Tapering off Ativan Support Thread

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Thank you guys! How is everyone doing? I think of all of you often - praying for good days, wide open windows, and healing for all of us. 🦋

[[Bi...]]

Hi All!

 

I have not posted here much due to cognitive difficulties related to my long term benzo usage and withdrawal. I have some questions that you all could help me with.

 

I have been direct tapering off of lorazepam since 12/1/2018 (3MG) and am currently at .375 since 4/17/20. I plan on holding here for 1 month, then reducing to .25 for 1 month, then reducing to .125 for two weeks, then jumping off to 0. I have difficult withdrawal symptoms each time I reduce my dose, but generally start feeling better after 7-10 days.

Am I correct to think that I am almost done?

 

My biggest fear is that I will be taken to the ER or hospitalized and will no longer be able to control my taper. I am afraid that the medical professionals will either give me too much benzodiazepine or cut me off completely. I don't believe that anyone will cut pills in the hospital. Also, many years ago I was taken to the ER shaking due to inter-dose withdrawal and was given intravenous Ativan without my consent. Is my fear irrational?

 

thank you everyone!

 

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With all going on in the world, that fear of hospitalization among benzo taperers is common. I asked my sister, a nurse in a local ICU, what would happen. She said they would have to give me my medication according to my dosage instructions. The lorazepam comes in a liquid, and it can be customized. She told me to have detailed instructions (dosages and times of day) in my bag if I needed to come in.

 

I think it is so important to ask these questions and have answers in hand. It goes such a long way towards easing anxiety and looping thoughts in withdrawal.

 

Good luck with your taper, you’re doing great!! I’ve seen some jump from one or two cuts lower than where you’re planning (ie .0625, .05, 03), but you and your doc seem to have a nice plan worked out. Maybe you can decide for yourself based on how the cut to .125 feels. Keep up the great work! I’m hoping to be right behind you.

 

E

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My Dr. and I have not been able to find lorazepam in liquid form. Is this something that is generally available?

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Some compounding pharmacies carry it (but not all). In the hospital, it’s my understanding that they have to have it for patients that can’t swallow a pill. My sister says they administer everything  intravenously in the ICU...terribly sick patients and those on ventilators still need their meds to keep from going into withdrawal.

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Good evening friends,

 

How is everyone doing with their tapering?  I hope it's going ok with good moments and days. I thought I'd check in and give a little progress report.

 

Back in Sept of last year, the symptoms of nausea and fatigue that I had struggled with for several months at the beginning of my taper finally eased.  It took me a while to find a slow enough pace, but once I started doing a slow daily liquid micro taper, it seemed to really help. I had been in a hurry to reduce from the high dose of 6mg daily. I'm grateful to say I have been almost symptom free for almost eight months.  With strong memories of feeling so badly I didn't really consider trying to speed up all of this time.  But yesterday I decided I am going to try to speed up a little bit.  Hopefully if I start having any symptoms, I will be able to catch it in time to slow down again. I'll keep you all posted.

 

Meanwhile if politics or the coronavirus situation start to get to me, I head outside for a walk or gardening and it always helps.

 

I hope you all have been able to enjoy some spring sunshine.  Check in if you can.

 

Hugs,

 

Luey

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My taper is going alright. Symptoms are becoming harder to push through, though, so I’ve had to slow down. As I only used this med daily for about 3 weeks before taper, it’s been a frustration to be so sensitive coming off. I suppose the same sensitivity that created quick dependence is now what causes upticks in symptoms despite small cuts. Also, can I just add, no matter how nonchalant I want to be about this process, it’s constantly on my mind? I get outside every day, distract as many ways as I can,  and I am fighting hard to be present for my kiddos. Y’all stay in touch on here - it’s so helpful to hear from others going through it!

 

 

[[te...]]

Hi all,

Just checking in , Luey nice to hear from you so glad you are symptom free.

What a blessing... I am doing well I am now down to .17 and still cutting every 3 days by small

amt's.. Sleep is ok not the best but better than it ever was.

Hope every one stays safe.

Lisa

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Lisa,  :thumbsup:

[[Co...]]

Hello All!

 

I know I am a bit late but welcome Bibsjo!!

 

Lisa - So glad to hear you are finally getting some sleep! How is your dog doing?

 

Beauty - You are doing such a great job. Already over half way there!

 

Luey - Hope speeding up is going well for you.

 

April - Hope your cuts are going smoothly for you.

 

Before we know it, Powerball will be telling us he is ready to jump (or walk off gently 🙂)!

 

Wishing everyone a weekend with minimal symptoms!!

 

Committed

[[Ap...]]

Hello All!

 

I know I am a bit late but welcome Bibsjo!!

 

Lisa - So glad to hear you are finally getting some sleep! How is your dog doing?

 

Beauty - You are doing such a great job. Already over half way there!

 

Luey - Hope speeding up is going well for you.

 

April - Hope your cuts are going smoothly for you.

 

Before we know it, Powerball will be telling us he is ready to jump (or walk off gently 🙂)!

 

Wishing everyone a weekend with minimal symptoms!!

 

Committed

 

Hitting a bit of a rough patch here the last 3 days so that probably means my current pace needs to slow. This last cut was 33% and apparently to big for my body right now. Seemed to be better in the 15-20% range.

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Thanks Lisa and Committed!!

 

How are you?

 

So far so good on going a tiny bit faster, I'm taking everything day by day.

 

Take good care everybody,

 

Luey

 

 

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Hi Committed ,

Nice to hear from you , my Humphrey is going to need surgery

Not sure when with all that’s going on . Thanks for asking .

Keep safe and happy Mothers Day to all .

Best Lisa  ,

 

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Powerball,

 

How are you?  I always feel a bit concerned when we don't hear from you for a while since you normally check in regularly. I hope you are well and hope we hear from you soon!

 

As Lisa says, stay safe everyone.

 

Saludos! 

 

Luey

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I was just thinking the same about Powerball. I’d love to know how he’s doing, too.

 

I wanted to share that, today, my oldest daughter turned 8, and I was able to host a little family party. It felt good to do something ‘normal’ after so much quarantine and dealing with symptoms from tapering for months. I had some harsh fatigue in the morning and internal tremor with a pounding heart for a lot of the day, but the party proved to be a wonderful distraction. My daughter had so much fun, and, honestly, so did I. It is so important to me to remain as functional as possible for as long as possible in taper for my young family. I’m just so glad today worked out.

 

Thank you all for checking in and being transparent about this process. I was so clueless and destabilized (from quick, unexpected dependence and interdose withdrawal) when I found BB in March. I don’t know where I’d be without you...probably updosed into oblivion or checked in to detox without any idea of a better way.

 

Hope everyone is doing well. Much love to all the Ativan/Lorazepam fam.

 

 

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I was just thinking the same about Powerball. I’d love to know how he’s doing, too.

 

I wanted to share that, today, my oldest daughter turned 8, and I was able to host a little family party. It felt good to do something ‘normal’ after so much quarantine and dealing with symptoms from tapering for months. I had some harsh fatigue in the morning and internal tremor with a pounding heart for a lot of the day, but the party proved to be a wonderful distraction. My daughter had so much fun, and, honestly, so did I. It is so important to me to remain as functional as possible for as long as possible in taper for my young family. I’m just so glad today worked out.

 

Thank you all for checking in and being transparent about this process. I was so clueless and destabilized (from quick, unexpected dependence and interdose withdrawal) when I found BB in March. I don’t know where I’d be without you...probably updosed into oblivion or checked in to detox without any idea of a better way.

 

Hope everyone is doing well. Much love to all the Ativan/Lorazepam fam.

 

I knew that party, despite the stress of throwing a party, would be a good distraction! Hopefully you came down from the intensity after everyone left.

[[te...]]

Hope Powerball is doing ok , strange not to hear from him.

Best wishes to you Powerball

Lisa

 

Luey good for you in your reduction keep going we are all going to get off this medication before you know it.

lisa

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Hey buddies,

  What have all of you made of the Ashton Manual recommendation to cut by .05-.1mg all the way down from the lower doses? I somehow missed that in her guidelines, and I was planning for at least 17 more weeks of tapering going with approximate 10% cuts weekly-ish. I’m not necessarily in a hurry, but if I attempted this, it cuts my taper time about in half. Just looking for experiences...I know all of us respond differently to cuts and it will be ultimately up to me to decide what keeps me functional in taper. Pamster has been helpful to remind me (and others) that taper is only the first part of this...just looking for experiences doing it this way.

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Hi Beauty,

 

My own experience has been to use Ashton's recommendations, along with info. found on BBs, only as a starting point; but to base my taper on listening to my own body.  If I don't feel good, I hold until I feel better and then continue at a slower pace.  I've recently been able to increase my rate again a little bit without problems so far.  I started off at a much higher dose and longer use; you can see my reduction rate on my signature. I hope and am doing everything I can to "walk off" with minimal difficulties.  Not everyone suffers post taper. You're right- each of us has a different experience and has to decide by listening to our own bodies and pacing accordingly. The good news is we're not alone thanks to this forum; it has been a life-line for me now for 17 months, as I made my way down from 6mg down to .80mg today and lowering.

 

I hope you keep feeling better and better,

 

Luey

 

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Hello to all

 

Currently I am cutting .5mg pills.

I talked to my doc and he said he would call my scrip into a compound pharmacy.  He said they have several option.

 

a. reform the pills into .25mg or other mg amounts as requested

b. give me a liquid form

c. put it in a lotion for topical dose

 

I hear pros and cons on the liquid. The topical havn't found anything on that.

 

Any feedback or advice is greatly appreciated.

[[Co...]]

Hello JuJuBi! Welcome!

 

I personally really like using a liquid to dose. I feel like it is an effective way to control my dosages. Although I use a homemade solution rather than a suspension from a compounding pharmacy, I am sure the concept would be the same.

 

The options for reforming pills and a topical lotion are interesting. I wasn’t even aware that could be done!

 

Let us know how things go!

 

Committed

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Welcome JuJuBi, 

 

That's cool your doc is supporting you with so many good options.  My experience and feedback is the same as Committed. 

 

Committed, How are you doing?  You're always so great at helping everybody else.  I like to know how things have been going for you too.

 

Powerball, Where are you?!

 

Keep on keepin' on everyone.

 

Luey

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what lovely well wishes! it warms my heart that so many of you were concerned.  Good news and some bad news. My taper has been going very good. I am down to 0.060mg. It is now hard to measure it on my scale. What do you know that upping my Depakote to 750mg seems to have solved my sleep issues. But my subterranean mania has returned and my rapid my speech is off the chart. It is so fast it embarrasses me. Trying to find the right drug is difficult  Good night all.

[[be...]]

He’s back!! Glad you’re still finding your sleep, powerball - hope the next few dose decreases go well and the mania/fast talk slows.

 

Thank you for the tips, all others. I’ll start playing with water titration tomorrow. I’m down to .4mg and feeling alright. I’m going to hold a minute here to catch my breath after two solid months of just-about weekly tapers.

 

Y’all are the best.

[[Ap...]]

Glad you are alive and well powerball! I'm new here and haven't had any back and forth with you but I was thinking about you while everyone else was asking where you were. I was having intrusive of thoughts like "holy sh*t, does this occasionally just happen on this forum where people stop talking because.... well you know."

 

beauty - Look at you trying out the titration, that is awesome. LMK how it goes!