Tapering off Ativan Support Thread

[[ge...]]

 

I have always been on ativan but used valium some years ago. Since I started my withdrawel of off ativan this year , my doctor encouraged me to switch over to valium for withdrawel.. It was hell... I was groggy , my skin itched , I felt terrible. Very spacey and nauseous...

I switched back to ativan and have done better with the taper...i know it goes against what most people say works for them but I am finding ativan an easier taper than valium...

So sorry for your side effects.. This journey is oure hell at times ......xxx

 

My feeling about crossing to another benzo to help taper is that once I do I'll be addicted to two benzos instead of one.

 

Not going to do it even if I have to go so slow on lorazepam it takes me five years.

[[Ki...]]

Just incase anyone missed it....

 

Tina (creator of this thread) has written a very uplifting post about where she's at since she jumped from Ativan and Valium.

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=133008.0

 

Hope everyone is still making progress 

[[Lo...]]

 

I have always been on ativan but used valium some years ago. Since I started my withdrawel of off ativan this year , my doctor encouraged me to switch over to valium for withdrawel.. It was hell... I was groggy , my skin itched , I felt terrible. Very spacey and nauseous...

I switched back to ativan and have done better with the taper...i know it goes against what most people say works for them but I am finding ativan an easier taper than valium...

So sorry for your side effects.. This journey is oure hell at times ......xxx

 

My feeling about crossing to another benzo to help taper is that once I do I'll be addicted to two benzos instead of one.

 

Not going to do it even if I have to go so slow on lorazepam it takes me five years.

 

There's some truth to that. I don't think I'll be able to pull a crossover off, but valium was necessary, as the interdose wd's from ativan were brutal for me. I made a lot of mistakes in Dec/Jan and escalated ativan use, which brought up the interdose wd's. Thought I was dealing with a host of health issues and didn't recognize what was going on until the dose got high. I was getting 0 sleep on ativan 2.5mg. Valium helped quite a bit. So, yeah, a crappy situation, but the original one was not survivable in my case.

[[li...]]

Does anyone recognize this: elevated heart rate four to five hours after taking a lorazepam dose ?

 

Development of more tolerance/dependency when you start to take the lorazepam more often to avoid interdose W/D ?

Since recently, for the most part the lorazepam has worn off after about five hours with only some residual action that's left.

[[ge...]]

 

I have always been on ativan but used valium some years ago. Since I started my withdrawel of off ativan this year , my doctor encouraged me to switch over to valium for withdrawel.. It was hell... I was groggy , my skin itched , I felt terrible. Very spacey and nauseous...

I switched back to ativan and have done better with the taper...i know it goes against what most people say works for them but I am finding ativan an easier taper than valium...

So sorry for your side effects.. This journey is oure hell at times ......xxx

 

My feeling about crossing to another benzo to help taper is that once I do I'll be addicted to two benzos instead of one.

 

Not going to do it even if I have to go so slow on lorazepam it takes me five years.

 

There's some truth to that. I don't think I'll be able to pull a crossover off, but valium was necessary, as the interdose wd's from ativan were brutal for me. I made a lot of mistakes in Dec/Jan and escalated ativan use, which brought up the interdose wd's. Thought I was dealing with a host of health issues and didn't recognize what was going on until the dose got high. I was getting 0 sleep on ativan 2.5mg. Valium helped quite a bit. So, yeah, a crappy situation, but the original one was not survivable in my case.

 

I'm stuck at my current level of L. I'm afraid to go up, afraid to go down, afraid to crossover. Basically, since I started my taper last December my life has totally fallen apart. I dread every new day, because it's always exactly the same as the previous day, which was bad.

 

I've lost all interest in things that I used to enjoy, am afraid to make any decisions because I know the drug is affecting my judgement, and feel totally lost.

 

I felt none of these things until I had been tapering around 10 weeks. Now, they're all I think about.  Thinking that this is what my life is going to be from now on doesn't engender happy thoughts.

 

[[Lo...]]

 

I have always been on ativan but used valium some years ago. Since I started my withdrawel of off ativan this year , my doctor encouraged me to switch over to valium for withdrawel.. It was hell... I was groggy , my skin itched , I felt terrible. Very spacey and nauseous...

I switched back to ativan and have done better with the taper...i know it goes against what most people say works for them but I am finding ativan an easier taper than valium...

So sorry for your side effects.. This journey is oure hell at times ......xxx

 

My feeling about crossing to another benzo to help taper is that once I do I'll be addicted to two benzos instead of one.

 

Not going to do it even if I have to go so slow on lorazepam it takes me five years.

 

There's some truth to that. I don't think I'll be able to pull a crossover off, but valium was necessary, as the interdose wd's from ativan were brutal for me. I made a lot of mistakes in Dec/Jan and escalated ativan use, which brought up the interdose wd's. Thought I was dealing with a host of health issues and didn't recognize what was going on until the dose got high. I was getting 0 sleep on ativan 2.5mg. Valium helped quite a bit. So, yeah, a crappy situation, but the original one was not survivable in my case.

 

I'm stuck at my current level of L. I'm afraid to go up, afraid to go down, afraid to crossover. Basically, since I started my taper last December my life has totally fallen apart. I dread every new day, because it's always exactly the same as the previous day, which was bad.

 

I've lost all interest in things that I used to enjoy, am afraid to make any decisions because I know the drug is affecting my judgement, and feel totally lost.

 

I felt none of these things until I had been tapering around 10 weeks. Now, they're all I think about.  Thinking that this is what my life is going to be from now on doesn't engender happy thoughts.

 

Oh, God, how I can relate to that. Every day is just bare survival for me, too. Not long ago, I didn't think of this kind of existence being possible....

[[Lo...]]

Does anyone recognize this: elevated heart rate four to five hours after taking a lorazepam dose ?

 

Development of more tolerance/dependency when you start to take the lorazepam more often to avoid interdose W/D ?

Since recently, for the most part the lorazepam has worn off after about five hours with only some residual action that's left.

 

That's exactly what got me in trouble with it in Nov/Dec 2014. Looking back, I think I was having some mild wd sxs on my 0.5mg dose (4-5 days a week) with mental anxiety and gastro issues, but then I did some panicky updosing in Nov/Dec 14 (work project, etc.), and all of a sudden, there is this chest pain until I take another dose. Then it goes away miraculously. In early Jan, I went for a swim again (last time I went was end of Nov.), and when I got back, I felt kind of funny. Measured my BP and saw my pulse to 107 and not slowing down. Called the nurse line and was told to seek immediate medical attention. Took 0.25mg lorazepam, and pulse went down to 94.

 

Racing pulse and heartbeat have been one of the first issues I ran into with lorazepam. It's too short acting of a drug, and you'll need to divide it up into several equal doses in the day and take it like clockwork (I have alarms set on my phone). Any uneven dosing will make the BP & HR issues worse. IMHO, I don't think it's a great benzo to taper off of. I went looking for valium and beta blockers out of desperation.

[[La...]]

 

I have always been on ativan but used valium some years ago. Since I started my withdrawel of off ativan this year , my doctor encouraged me to switch over to valium for withdrawel.. It was hell... I was groggy , my skin itched , I felt terrible. Very spacey and nauseous...

I switched back to ativan and have done better with the taper...i know it goes against what most people say works for them but I am finding ativan an easier taper than valium...

So sorry for your side effects.. This journey is oure hell at times ......xxx

 

My feeling about crossing to another benzo to help taper is that once I do I'll be addicted to two benzos instead of one.

 

Not going to do it even if I have to go so slow on lorazepam it takes me five years.

 

There's some truth to that. I don't think I'll be able to pull a crossover off, but valium was necessary, as the interdose wd's from ativan were brutal for me. I made a lot of mistakes in Dec/Jan and escalated ativan use, which brought up the interdose wd's. Thought I was dealing with a host of health issues and didn't recognize what was going on until the dose got high. I was getting 0 sleep on ativan 2.5mg. Valium helped quite a bit. So, yeah, a crappy situation, but the original one was not survivable in my case.

 

I'm stuck at my current level of L. I'm afraid to go up, afraid to go down, afraid to crossover. Basically, since I started my taper last December my life has totally fallen apart. I dread every new day, because it's always exactly the same as the previous day, which was bad.

 

I've lost all interest in things that I used to enjoy, am afraid to make any decisions because I know the drug is affecting my judgement, and feel totally lost.

 

I felt none of these things until I had been tapering around 10 weeks. Now, they're all I think about.  Thinking that this is what my life is going to be from now on doesn't engender happy thoughts.

 

I know I can completely empathize with what you say above (bolded). Exactly how I felt on lorazepam. But the good news is that you dont have to let the insane fear stop you from tapering, beacuse that is what is required to end the nightmare. Accept the fear as part of the process and just keep tapering, holding as necessary. In the moment on this bad drug it does seem like ones life is totally falling apart. Get to 0 mg, let a little time pass, and your life will be back in some order, gaining structure and momentum. In reflection, it wont even seem like life was falling apart when you are feeling good and off the junk. My best wishes to you for a succesfull taper.

 

laser

[[Lo...]]

I've never thought I'd be able to get below that 2mg/day mark, but have somehow managed to get to 1.9mg.

[[bo...]]

Yaaah to you LF2015..

I struggled to below 2 mgs too. And am having to force myself to not try and reduce again for a wee while. Its liberating but at the same time oh so very scary as well...

Sometimes I want to just get the hell of these drugs, and other times I'm apprehensive about life 'post ativan' ... Can't win..

Just one day at a time ...

 

Fabulous achievement  xxx

[[ge...]]

Started tapering again. On third day of .71mg, down from .75. So far, so good.

 

At least that's what I think I'm taking, because my $25 scale goes all over the place. Uncut pill weighs .068g. After shaving, it weighs .071, no wait, it's .073, no, now it's .066.

 

So in reality all I know for sure is that the pill is smaller than it was before I cut it. This is never going to work out well. There has to be a better way.

[[ge...]]

Fourth day out, not so good. No sleep last night, feel crappy on a lousy 5% cut.

 

I just don't know about this.

[[Ki...]]

Get Me - I felt every single one of my 5% cuts. I was always hit the hardest in the 4th day and the same is true for Saga and BigBanFan who are both also tapering Ativan. You'll likely feel better tomorrow. If you keep track of your sx you'll likely notice a trend of always being hit on Day 4 and then you can try and plan to lay low those days. That's what I did and now I'm at .13mg!!!

 

I also felt a lot better once I go below .40mg 

[[ge...]]

Thanks for the encouragement. I just don't understand why I had such a (relatively) easy time getting to .75, and pure hell trying to get below it. I'd try cutting even less but I doubt my scale is accurate enough for that.

 

Sigh.

[[Bb...]]

Question. Been on Ativan for about 2 1/2 months. Have tapered down to 1mg a day (.25mg four times a day), and looking to take smaller cuts the rest of the way down, as sxs have been fairly significant. My question is, if I make a .125 cut next, is it better to reduce one daily dosage, or to cut that cut across all dosages? I'm ready for my next cut, so would really appreciate any thoughts.

[[...]]

Question. Been on Ativan for about 2 1/2 months. Have tapered down to 1mg a day (.25mg four times a day), and looking to take smaller cuts the rest of the way down, as sxs have been fairly significant. My question is, if I make a .125 cut next, is it better to reduce one daily dosage, or to cut that cut across all dosages? I'm ready for my next cut, so would really appreciate any thoughts.

 

I think absolutely you should cut across doses, especially with Ativan.  If you don't you will eventually taper yourself into interdose withdrawal.

[[Ki...]]

I agree with SG. I would do your best to try and keep all your doses even. 

[[an...]]

It is best to cut across all dosages because of interdose withdrawal. How are you doing on dosing 4 times a day? I have been thinking of going from 3 to 4 doses.

[[Bb...]]

Thanks all! Yes, I'm doing four doses a day. I was doing three, but because of a med I needed to add due to my health condition, I needed to change everything around. Four has definitely been better for me than three. One other question. What gram scale do people recommend? I'm guessing that's going to be the best way to do this.

[[ge...]]

Thanks all! Yes, I'm doing four doses a day. I was doing three, but because of a med I needed to add due to my health condition, I needed to change everything around. Four has definitely been better for me than three. One other question. What gram scale do people recommend? I'm guessing that's going to be the best way to do this.

 

Finally a small window after a horrible morning.

 

Anyway, regarding scales most people end up with a GEM 20 for around $25. Even if you find one not called a GEM 20, that's what it's most likely going to be.

 

One thing about them. They're not very good at weighing small splits, say like a .5mg lorazepam pill split four ways. Also you have to give them time finally arrive at a weight before trusting them, and sometimes the cut pill will end up weighing more than it did before you cut it. We're not talking about multi-thousand dollar analytical balances here.

[[bo...]]

I also find four doses a day more effective for me. At present my night time dose is higher than the day time ones and want to get them into line first  before reducing doses.

Its not easy at all!

Good luck x

[[Gr...]]

Hey All. Just wanted to update and tell everyone I'm doing great!!! Getting close to that finish line now. Within 2 months I'll be making the leap. Been a year since I started tapering. Can't believe it. Just keep at it all and you'll come out on top. Where's my woman Kiddo??!!!

 

GIT

[[an...]]

Congratulations Green!!  I am so happy for you!! 

[[Mi...]]

Green - Can you tell me exactly how you figured the compound pharmacy taper? I'd like to do that too, but can't figure the math on what mixture to ask the pharmacy to create or how much to lower it and how often.

 

I'm at .25 mg. Ativan now, just once per day - before bed. What do I ask for at the pharmacy - that is, what dose per ml or whatever? And how much do I take per night or week or whatever to slowly taper? The last cut I did was approximately .0625 (1/8 pill) 11 days ago and the w/d effects were brutal. I'd like to go more gradually with the rest of it, and liquid seems the way to go.

 

I'm also on 16.5 Valium, but want to get off the Ativan first. Those little pills are too hard to cut accurately, and I'm wary of figuring out a liquid titration method using the pills. Some Benzo Buddies are good at it, but I can't wrap my addled brain around it.

 

Thanks!

MirandaJane

[[ge...]]

I'm not Green, but I believe you have to have a script from your doc specifying to the pharmacist what the concentration needs to be. Otherwise, you'll have to make it yourself using the 150proof alcohol method.