Tapering off Ativan Support Thread

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For me, it definitely gets harder the lower I go with the dose.  Heartsonfire, I think I do know what you mean about that hyper awareness -- it's like your nerves are raw and exposed, like you've had to take off your sunglasses on the brightest of days.  Me, I'm still holding ... I thought I might be ready to start tapering again, but then I had a really bad day today after a really bad night's sleep last night and so I'm staying put for the moment. I guess it's maybe a good sign that I was having a reasonably sustained period of feeling better enough to at least think about continuing the taper, though.  All best wishes to everyone here.  This is tough.

 

Haimona

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Heartsonfire,

I have had the same feelings while tapering, not so much as long as I dont go ahead of my body with my drops.

It has been very slow for me but i do still drop every day or every other day.

The lower I go has not been easier for me but if i pace myself its do able.

Sleep has been a constant nightmare for me some nights I only get 3 to 4 hours and never get more than 6 and that has been for over a year now.

I can only hope for my sleep to return someday.

We can all make it thru this , but it takes time.

Wishing everyone better days.

lisa

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Hi AF1,

 

I hope you have been able to enjoy the holidays with your family.

 

Have you read about people who have had an easier time when they got down to lower amounts?  I seem to remember you said something about that earlier.

 

I see many are having a hard time at lower amounts.  I would like to know about examples of people having an easier time.  Thank you if you can share any experiences you have heard about.  Of course I'm sorry to see people in the group struggling.  I am trying not to worry as I head towards the lower amounts of the majority of people here.

 

Thanks and Happy New Year to All,

 

Luey

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Luey, I sure have read about people who had an easier time at lower doses.  I'm sorry I don't remember specific posts or people. It's been a while since I came across them, but there were a handful of people who said that. I'm guessing the best way to find those people is to do a separate post on the withdrawal support board.

 

I had a hard time at the lower doses, but when I finally got a clue to slow down, it got better. 

 

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Greetings Friends,

 

Thanks AF1. I'm not going to worry about what might happen at lower doses or compare myself. I'm grateful for every day and relieved to feel better the last four months.  I'm slowly reducing with daily liquid micro tapering (DLMT). I also feel the difference if I limit stress, sugar, coffee; keep walking, a regular sleep schedule and eating the low-inflammation diet my holistic MD recommended.

 

Wishing Everyone a Happy New Year,

 

Luey

 

I was encouraged by this today from the founder of bb:

Yes, people can and do experience positives during withdrawal too. It is not unusual to experience a lifting of fog as your dose lowers.

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update at 3 plus weeks off Ativan. I have slept for four nights . Using a low THC/CBD combination. 5 thc to 20 cbd oil. Legal here in Canada.

I have no other symptoms other than the insomnia to deal with. I am hoping this will help get me through the healing process. I dont want to take it permanently.

 

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Dear Friends,

 

We made it to 2020!  Congratulate yourself for your efforts and successes no matter how small, even if it's just breathing through the last moment.  Thank you all of you for your kindness and support in our little group, it has really helped me get through this past year.  When I first came here in early 2019 I was often just hanging on one day at a time.

 

You all amaze me with your endurance and strength, you are true warriors. This takes a LOT of patience and perseverance. Keep listening  to your body and take as much time as you need. When you don't feel good, be kind to yourself like you would a sick child.

 

I'm sending each of you my greatest wishes for healing in the New Year.  Never give up hope.  My heart goes out to any one suffering right now- remember to reach out here for support and know that it will change... I truly believe we will all recover! 

 

Despite our anonymity I have really appreciated to getting to know a little bit about each of you- all of us brought together by a challenge we did not anticipate.  I wish we didn't have to go through this, but grateful for this place to share.  As Powerball says "keep on truckin" in 2020.  See you here.

 

Blessings and Peace,

 

Luey

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Thank you, Luey! 

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The lowest dose lorazepam pill that I can get is .5mg.

I am cutting that in half and taking .25mg 4 times a day for a total of 1 mg

How do I reduce the dose below .25mg?

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The lowest dose lorazepam pill that I can get is .5mg. I am cutting that in half and taking .25mg 4 times a day for a total of 1 mg. How do I reduce the dose below .25mg?

Hi Bibsjo,  Welcome!  Most of us in this group also need to reduce by smaller amounts so we have switched to either liquid or dry titrating.  Here's a link that will give you an overview of the two methods developed by a BB member Jim Hawk (He calls dry titrating "Direct Taper") http://benzo.alwaysdata.net. Check out his "Readme First" pages.  You can play around with his computer application to generate a Taper Plan. If you want to do your own calculations, you can get help here or in the "Planning Your Taper" part of the forum.

I hope this helps you get started.  Best wishes,

Luey

 

 

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Hi All,

Luecy or anyone that wants to give advice.

I am down to 6.5 mg 3 times a day for a total of 19.5 What would be a daily reduction rate that would be considered moderate ?

I think I am going way to slow .. I am not good a math so I am asking for some help , need exact amounts what should I reduce by that would be considered moderate per week. I realize that everyone is different and I might need to adjust but would like some advice.

Thanks Lisa

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Luey or anyone that wants to give advice. I am down to 6.5 mg 3 times a day for a total of 19.5 What would be a daily reduction rate that would be considered moderate ? I think I am going way to slow .. I am not good a math so I am asking for some help , need exact amounts what should I reduce by that would be considered moderate per week. I realize that everyone is different and I might need to adjust but would like some advice. Thanks Lisa

Happy New Year Lisa! 

I'm pretty sure you mean you are at .195mg (19.5ml based on the solution your are using).  You are getting so close to the .05mg. quitting dose suggested by Ashton.

How many marks on your 1ml syringe are you reducing each day?  Are you feeling better?

Do you think you could reduce by a total of 15 of the tiny marks on you 1ml syringe daily? That would take you down to .05mg in three months.  Or does that seem too fast?

Let me know what you think.

Luey

 

 

 

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Thanks Luey

That’s the drop I just tried this week , it will take 3 or more days for me to find out .

So far I am ok this is my 3rd day . I will keep you posted.

Hope you are doing well .

Lisa

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Luey sorry misunderstood I tried 15 tiny marks weekly not daily .

Not sure if I vould do that daily I think that would be too fast . I will try to double what I am doing weekly so 30 tiny marks per week and see how that goes .

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Bibsjo: I am down to 0.22mg and I still cut no problem. My Gemini 20 scale will go as low as 0.04mg. I know this because I have had to cheat (up my dose a little to get to sleep) and wanted to cheat with the lowest dose possible.

 

Happy New Year all!! Back from my 12 days in Peru! I had a wonderful time and my Amazon cruise now rates among the highlights of my life. On the last two days I was In the jungle and it looks like I was been bitten by a beetle as I got a contact dermatitis called Paederus Dermatitis. I spent about two hours on the hotel computer (I did not take one) trying to find out what I had. I found this obscure disease that had infected missionaries in Africa and some medical teams to the Amazon in Brazil. My primary doc is also a travel medicine specialist (I saw him today about this) and had never heard of it. Easy fix, 10 days of prednisone. Completely curable and no after effects. Yah! He said, "you were very daring going into the Amazon jungle without me giving you some anti-Malaria pills." I said, "I know I forgot!"

 

Well it will take me some time to read all the posts I missed.. Some good news, I was upfront with the airport security by stating I had pills in tinfoil. No problem! I wrapped up .22mg in 13 individual tinfoils and it was so easy take my doses. I did not taper at all while away and I NEVER had any nausea whatsoever. Or since my return Thursday. I slept like a baby every night. Can it be since my dose is so low? Because I had some problems last month and upped my dose I am now back to the same dose o.22mg over the last 30 days. Still that is ok. I also discussed my proposed pill plan with my psych and he was mostly ok with it. Here goes!:

 

I take Xanax 1 mg about 45 minutes before my Ativan (poison) dose each evening. It is supposed to be synergistic with the Ativan and contribute to the Ativan's efficacy (sleep). When I missed my Xanax dose once last month (I ran out), I did not sleep at all that night. I need the Xanax as much as I need the Ativan to sleep. To me it doesn't make sense (maybe won't even work) to try to get off the Ativan completely and then go to the Xanax. I don't need the Xanax except to potentiate the Ativan.

 

So I am going to taper the Ativan to .20mg and then hold. I am then going to begin a Xanax taper to see how far I can go and still get sleep. At some low dose amount I will then try to taper them both. It will of course be an experiment. My psych says the Xanax taper will be more difficult than the Ativan. Does anyone know this? I am going to read up all on the Xanax group here, but I have not yet.

 

It is still amazing to me that I once needed 4 mg to sleep and 3.5 mg just would not do it. Now since late March I have gone to .22mg. Let's see how it goes. I always change everything in my taper. So what is new! Oh, I told my primary doc about my taper (I was on Ambien with him) and Benzo Buddies and he had never heard of it (Of course!) and I told him "you" - the group, were the only people who knew how to help me, "not even my psychiatrist" - and I was not dissing my psych. I was just making a statement. SEE WHAT THIS GROUP HAS DONE FOR ME! I do not know where I would be today without this group. I think God led me to this Internet site (and my good internet search skills.....)

 

2019 overall was a difficult year for me. Some of you know many of the details and my struggle and successes. Did I tell the group I was made the Permanent Associate Provost the week before my vacation? I spent 9 months as Interim, and there was always no guarantee I would get the permanent position. They interviewed other candidates too. I am very proud if this. Tapering and Living is hard....what am telling you that you already know.

 

Building on what Luey has said above, Let's do IT this year. Let's make progress!! Let's take care of ourselves more. Let's love ourselves more and embrace our imperfections as being human. My psych calls them "blemishes" - things about myself I am critical of, but in the scheme of things are mostly silly and come from obsessiveness that finds fault with the "me." I kind of like that, just blemishes.

 

Good night all. I hope to meet the new buddies here. Powerball.

 

 

 

 

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Good Afternoon Friends,

 

The days and weeks keep going by, although I know if you aren't feeling well a day can seem very long.  Committed, Were you able to enjoy the holidays?  Heartsonfire, Any light shining through? Test results? Lisa, it makes sense to slowly try to speed up.  Since you use a lot of water to make your solution, you really are reducing by a minuscule amount per week. How's your sleep?  AF1, Any improvement?  Anyone else who wants to connect?

 

Powerball, Welcome back!  So awesome to hear you had a great trip on the Amazon. I would love to hear some details sometime. Do you ever use private msg.? I think your plan to hold at .2mg ativan while starting to taper the Xanax makes sense.  After all, it seems you already know more than your doc about slowly titrating your dose and adjusting according to how you're doing.  We're all just figuring this out as we go anyway. Congratulations on your new position!  You accomplished so much in the last year while tapering, it's truly amazing.  Now remember not to run off to the Xanax group.  I wonder how much difference there is between benzos.

 

I'm still going forward little by little and really can't complain.  I might have already mentioned, the holidays were a minor set back for me, esp. in my disciplined routine of healthy eating.  I proved to myself again that sugar and coffee are a real no-no for me.  They make me feel sick and zap my energy.  Staying up late to read or socialize really throws off too. The cold and dark of winter aren't helpful for getting motivated.  Having walking partners helps and getting out always make me feel good.

 

I hope you're having a peaceful weekend.

 

Luey

 

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Powerball, welcome back! 

 

Luey, no improvement yet.   Thanks for asking.

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Hi Luey, I did enjoy the holidays. Since slowing down I feel like I am actually living through some of my days, not just surviving. Nice change but the trade off is it will take longer. Thank you for asking. So glad to see you are still doing so well in your taper!!

 

Lisa, hope you are enjoying your new job.

 

Powerball, welcome back!!

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Hi all,

Commited thanks for thinking of me.... I am doing good with the new job.... Its a long day to stand but I asked to to reduce my hours to 6 instead of 8 ... It is a long day to stand .But things are going ok. sleep is still off and on. Still cutting and will continue to do so.

I am glad you are feeling more yourself we all so deserve that.

Luey thanks for your response I will try to speed things up a bit and see what happens.

Thanks Lisa

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Committed to Be Free!!!  I love that name!

 

CTBF, I'm happy to hear you were able to enjoy the holidays and are feeling better in general!  Take it as slowly as you need, worth it if you can live life in the meantime!  I keep reminding myself of the same thing.

 

Lisa, I'm happy you sound better too overall!  AF1, keep the faith, it's not easy.

 

Today I reached 1.5mg. I've reduced 75% of my starting dose of 6mg in a little over a year. It took the last six months to reduce one mg. (from 2.5 to 1.5) and I have definitely felt better the last four months since slowing down. Feeling good is a powerful incentive.  I'm still doing ok, but moments of not feeling the greatest or low energy tell me not to speed up.  My dreams and desire for what I would like to do are much greater than my energy. So much acceptance required.

 

Good thoughts and Gratitude,

 

Luey

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A friend just sent me this article published in The New York Times three days ago about Dr. Heather Ashton's work with benzodiazepine dependency.  Awareness is growing. 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/science/dr-heather-ashton-dead.html

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Hello all, 

 

I am still here, still holding, still not sleeping.  My doctor just prescribed me trazadone for sleep as it has been months (since the last taper) since I've had any kind of real sleep and it's taking a noticeable toll on me in just about every way imaginable.  I'm hoping it will help and also allow me to move along with the Ativan taper once I get stable on the trazadone.  Reading everyone's posts gives me hope and makes me feel less alone, even if I don't post often.  I am wishing all of us a better 2020 and that we end the year farther along on the road to recovery and wellness.  <3

 

Haimona

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Thinking of you all ❤️

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Hamiona

 

I also suffer greatly with no sleep .. this has been thru my entire taper and it really does affect everything.

I hope things get better for all of us soon.

Lisa

Wishing everyone here better days ahead.

 

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Good article, Luey. I'm guessing opioid addiction is more well known because there are more accidental overdoses from them?