I hope he feels better today.

[[be...]]

Yeah, yesterday from about 5 pm till midinght was a glorious window so I stayed up late wih my girlfriend and watched movies and ate icecream only to wake up the next morning right back in a full day of symptoms. Buuummmeerrrrr. Thought I had turned the corner since my last cut exactly 2 weeks ago but apparently not. Today has been hell to a small degree. Lots of sadness and dp/dr. Shoot. What happened with this last cut?! I still dont know what to do. Too late to correct my dose up probably but does that mean Im stuck here for the remainder of my taper possibly?

[[Ho...]]

Hang in there BDL, it should pass.  But maybe those with more experience tapering off Ativan can weigh in on whether you should go back up or hang in there.  My inclination is to tell you to hang in there, especially if there is a window, b/c one window can turn into two, into three, etc. etc.  But if you go back up, who knows. 

 

What does your doctor think??

[[be...]]

My doc means well but just doesnt deal with cases like me a lot. He surprised me the other day and asked me if I was familiar with the Ashton Method. He's willig to do whatever but Im a control freak and he tried to put me on other meds and I said no so hes leaving this taper largely up to me.

 

Im at a low dose .27, I will not switch to another drug, I am scared and symptomatic but still basically functional...

 

Im going to wait it out here for another week.

 

If i get more windows youll be hearing about it. Trust me.

[[Ho...]]

Here's hoping for a glass house (i.e a home full of "windows"...get it!!! he he he)!!!! 

 

My Pdoc and PCP are the same, never seen someone as "sensitive" as me....so thankfull for this site where we similar folks can hang out and find support.

 

I just started seeing an integrative medicine doctor, who thinks that I metabolize drugs differently than most, and he's running genetic testing to confirm.  If that is the case, we're going to work on getting my metabolism corrected and if he has any suggestions, I will pass them along.....

[[Ti...]]

Hoosierfan-

 

What type of genetic testing are you doing?  I just did a test through a company called Genelex.  Sure enough, I am a slower metabolizer of Valium (Ativan was not one of the drugs they tested for).  I am curious how your doctor would treat your metabolism?

 

Thanks,

Tina

[[Ma...]]

Benzodown, I think the best advice I heard is if you split that dose into four.  Have you done that?

[[be...]]

I made the painful and hopefully correct decision to correct my dose from .27 to .36 by adding a fourth dose tonight. I'm very sad about this but I am at day 16 from my last cut and it has been by far the hardest day so far. I had no sense that I was going to level off so I determined that I had cut too much and needed to go back a step and try it again. I know how mixed opinions are on this matter and it sucks to have made that decision but I am truly scared an in a dark place looking for even the smallest amount of relief. Hopefully I can find it and continue down again at a slower pace in a few weeks.