Tapering off Ativan Support Thread

[[Fi...]]

welcome to ativan board bracess1,

i do not recommend removing the afternoon completely first!

i tapered off my day time dosage first and ended up suffering from interdose withdrawals the rest of the ways. this is one of the mistake i made during my taper.  ativan has very short half life. i suggest you keep both dose and remove a little bit evenly across the board.  i think, this way, you will have a smoother taper.  let's wait for the others to shine in, but i'm pretty sure most ativan user will feel the same.

 

i also recommend you switch to DMLT when you get down to lower dose. it will help tremendously. you can read our previous post.  on this board, we have two recently finished taper and are doing very well post taper, myself included.  if you have question, pls don't hesitate to ask!

 

best wishes to you!

[[si...]]

Hi Bracess1!

 

Welcome!  We're so glad you found us! 

 

I completely agree with the suggestions FisherK gave you.  What worked for me was to keep dosing at my daily scheduled times, and daily take a tiny amount out.  I never dropped a dose.  That has the effect of putting someone into interdose withdrawals, which can make tapering that much more difficult because the amount of Ativan in your system fluctuates too much.

 

Also, using liquid Ativan rather that cutting allows one to accurately remove tiny amounts daily, which also helps smooth out the taper, making symptoms not as powerful.

 

Hope that helps!

 

xo,

sierra 

 

 

[[te...]]

Is anyone here dry cutting ?

[[si...]]

Hi Lisa,

 

It looks like powerball is dry cutting.  I found this post of his a few pages back:

 

Tech, this sounds crazy, but I cut on a small cutting board. When I cut I have many tiny shreds that I use tweezers to get on the microgram scale. Like tonight when I cut exactly .025 on a microgram scale I just licked the tiny pieces off the cutting board to make sure I was getting my full  dose. Sounds weird, but it works. I bet when I get down to a small piece of a 2mg pill I hope to do the same thing. I adjust every cut based on the weight of the pill I am cutting but now that I am thinking about it maybe I should be cutting off the combined weight of both pills! I will think about that tomorrow. This is a science, much unknown, and incredibly and meticulously individualized. I also cup my hand over the cut so that the shreds do not fly away. Powerball

 

How are you doing?  Hope this helps.

 

xo,

sierra 

[[te...]]

Not too bad , ringing in ears is very bothersome , sleep is tough but still moving along . I think when I get to 0.25 I will start my liquid . Had a set back my mom fell and broke her hip and she lives with me

I feel like any stress makes me a lot worse .

I hope you are doing well . Thank you for asking .

Lisa

[[si...]]

Not too bad , ringing in ears is very bothersome , sleep is tough but still moving along . I think when I get to 0.25 I will start my liquid . Had a set back my mom fell and broke her hip and she lives with me

I feel like any stress makes me a lot worse .

I hope you are doing well . Thank you for asking .

Lisa

 

Hi Lisa,

 

I also had the ringing in my ears, but it diminished at lower doses.  Sleep is my BIG issue - that's why I started taking benzos.  So you and I share a lot of sxs.  Definitely stress exacerbates sxs.  We do what we can to avoid stress, but it can still find us sometimes.

 

Sorry about your mother's fall.  That's rough on both of you.  Hope she's doing better.

 

Great news about starting the liquid at .25mg.  Once you start doing it, you'll find it's really easy and accurate.  We're here to help anytime you need it. 

 

xo,

sierra 

[[...]]

Sierra and Fisher,

 

Do you know approximately what percentage you dropped per number of days during your taper?

 

I realize I was on a much higher amount for a much longer time but I don't want this to take three years if I can possibly go faster!

 

Right now it seems to be dominating my life as I slowly go lower using DLMT at a rate of 5% every 14 days.

 

In four more days I will be at 3.875 and in another 12 days at 3.75.  I did the calculations and if I stay at this rate it would take me another 3 years to get to .05!

 

I hope I can speed up the rate as time goes on!!

 

Luey

[[si...]]

Hi Luey,

 

I completely understand your concern about tapering for another 3 years.  IMO, just because you're on a higher dose, doesn't necessarily call for a longer taper.  There are so many other factors that go into a taper rate, that putting a fixed percentage and applying it to everybody doesn't make sense.  But, it's a good starting point. 

 

As you know (and maybe new buddies can learn), Ativan will tell you via increased sxs if you go too fast within a few days.  The advantage is you can make adjustments quickly.  So, testing different taper rates is easier than if you were on a longer acting benzo with active metabolites like valium.

 

For my taper, I took full advantage of that and implemented an sxs based taper - I went as fast as the sxs were tolerable.  My thinking is there must be a cumulative negative effect of dosing benzos for a long time (i.e. a long taper).  Getting benzo-free sooner was a priority for me. 

 

You can largely see my taper rate from my signature.  In general, I logged milestones every 15 or so days.  The first set of 15 days, I tapered at about a 10% rate, so 10%/15day.  The following 4 sets of 15 days, I increased the taper rate to about 20%/15days.  Then, from .315mg to .16mg, was 50%/15day, then (and your last drop is always 100%), 100%/15day.

 

It's important to restate that the only planning was to initially drop 10% in 15 days - while all the rest were based on my daily symptoms.  If it was more than I could tolerate, I held for a day or dropped less than I usually did, etc.  I really listened to my body.  And I had sxs all the way.  I was willing to tolerate more sxs to be drug free sooner.  That was my trade off.  But, that decision is highly individual.

 

You could also look at FisherK's signature and get a sense of his percentages.  They are very similar to mine, maybe faster.

 

You always ask great questions.  I hope this helps, Luey.  How're you feeling?

 

xo,

sierra 

 

 

[[...]]

Hi Sierra,

 

The way you answered my question is what I am hoping for as I taper down.  I realize I have to listen to my body, but I hope it doesn't extend too much beyond another year.  I've already been working on it for four and a half months which I know might be considered fast by many here on BBs.  At the higher amounts it was easier.  I realize I started tapering from a high amount of 6mgs, but the thought of three years is very discouraging!!

 

Since the beginning I have felt a significantly lowered level of energy compared to what I am used to when I am well.  I continue to feel this lowered level of energy every day but I am learning to live with it.  My other frequent symptom is nausea, although I do have breaks from this.  I often feel nauseous but have not been vomiting since I slowed down.  Vomiting is kind of my criteria for slowing down the taper.  It seems to be going smoother since I started DLMT, but not symptom free.  Also I have felt a bit of insomnia since I lowered my night dose, but I hope this will smooth out.  Insomnia was not one of my main symptoms prior to Ativan.

 

I agree with what you are saying about making the taper stretch out indefinitely.  I hope its true for me and I can taper faster.

 

I'm not really being supported by the practitioner who prescribed these to me.  We had several disagreements about it and see it from a different point of view.  At this point I am not fully disclosing the process I am in because I fear she would just want to put me on more meds. Unfortunately I don't have other good options in the town where I live.  We are lacking in mental health professionals.

 

I am seeing a therapist who I can be completely honest with.  Also I have a small circle of good friends who fully support me.

 

On another topic, out of curiosity if you don't mind me asking, why do you think you had withdrawal symptoms after a short time on a relatively low amount of Ativan? 

 

Thanks for the dialogue. 

 

Luey

[[Fi...]]

lisa, sorry to hear about your mom!  hope she is feeling better! wish her well!

 

luey, both me and and sierra are short term users.  hence, our taper rate may appear to be fast for most.  like sierra, getting off benzo sooner was the priority for me as well.  so i tapered in large chunks in the beginning, but slowed down considerably when it gets to low dosage.  when i did my taper, i never counted the percentage, nor was i ever at high dosage, so might not be able to help much in that department. you might want to check ashton's Manuel for ativan equivalent.  but i do suggest to find a fastest rate possible that is still tolerable. Don't worry about being sx free. but you taper at your rate that is comfortable to you, no judgement here!!  i've seen 4 pdoc during my taper.  none of them were able to help, nor knew anything about benzo withdrawals. To me, they are only good for writing enough tapering prescriptions.  i totally understand if you feel the need to not disclose what youre doing.

 

best wishes to all!

[[si...]]

Since the beginning I have felt a significantly lowered level of energy compared to what I am used to when I am well.  I continue to feel this lowered level of energy every day but I am learning to live with it.  My other frequent symptom is nausea, although I do have breaks from this.  I often feel nauseous but have not been vomiting since I slowed down.  Vomiting is kind of my criteria for slowing down the taper.  It seems to be going smoother since I started DLMT, but not symptom free.  Also I have felt a bit of insomnia since I lowered my night dose, but I hope this will smooth out.  Insomnia was not one of my main symptoms prior to Ativan.

 

Depleted energy & insomnia (regardless of pre-benzo experience onset) are very typical, if not the typical, benzo withdrawal sxs.  That's a great idea, using nausea as your barometer gaging if you're going too fast, although I hope you don't have to go through anymore of it.

 

I'm not really being supported by the practitioner who prescribed these to me.  We had several disagreements about it and see it from a different point of view.  At this point I am not fully disclosing the process I am in because I fear she would just want to put me on more meds. Unfortunately I don't have other good options in the town where I live.  We are lacking in mental health professionals.

 

I am seeing a therapist who I can be completely honest with.  Also I have a small circle of good friends who fully support me.

 

Like FisherK said, the primary use of a doctor with regard to tapering is as a prescription writer - you have to have enough Ativan to get through your taper and not feel rushed.  There's no requirement to disclose anything to them, particularly given many of them arrogantly failed to disclose that long term (more than 2 weeks) use of benzos can cause dependence.  Right?

 

It's great you have a good therapist you're comfortable with discussing everything and supportive friends!  That's golden! 

 

On another topic, out of curiosity if you don't mind me asking, why do you think you had withdrawal symptoms after a short time on a relatively low amount of Ativan? 

 

Some of the research literature says that dependence may begin just a few days after regular use and short term is considered to be less than 2 weeks.  So, for all intensive purposes, I fall into the long term category, even at just 4 months.  Crazy.

 

Hope this helps!

 

xo,

sierra 

 

 

[[Fi...]]

for me, i can feel my dependency started in around 3-4 weeks, both psychologically and physically. after that realization, i insisted on tapering off ativan, against my pdoc's advice.  my first pdoc soon let me go because she believed if i don't follow her order, i have no trust in her.

[[...]]

Hi Sierra and Fisher, 

 

Thank you for sharing your personal experiences with Ativan.  Thank you also for your kindness and support for people like me trying to taper from a higher dose after a longer time.  I see how unique everyone's experience is with this brain altering medication.  How are you a couple of weeks from your last dose?

 

I can't completely blame my Pdoc.  My symptoms were so severe that Ativan helped save my life while trying to find a more long term medication for severe treatment-resistant depression/anxiety.  Now I have to face the consequences of Ativan use that helped me.  It requires so much patience, acceptance, perseverance and hope, taking one day at a time...

 

I do try to maintain good overall health in every way I can.  I hope this will help me reduce symptoms and allow me to taper at a quicker rate.  I have to accept it's still likely to take more time than I would like.  I hope to heal while tapering and not hurt myself because of impatience.

 

Again, I appreciate our shared dialogue .  Benzo Buddies has been truly helpful in terms of gaining information and support from people like you.  As you both have mentioned, I do try to stay away from the horror stories, while having compassion for those who are suffering. (I notice I spend more time on BBs when my symptoms are worse or I feel forced to rest).

 

It helps just to have someone understanding to talk to.  My friends and therapist support me, but there's something especially helpful to be able to talk to people who have experienced withdrawal from Ativan themselves, even though all of our situations are different.

 

I hope you are feeling better everyday!

 

With gratitude,

 

Luey

[[po...]]

Luey, I am a short term user too, but we quickly got to 4 mg. I tried to drop 0.005 two nights ago and it didn't work. So I cut back to 0.003 last and I was ok, so tonight I am going to up it to 0.004. I want my natural sleep back. Even though I have night eating syndrome, I still slept. It was when my eating got out of control that I woke up exhausted. Powerball

[[...]]

Hi Powerball,

 

I hope your short time Ativan use will help you to taper with more ease.  It has been an on-going process to find a withdrawal pace, method and dosing schedule that works best for me.  I have needed to make regular adjustments to my plan.

 

It sounds like sleep is your main concern.  Good work proactively exploring ways to sleep naturally.  I hope this helps you to relax and sleep as much as possible as you go down.

 

I also am trying to guard my sleep as I taper, but am starting to accept the possibility of some insomnia since I have been using Ativan so long to sleep. I was planning to keep taking all of my nighttime dose and taper it last.  I've changed my mind and want to try to slowly decrease my night time dose along the way, hoping to get my body used to less ativan for sleep. So far I've successively cut my night dose from 2mg. to 1.5mg. with minimal sleep challenges.

 

I think I mentioned earlier that although my sleep is going pretty well at a reduced dose, in the transition, I have taken an occasional low dose melatonin on nights when I wasn't falling asleep.  A couple of times I have taken my first daytime dose in the early a.m. if I can't stay asleep.  Both of those have helped as needed. 

 

Thankfully I am having many good nights of sleep without extra sleep aids and my sleep has been steadily improving at my current lowered dose.  It seems daytime outdoor moderate exercise- walks/hikes, zero coffee, a cool room, eye covers and regular bedtimes help my sleep.

 

I'm moving towards a total of 2.75mg Ativan, by taking another .25 off my daytime doses.  Then I am going to attempt to slowly reduce another small amount from my night dose and hope my body will adapt.

 

I wish you much success in finding what works best for you while maintaining your best possible sleep.

 

Best wishes and good rest to you.  zzzzzzzz

 

Luey

[[ha...]]

Hi All!

I have been taking Ativan for about 5 years. I have only occasionally used it until recently. I had no idea what danger I was in and I feel stupid for not knowing. Here I am.

 

My dosage was upped from 1/2-1mg as needed to 1-2 as needed. I was only taking them occasionally until things got crazy stressful at work in January. Then, I started taking up to 2mg a night to sleep.

 

In a month, I have gone down to .5mg before bed. I'm still not having a ton of symptoms but I am terrified to go down for fear of increase in symptoms. I don't know how to do it, now that I actually know what my situation actually is. I didn't realize that this would happen following the prescribed dosage. I was so careful.

 

I don't know if I should go down to 0.25, hold here for a total of 2 weeks, or go down to 0.35.

 

I am scared. I am angry that no one told me that this could happen and even more angry that the doctors are not supportive and treating me like I did this all by myself.

 

I guess I need to be told it's going to be okay. How do I figure out how to taper?

 

[[si...]]

Hi happyrunner!

 

Trust me, pretty much everyone here shares your shock that our doctors, whom we trusted to help us, actually steered us into this mess without any warning.  It really feels like entrapment and a violation of trust.  The worst, is many of them will deny withdrawal symptoms are really as bad as they can be, so they double down on their abuse of us.  These doctors get us physically dependent on benzos, but are largely clueless as how to properly get us off the drug.  We can go on for days about how inept most doctors are, but let's take care of you first. 

 

Getting down to .5mg with few symptoms is fantastic!  Don't borrow trouble thinking you'll have tons of symptoms as you go lower.  You may or may not. 

 

There are a few ways you can do this.  Most of us are either making a liquid solution we measure using oral syringes with decreasing doses or dry cutting our pills using a jeweler's scale to weigh tiny amounts.  At the small amount you're at, going liquid is more accurate, as the scale loses some accuracy at those really tiny amounts.  You could also ask your doctor for a liquid lorazepam prescription, but making your own is pretty simple.  Go check out the Titration board here and flip through some past pages to get an idea of what making a solution requires or post and ask or I can PM you details later today or tomorrow as I'm really pressed for time right now.

 

Lastly, I was able to drop about .01mg/day without terrible symptoms.  You can see my taper rate & details in my signature (be sure to create a signature for yourself).  Making these smaller incremental decreases allows your body to heal on the way down and lessens the impact of symptoms.

 

Hope this helps!  You'll get through this, just like so many others have!

 

xo,

sierra 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[[...]]

Hi Happy Runner,

 

Thanks for joining us.  I sincerely believe you are going to be ok! 

 

I have found this Ativan Support Group to be helpful for both info. and support. It has been helpful for me to avoid the horror stories and not worry unnecessarily.  I think the fact you dropped to 0.5 mgs. with few symptoms is a very good sign and should help to boost your confidence! 

 

Maybe making a smaller reduction than .25 mgs. at first would help to ease your fears and help you avoid symptoms.  If you feel good, you can always speed up.

 

Sierra and others who have been successful can give you lots of specific info. about options for reducing the small dosage you are on. 

 

We are all different and thus we all need to individualize our plan. I hope it will continue to be easy for you.  However you decide to proceed, we are here to support you! I look forward to following and celebrating your success.

 

Keep up the good work!

 

Luey

 

 

 

 

[[Fi...]]

hi happyrunner,

welcome to the board!

congrats on making to this small dosage without much discomfort!  That is great news.  do not panic nor scared. you're doing really well! 

i recommend slow down your taper now you're at small dosage. 0.25 drop i think might be too much at a time.  it gets a bit tricky as dosage gets lower, because youre cutting a larger percentage at a time.  you can certainly try dropping down to 0.35 and see how you feel, but if you do find your sxs increase, pls don't get discouraged.  it will take a bit of trial and error to find that perfect pace for you. i was tapering at the same speed as sierra down at low dosage, dropping 0.1mg per day.  it worked out very well for both sierra and me, something you can consider.  Switching to liquid is also a good idea at low dosage if you plan on slow down your taper. 

 

best wishes!

[[po...]]

Welcome Happyrunner: For Ativan taper-ers this is the place to be. Sierra and FisherK are graduates and Luey and I are just trying steadily to move the dosage down. I was at 4.0 and my cuts are ultra slow I am afraid to cut more that 0.002 at time. I tried 0.003 but that didn't work. I had very little sxs today so tomorrow I might try o.oo3 again. Welcome. Powerball

[[...]]

Hi Ativan Taper Buddies,

 

How is everyone doing?  I think its important to celebrate small daily or weekly victories.

 

I am happy to report I just cut another 1/8 off my daily dose and have been feeling much better along the way. DLMT (Daily Liquid Micro Tapering) seems to have made the process much smoother as others have also reported.

 

If you feel like sharing, what are some of your small victories?

 

Wishing you all daily successes, no matter how small, even one moment at a time.

 

Luey

 

 

[[te...]]

Hello all ,

Hope everyone has a good day . Trying to put a couple of good days together . Fell anxious off and on . A lot going on at home right now , going to switch to liquid as soon as I feel a little better . I have all my supplies .

[[...]]

Hi Tech,

 

I think it's a good decision to switch to DLMT (Daily Liquid Micro Tapering). Great you have gathered your supplies! 

 

I have a question for you as I don't understand your signature.  For example on your most recent update you list:

 

5/1 cut 34.8

 

What is the 34.8 ?  (I'm assuming you are not taking 34.8mgs.  or cutting 34.8mgs.).  Just curious how many mgs. (milligrams) you are taking right now?

 

Thanks for the clarification.  I hope you have some good days in a row so you can continue.

 

Luey

[[te...]]

Sorry that is the weight of my pill I am currently taking 0.286

[[...]]

Thanks Tech,

 

0.286mg. That's great!  Just about 1/4 of a mg. (milligram) left to go. 

 

Just an idea, maybe you could add the mg. amounts to your signature so we can all see your current dosage.  Then when you switch to liquid and no longer need to weigh your tablets, you could update your amounts so we can follow your progress. 

 

All the best to you and I look forward to following your success.  I'm only 2.5mg. behind you (-:  Sounds so small and yet still far away...

 

Luey