Tapering off Ativan Support Thread

[[mr...]]

Thank you Mrtmeo--You've been very supportive to me all along the way!!! I appreciate you calling me a strong person. I think I am too!! I feel so badly for all the people who are still in the thick of it. It infuriates how these so-called "medications" can destroy a person's life!! I want to write a book someday!! But for now, I don't look back at all--only forward. I have wasted enough time being sick. I don't want to waste another precious moment feeling angry. I'm not sure if I'm in the protracted group at this point--but all that matters to me is that I'm slowly getting better. The progress is just soooooo sloooooow.  And every time I get a virus or a stressor in my life, I talk a half-step backward again. Like everyone says, healing is not a linear process. Anyways, thank again for you kind words...

 

Tina 

 

Hi Tina,

A book is a great idea.

So many could benefit from a book describing your whole recovery process.

I look forward to reading it.

I have followed u since 2012 and only imagined this day where you are doing so much better.

What a long hard process, but u made it and are almost there!

[[Mo...]]

So I've been off now for nearly a month, and I still don't feel quite right. I find it hard to believe that I could still have residual effects from the Ativan, since I was on it for such a short time. Every day there's just this "off" feeling...some days it's hard to put my finger on it. Today it's dull pain at the back of my head and shoulders, and a headache at the same time. I do have some health anxiety and I'm trying to keep that under control. Could this be from the Ativan still? I guess anything is possible. I did take twice as long to come off it as I was on it, and jumped from .25 mg. I don't know. Just rambling on. Hope all is well with everyone!! 

 

xo

Mookie

[[ge...]]

You sound like you're doing just fine to me. Try to stop looking back and worrying about it. You're done, you're off it, and things should just get better for you.

 

I envy you.

[[Mo...]]

Thank you, Getme. I know I need to settle down about these weird body sensations...I've been to the dr and everything seems to be fine. So maybe it's just my body working things out or whatever! I'm very sorry you are struggling; you have been on this med for so long. I hope things turn around for you soon.

[[...]]

I have a quick question.  Haven't read the thread for awhile so I am sorry to jump in with a non-sequitur.

 

Can people who have jumped tell me at what dosage they jumped from?  I am not ready to do it, but I am getting down there...at least from my perspective, maybe I am wrong on that one?

 

Does anyone have any feedback on the best dosage to jump from??

 

Thank you.  Best wishes for us all, for a CALM CALM body.

[[ge...]]

You've been tapering pretty slowly, and that's good. Using your liquid taper, how low can you accurately measure to and how are you feeling?

 

It looks like you should be able to get below .1mg without a problem using your method. If it was me, and the taper was minimizing my withdrawal symptoms, I'd go as low as possible before the jump.

 

 

[[...]]

I can actually get down to below .1 ml on my syringe so I guess I'll just keep plugging along.  Makes sense.  Just get eager to be done with it, as I know everyone can relate.

 

Right now my symptoms are morning cortisol surges and tight panicky chest. I ruminate throughout the day quite a bit more than I used to but it is manageable.....so far.  And I have a neuropathic itch on my forearms which is really bad at night, but I have cream to treat that.  And the itch has been there since the introduction of lamictal....it flares up a lot more when I make a cut though.

 

I think compared to a lot of us, I am doing fine-ish (crossing my fingers) so far.

 

Thank you for your reply getmeoffthis!

[[Lo...]]

Hmm, it seems that, even if I take 0.5mg Ativan every 5 hours, I now start getting sxs after only 3. So, am I basically taking a sugar pill at this point? I suppose the proper plan is to talk to pdoc on Friday and add more valium and not ativan since I have gotten pretty pooped out on it.

 

Can a person end up in a severe wd if holding at the same ativan dosage for too long?

 

Also, would switching from ativan to klonopin and then continuing c/o to valium be worthwile or would put me into even more misery due to clonopin's strength. Just trying to see what to say if the pdoc on Friday suggests klonopin.

[[La...]]

I can actually get down to below .1 ml on my syringe so I guess I'll just keep plugging along.  Makes sense.  Just get eager to be done with it, as I know everyone can relate.

 

 

 

I too, reached 0.1 ml ativan on my syringe and just KEPT on going down in dose...because I could. Was eager to stop but went down to the LAST gradation on the syringe barrell. After that, the only choice was to JUMP.

 

laser

[[ge...]]

I can actually get down to below .1 ml on my syringe so I guess I'll just keep plugging along.  Makes sense.  Just get eager to be done with it, as I know everyone can relate.

 

Right now my symptoms are morning cortisol surges and tight panicky chest. I ruminate throughout the day quite a bit more than I used to but it is manageable.....so far.  And I have a neuropathic itch on my forearms which is really bad at night, but I have cream to treat that.  And the itch has been there since the introduction of lamictal....it flares up a lot more when I make a cut though.

 

I think compared to a lot of us, I am doing fine-ish (crossing my fingers) so far.

 

Thank you for your reply getmeoffthis!

 

I know how strong the temptation is to just cut faster and get it over with. The problem with that that I've found is my withdrawal symptoms trail my cut by 4 to 6 days. As much as I'd like to quickly get down to my immediate goal of .5mg/day, I know I can't. Looking at another 3-4 months just to get there really annoys me, but I don't see what the alternative is. If I have another bad period on the way down, I'll have to updose and lose even more time.

 

I guess at some point I'm going to have to look into switching to liquid, because I don't see any way, even with a scale, to accurately cut a quarter of a .5mg pill any smaller.

[[ge...]]

Can those of you using liquid ativan tell me a couple of things about switching to that?

 

First, are you using the commercially prepared compound or are you having the pharmacist compound it for you?

 

What are you diluting it with, and at what ratio?

 

I'd really appreciate having this info from people who have actually done it successfully, because by the time I'm ready to go there you'll be off getting on with your lives, not spending time here looking for answers.

 

Thanks in advance.

[[...]]

I was on .5mg of Ativan for over two years, only at night.

 

Started at liquid compound from the beginning of my taper.  My psychiatrist calls in the script to the local compounding pharmacy and it is made into a thickish (a bit) liquid.  Strawberry flavored...I'm not sure exactly what they are diluting it with.  Feel stupid for not knowing that.  Maybe I don't want to know, now that I am down this road.

 

The ratio is .5mg to 1ml.

 

I get my syringes (1ml.) at the vet's office because I haven't found  a good one at either of my two pharmacies.

 

When I first switched to liquid I FELT it--a good week and a half of awful depression/sobbing, anxiety, whole body aches and headache, rage....ugh.

 

I have read here that the initial switch to liquid can feel like a drop....that reassured me.

 

From my experience the compounded liquid is a godsend.  I was so overwhelmed when I was reading about dry-cutting and water titration, and this just takes all that worry out of the picture for me.

 

 

 

 

[[La...]]

Can those of you using liquid ativan tell me a couple of things about switching to that?

 

First, are you using the commercially prepared compound or are you having the pharmacist compound it for you?

 

What are you diluting it with, and at what ratio?

 

I'd really appreciate having this info from people who have actually done it successfully, because by the time I'm ready to go there you'll be off getting on with your lives, not spending time here looking for answers.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

I requested my doctor write a script for a 0.5 mg per ml compounded suspension of ativan. Methylcellulosr was used as the carrier in an aqueous milieu. Compounding pharmacist elected to add a raspberry flavor to cut bitterness. No dilution was necessary to get all the way down to 0.02 mg total daily dose. Used a 1.0 ml syringe provided by pharmacy. Aside from having to swirl the refrigerated suspension prior to dosing, the process was easy and simple.  laser

[[ge...]]

Thanks all. I appreciate it.

 

Now all I have to do is to convince my doc that such a product exists and to write a script for it. This may be a problem because he's the one who told me I could just quit when I get down to .5mg. 

 

It does bother me that this is such a powerful benzo that even at .1mg people are still feeling cuts. I haven't tried it yet, but I imagine that smaller than a .1mg cut off of a .5mg pill is little more than crumbs and dust.

[[Gr...]]

getmeoffthis - I get mine compounded at a pharmacy minutes away. They've been doing it for years and thus far have been great for me. My ratio is 0.5mg / 50ml. It makes micro tapering so easy. I dose 3 times a day (4.20ml x 3 = 0.126mg). I'm getting there. Hope that helps.

[[pe...]]

Hi

 

I feel like I'm between a rock and hard place with the symptoms i am getting from the lorazepam. I have been experiencing severe gum recession and teeth pain for nearly 10 months. The pain is constant  point i can hardly sleep cause of the stress going through my gum and jaw. The clenching and TMJ has become chronic- this seems to be a mixture of sxs and withdrawals. My head locks in the middle of the night and i can feel the drug withdrawing.

 

I also can't get stable mentally.

[[an...]]

Hi Getme,

 

You asked how to do this with liquid.  The first time I tapered, I was very successful.  I just used water. I tapered all the way down to 0.01 mg/day. I got to the point where I was tapering just a few  drops  per day (there are about 20 drops/mL so that was 1/20 of a mL per drop)  I remember that towards the end, I would sometimes forget to take my doses because I was experiencing no symptoms whatsoever.  One day, I decided to stop and that was it.  No problems whatsoever. I was off for three years before deciding to go back on due to alcohol. I remember being afraid to switch to the liquid, but I just added my regular dose to water and I experienced no problems when I switched to the liquid. In fact I felt better--probably because when dry cutting, my doses were not as accurate.  I held for a few weeks to  make sure I was stable and then started cutting. Here is how I did it.

 

I was on 0.75 mg/day.  I crushed two 0.5 mg tablets and then put  into 200 mL of water--I used some of the water to rinse out my mortar.  Shake very well, removed 50 mL, and then divide into three doses. Once I started the taper, I would take out the 50 + 1 mL a day and then divide into three doses. This worked well for a few weeks, and then I had to decrease the amount I removed.  Each mL contained 0.0050 mg of Ativan.  You want to make sure that you do not decrease by more than 10% every two weeks. If you have any questions on the amounts of Ativan and water to use, please let me know. I am a chemist so it was easy for me to be very precise when using the liquid titration. I had the proper tools to prepare my doses and I was able to accurately cut by very small amounts. I kept track of how much I was tapering using a spreadsheet.  I never updosed once during my first taper. There were times when I would hold for a day or 2 or 3, but not too often.  It was a smooth taper.     

 

Now there is alcohol in the mix which is why I decided to  reinstate the Ativan. A few years ago, I got into the habit of drinking several glasses of wine during the evening after a long day at work, which is something I regret. But, things are looking up.  I have tapered the alcohol down to about 2 standard drinks a day, and am feeling much better.  I have also started tapering the Ativan again.  Now I am on a little less than 0.5 mg of Ativan. I put the 0.5 mg Ativan into 150 mL of water and decrease by 1 mL a day.  I will need to start decreasing by 3/4 mL very soon though because I do not want to go over the 10% decrease per two weeks.   

 

I am sorry this is so long, but I just wanted to reassure you that you can successfully do liquid even if your physician does not agree to a compounding prescription.  It does take more work than dry cutting, but from my experience it lead to a much smoother taper.

 

Anne                           

[[ge...]]

Thanks for all the info, Anne. I wasn't aware that you could use water successfully with ativan. Lots of good answers to my question.

 

Does anyone else find that just talking about does reduction with ativan makes then jumpy? It sure does that to me.

 

 

[[an...]]

Yes, it certainly does that to me, but at the same time it helps.

 

Yes, you can successfully taper off using water.  Just keep in mind that Ativan is not soluble in water.  The best you can do is crush it into the smallest particles that you can and then shake very well to get the particles suspended in the water. If you can handle that, you should have a smooth taper.

 

Anne

[[ra...]]

Hi.    Im wondering shoukd i start again atv4 mil.  Took a dry cut ovrr a year ago to 3 1\2 but 6 months ago because of stress i rebounded.  Whay u guys think

[[Lo...]]

Yesterday, I've cut .1mg Ativan. It's been 24 hours and so far so good. It's doubtful I'll get enough Valium to do a full crossover, so I think I'll just attempt to cut Ativan a bit more.

 

Would cutting another .1mg Ativan in a 3-4 days be sensible, or should I wait for a week and do it? It seems that 1.5A is when things get really bad (dropped there once by mistake and didn't have enough V to cover the gap). Seems like I'll have to go much more slowly from 2.0A to 1.5A as that's where the tremors get really bad. I'm planning for some low beta blocker use to get from 2.3A to 2.0A.

 

 

 

[[do...]]

I am tapering Ativan, actually doing micro tapering of my midday dose of .125  by shaving tiny amounts off each day. The midday dose is now just a small little piece so I think I should stop taking it altogether. That will leave just the morning and evening dose of .25, and I am going to start shaving a tiny bit off both those doses tomorrow. When would it be safe to jump? I have been tapering since Sept and tired of dragging it out, just want to be off.

[[ge...]]

Yesterday, I've cut .1mg Ativan. It's been 24 hours and so far so good. It's doubtful I'll get enough Valium to do a full crossover, so I think I'll just attempt to cut Ativan a bit more.

 

Would cutting another .1mg Ativan in a 3-4 days be sensible, or should I wait for a week and do it? It seems that 1.5A is when things get really bad (dropped there once by mistake and didn't have enough V to cover the gap). Seems like I'll have to go much more slowly from 2.0A to 1.5A as that's where the tremors get really bad. I'm planning for some low beta blocker use to get from 2.3A to 2.0A.

 

It took me four days after a taper to feel the effects, so you might want to wait at least that long before cutting again.

[[ge...]]

Hi.    Im wondering shoukd i start again atv4 mil.  Took a dry cut ovrr a year ago to 3 1\2 but 6 months ago because of stress i rebounded.  Whay u guys think

 

Are you saying you're currently on 4mg/day of ativan? A little more than a 10% cut would get you down to 3.5mg right away. I found the initial cuts easy to do with no side effects.  You really need to resist the urge to up your dose in response to stress; that just isn't going to help you at all.

 

While this may not work for you, based on my experience I'd try getting down to 2mg/day fairly quickly, then wait there a few weeks and see what happens.

 

Good luck. I know it's not easy. I wish more doctors knew that.

[[lo...]]

Hello all...I'm new to BB but have been reading members posts for a week now.  I tapped out back on 10/31/14 with severe panic/anxiety and had to drive myself to the ER.  I'd had anxiety attacks in the past but thought this one was going to end my life.  Lets move forward.  In the last 4 months I've been hospitalized in-patient 3 times, have been given numerous SSRI's and was started on 1mg of Ativan/day when I was first hospitalized.  In between hospital stays I continued taking a small dose (0.5 to 1mg) of Ativan which was prescribed by my Primary Care Dr. to ward off the side effects of the various ssri's.  About 3 weeks ago I started feeling really anxious and panicky shorly after waking up every morning and couldn't figure out why since I was sleeping real good for my normal 6 hours or so.  Then it dawned on me.... I was suffering interdose wd's from the Ativan each morning when I woke up.  Now I find myself dependent on the Ativan and joined BB to seek help and advice for a direct taper off the stuff.  I've been taking at most about 0.5mg-.60mg each day most days I hold at 0.5mg.  At that amount I am feeling crappy and anxious all day, basically torturing myself, knowing my Brain is asking for more, but refuse to updose to a higher base level.  My pills are 0.5mg.  I've been cutting them in half, taking 0.25mg around 9:00a.m. and another 0.25mg in the early afternoon when I can't stand the interdose symptoms any longer.  I started a taper last week where I take the .25mg at 9:00 a.m. then shave off a little bit off my p.m.dose making it about .18 to .20mg.  Is this the right approach to take and how long should I hold at .45mg each day before I make another cut ?  I feel for all of you out there who are dealing with the same hell I'm going through.  I'm scared to death about my situation and any words of encouragement would certainly be welcome and hope you Folks can assist me with my taper.  I've ordered a scale to help out with my taper but would greatly appreciate suggestions from others who are working on their Ativan tapers. One question I have is:  How important is it to take your doses at a pre-scheduled time each day ?  Thank you in advance to all who choose to reply to my post.  God Bless....