Tapering off Ativan Support Thread

[[Sa...]]

Hey kiddo, thx for sharing that you could only find one person on the boards who had a seizure!  I looked when i first found bb, and really didn't find much on it.  So that immediately made me feel better.  I totally relate to Marie with the fear of seizures. I'm always in the car, driving my kids around, and that would just be a nightmare. But i ammuch calmer now then when i first got here.

 

I am doing ok, getting used to the ups and downs.  I cut on mondays.  Tuesday thru thursday this week was not that great, i had no motivation and was a couch potato.  Really didn't like that.  Friday was great, and today is great so far!  I am taking some supplements that seem to help (magnesium, melatonin, fish oil).  Also, the Neurontin is helping with the vibrations and shakes, thank god.

 

I will taper off of that when i'm done with the big A.  I started a blog, and i enjoy getting out how i feel every day.  It helps. 

 

Hope you and everyone else is doing as good as possible!!!

 

I think everyone worries about seizures NoFun...I know I've talked to Marie on another thread about the unlikelihood...you sound like hi have a good plan and I'm glad to hear it's going well for you so far. It's tough in the beginning because you never quite know what to expect. Glad to hear you've started a blog and I'll have to drop in some time!

[[ma...]]

Hi everyone.Im just having a rough day.I also have kuds, so it's scary to have these symptoms and be strong for kids. I've fallen apart and it's affecting my family. I hope I get better soon.seems every other day is a good day for me...weird.

[[wa...]]

Marie b  Hang in there. It does get better. I know it is not easy. We all have been through it. It will pass.

Try to re- focus your thoughts concerning how your feeling. That helps me.

 

Hopeful , Kiddo and Saga are great . They helped me so much ! In fact I feel like they helped save me. I cut too fast. I was a mess. Those 2 are the greatest !!!!

 

Hey Saga and Kiddo...Hope your day is going well. Thanks Saga for the color tips. Yes the carpet changes in different lighting and room colors. 

 

Hi to everyone ! Wishing you windows.

Love,

Warrior

 

[[ho...]]

I just realized for the past week I've only been taking .25 mg 4 times a day instead of the .375. Should I go back up to .375 mg?

[[Sa...]]

I just realized for the past week I've only been taking .25 mg 4 times a day instead of the .375. Should I go back up to .375 mg?

 

Hi Hopeful, well that's entirely up to you...if you were at .375 taking 4x a day that would be a total of 1.5 a day...you're saying you went down to a total of 1 mg a day by accident?

My personal experience with an updose wasn't good, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it if you're feeling very rough. The other option would be to hold until you feel the worst has passed...try not to get yourself into a state of panic, ok

 

 

Aw Warrior, 

[[Ki...]]

Hopeful - I didn't have a great experience with an updose either....the relief was short-lived (3-4 days) and then I had to taper it again. If you aren't doing horribly, then I would just hold and wait for the symptoms to pass. That's a lot less Ativan to taper, so that's a good thing 

[[...]]

Struggling with the daily ups and downs. Some nights I feel almost normal, most mornings I can barely move, due to depression or ativan w/d-induced extra depression, I don't know. Then the strange stirrings in my head and the terrible isolated feeling of shrinking away from everyone. Moments of "acceptance" (ie riding the tremendous lows of feeling and the occasional moments when I feel "ok"). Moments of desperation.

 

Considering a detox place near me that subsitutes librium for ativan and makes you visit every day for monitoring. Anyone know about that? Plus they say they prescribe vivitrol for "comfort." But I hear that's more for alcohol and opioid detox. Remain confused and upset by the terrible downs I feel lately. And as my ativan dose decreases, how to manage the tiny crumbs of pills? I feel like my daily dose must vary a littel each day with the cutting. Obsessed with it all.

 

Also wondering if I might simplify my day by dosing less frequently. Maybe I'm making myself worse by so many (5) doses of .125? I shifted to this some weeks ago. Wondering if I might do 2 doses of .25 and one of .125. All pill chips, not liquid.

 

[[ma...]]

Nice you are almost there!! Hang on! I also was on lorazepam generic for Ativan and it's a beast!

[[pe...]]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/American-Weigh-Gemini-20-Portable-Milligram/dp/B0012TDNAM/ref=pd_cp_kh_2

 

Are these the scales i need?

 

I have serious teeth pain and gum recession now. My head hasn't been so bad and my ocd has been getting a little better as I haven't been doing compulsions.

 

I am ready to get off this shit.

 

 

[[ma...]]

Lorazepam is crap! It has made my life crap! I have kids and it effects them and that really pisses me off!! 

 

The sooner of this stuff the better imo. I would rather deal with my panic attacks.

[[ho...]]

Warrior and Saga, and anyone else that wants to reply, what kind of tapering methods did you use?

[[ho...]]

All your help means so much to me, Thank you.

[[Sa...]]

Whoa it's busy today...here's my attempt at answering in a group style

 

NYC I have never personally heard a good detox story...I hate to say this but in my opinion there is no easy way out of this. Tapering is an basically an insurance policy versus a c/t. Librium does have a longer half life so it works like Valium but it still sounds like a very fast taper off. After all would you check in for months at a time? Idk, sounds not so good to me but I'm biased based on the horror stories I've read about detox.

 

You could change your dosing to less times a day but you run the risk of interdose since your body is now accustomed to 5x a day dosing...may take it as a cut. Just a warning...I'm sorry you're struggling so much and feel obsessed but that's the nature of all of this. It is brutal and it wears you down. I think it's much easier on the body to continue tapering very slowly rather than try something fast. The time it takes to heal is unique to each of us and that's hard to come to terms with.

 

Pete and Hopeful yes this is the scale I used in the latter part of my taper. I'm not the best person to explain how to use it since I had my hubby do all the math and measuring. I was able to feel comfortable about the tiniest of pieces in the end.

 

Marie keep hanging in there, you're doing great! That goes for everyone...every day you get through this is a day closer...never forget it

[[...]]

I need more support again. Having a really rough time with it. Today I just feel exhausted all around. Dark dark circles under eyes. Kind of flattened. I didn't expect the exhaustion. A few years ago I got off of klonopin (I wonder if I had an extended withdrawal reaction to that, years later, last fall? who knows) but I don't remember it being as brutal, nails against the pavement, hopeless as this thing. Circumstances were different back then but still. Thanks Saga.

 

I see the shrink tomorrow but am not hopeful - I know what he'll say. Tempted to ask for remeron. I know he wants me back on zyprexa but that only sedated me and did weird things. Depression is flattening me hard.

 

Can anyone provide step by step instructions for making a liquid of my pills? From the equipment I'd need to the mixing to the storage? Maybe that would be easier and more exact than my imprecise pill cutting.

 

I feel like I'm whining, sorry. I don't have a clear plan for the taper and anticpate trouble at the next cut, whenever that is, if I'm splitting .125 of a pill in half.

[[Ki...]]

Hopeful and Pete - that is also the scale I use. I dry cut anywhere from 5-7% a week depending on how I'm feeling. I hope that helps 

 

Marie - all benzo's are crap, not just Ativan. The reason this w/d is likely so much harder than your last is because you've already gone through it. There is strong anecdotal evidence that shows a w/d, after previous benzo use, is typically harder. You'll still get through it though

 

NYC - buddy....we've talked about this many times. I know you are feeling desperate for relief but you are NOT going to find that at a detox centre. Please take some time to read the c/t and detox threads, none of the people who have gone through it will recommend it. I know how hard it is to accept where you're at, but you have to. There is no easy way out of this. In my opinion, you'd be better off tapering quickly than going to detox.....but I don't recommend either approach. All I can say, is that it's doubtful you will find any relief in the bottom of prescription bottle. You've had issues with anti-depressants all ready, why risk it? I know your life is upside down right now, not just from the benzo's, but I truly feel you would be setting yourself up for failure by detoxing. 

[[Co...]]

NYC, i dont think you should continue cutting until youre at a better place benzo related or life related.

[[Co...]]

I just realized for the past week I've only been taking .25 mg 4 times a day instead of the .375. Should I go back up to .375 mg?

 

How were you feeling before?

If your w/d symptoms are unmanageable then yes, thats a huge cut.

If you think that symptoms will fade then you can hold till you feel better.

This is just my opinion of course. If you cut too far ahead from your brains ability to heal it will take a LONG time to recover. I am just speaking from my own experience. The moment my symptoms become unmanageable i should have taken action. Rather i continued down and progressively got worse.

[[pe...]]

saga

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Smart-Weigh-GEM20-Precision-Milligram/dp/B00ESHDGOI/ref=fallbacksessionReftagkh_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0PR3ZY36VS1858TACPND

http://www.amazon.co.uk/American-Weigh-Gemini-20-Portable-Milligram/dp/B0012TDNAM/ref=pd_cp_kh_2

 

These are different right?

[[Sa...]]

saga

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Smart-Weigh-GEM20-Precision-Milligram/dp/B00ESHDGOI/ref=fallbacksessionReftagkh_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0PR3ZY36VS1858TACPND

http://www.amazon.co.uk/American-Weigh-Gemini-20-Portable-Milligram/dp/B0012TDNAM/ref=pd_cp_kh_2

 

These are different right?

 

I just looked at them twice Pete and I believe they are the same scale different brands...either one would work. I used the second one...

[[...]]

NYC, i dont think you should continue cutting until youre at a better place benzo related or life related.

 

Yeah that makes sense, much confusion in my life. I dont want to go back up and prolong it all, and going forward feels impossible now. I'm a little obsessed about getting down to .50 mg. I will be tapering off this stuff longer than I was actually using it. And it has no calming effect anyway anymore, just taking it has become an obsession. I need it to be in the background more. My whole body is suffering 24/7 mostly. Massive depression. Maybe if I write out a real plan it would help. Can someone help me make a realistic plan? I'll reach out to some of you via pm too. My daily dose is inaccurate, I know it fluctuates by a little each day since I cut up the pills w no scale.

[[Co...]]

NYC, i dont think you should continue cutting until youre at a better place benzo related or life related.

 

Yeah that makes sense, much confusion in my life. I dont want to go back up and prolong it all, and going forward feels impossible now. I'm a little obsessed about getting down to .50 mg. I will be tapering off this stuff longer than I was actually using it. And it has no calming effect anyway anymore, just taking it has become an obsession. I need it to be in the background more. My whole body is suffering 24/7 mostly. Massive depression. Maybe if I write out a real plan it would help. Can someone help me make a realistic plan? I'll reach out to some of you via pm too. My daily dose is inaccurate, I know it fluctuates by a little each day since I cut up the pills w no scale.

 

I can relate on so many levels. I took it for 1month and it will take me over a year to taper. That's just something we have to accept.

 

If you need help switching to liquid I can help you.

[[ma...]]

Cosmicmind. What were your symptoms the first week off?

[[Th...]]

Down to 0.75 this week!  Cut today, so tomorrow and Wednesday might be tough.  Hope everyone else is hanging in there!

[[...]]

Ugh. The depressive lows this past week are truly heavy. Don't know if it's the change in light, the ativan w/d, or being depressed in general.  Also feeling so exhausted lately (of course the panic stricken sleep isn't helping) like I have the flu.

 

I guess these are common sxs. Sometimes I think the longer the taper the more poisoned I'm getting. Maybe I've read too many horror stories here. On the positive side, i'm about 50% down from where I was during the summer.

 

Been at 0.63 for about two weeks now. Not cutting yet. Withdrawal feels like a 24-hour deal now.

[[de...]]

Ugh. The depressive lows this past week are truly heavy. Don't know if it's the change in light, the ativan w/d, or being depressed in general.  Also feeling so exhausted lately (of course the panic stricken sleep isn't helping) like I have the flu.

 

I guess these are common sxs. Sometimes I think the longer the taper the more poisoned I'm getting. Maybe I've read too many horror stories here. On the positive side, i'm about 50% down from where I was during the summer.

 

Been at 0.63 for about two weeks now. Not cutting yet. Withdrawal feels like a 24-hour deal now.

 

NY. Sent PM