Tapering off Ativan Support Thread

[[Pa...]]

Hi Strongone,

 

I'm hoping that by increasing your dose to .75 mg instead of .5 mg will help you achieve your goal of only taking your dose 4 times a day instead of 6.  The increase in your dose should help you get through the anticipated interdose withdrawal.

 

You could also play with the dosages a bit, perhaps cutting one dose to .5 mg and putting the extra .25 mg onto your nighttime dose to help you sleep through the night.

 

What do you think?

[[Bi...]]

Hi Strongone,

 

I misspoke. I took 4 doses every SIX hours, then moved to 3 doses every EIGHT hours. I hope I didn’t confuse you.

 

-Bibsjo

[[St...]]

Hi Strongone,

 

I misspoke. I took 4 doses every SIX hours, then moved to 3 doses every EIGHT hours. I hope I didn’t confuse you.

 

-Bibsjo

 

Dear bibsjo

 

Now I understand. You went from 4 doses every 6 hours to 3 doses every 8

Hours!

 

Did you keep the dose the same or cut the pills and take the same amount of Lorazapam but in 3 doses  instead of 4?

 

Thank you!

 

Strongone

[[St...]]

Hi Strongone,

 

I'm hoping that by increasing your dose to .75 mg instead of .5 mg will help you achieve your goal of only taking your dose 4 times a day instead of 6.  The increase in your dose should help you get through the anticipated interdose withdrawal.

 

You could also play with the dosages a bit, perhaps cutting one dose to .5 mg and putting the extra .25 mg onto your nighttime dose to help you sleep through the night.

 

What do you think?

 

 

Dear pamster.

 

I don’t think I am strong enough with chemo and mastectomy and radiation soon to start cutting the pills. That’s why I wanted to somehow take 0.5 mg every 6 hours instead of every 4 hours. Somehow extending the time from 4 hours to 6, thus taking 4 pills a day instead of 6.

 

Extending it like 5 minutes a dose a day until I got to the 6 hours. I don’t know how long this would take. I hear I’ll be very exhausted from radiation. Time is the only way I can think of right now.

 

I don’t want to go beyond 6 hours between doses. Or start cutting. I won’t be able to do that yet

 

I have time.

 

Thank you so much

 

Strongone

 

 

[[...]]

Hi all.  Just checking in this morning to see how everyone is doing.  Looks like so many of you are making good progress.  I see some new faces - welcome and wishing you health and success.

 

I’ve been tapering at a rate of about 0.01mg every 7 days.  It doesn’t seem to be getting any easier unfortunately.  There is a distinct pattern: Day 1 - cut day, no real symptoms, Day 2 - bad anxiety, breathing issues, constant heat flashes, headache, some depression, Day 3 - same symptoms, Day 4 - symptoms stop at some point during night and pick back up at noon, Day 5 - symptoms start at 3pm, Day 6 symptoms start at 7pm, Day 7 no symptoms, then cut again.

 

I am thinking at some point there should not be enough drug in my system to cause any side effects.  Geez soon I wont have any drug to cut.

[[St...]]

I got a new prescription today for my generic 0.5 mg Lorazapam. I usually have Watson generic and was given leading Pharma brand 0.5 mg. I had to get treatment in a different part of the country is why I used a different pharmacy.

 

I am worried now that this generic will cause me problems! I didn’t even think about them changing generics. Too much to worry about!

 

Thank you!

 

 

[[Ha...]]

Hi JBen,

 

I hear you on the distinct pattern. I have noticed it's around day 3 I start to feel incredibly anxious, jittery, and jumpy, around day 5 my memory tanks (which is really saying something because it's awful throughout this taper), and I start to be really dizzy and off-balance, and by day 8 or 9 I start to sleep (sort of, I mean, in the context of chronic w/d insomnia) again. Then I do the next cut.  Except right now I'm on day 11 and still holding because I haven't had one semi-decent night since the last cut.  And the night before last I had one of the worst nightmares of my life, horrible, I spent half the day with my heart still pounding in my chest.

 

You are getting so close! Soon you will be away from this horrible poison, and the real healing will start for you.

 

Strongone, you have been through a lot between the cancer treatment and mastectomy and benzos.  You are aptly named.  I have noticed differences between some of the generics and now I insist on Watson.  Having said that, I'm not familiar with Leading so maybe it's a decent generic.  Someone else may know.

 

I hope everyone is hanging in there.  2cats, how are you doing today?

 

Love and strength to everyone.

 

Haimona

[[2c...]]

Thanks so much for checking in with me Haimona

 

Yes I notice shakiness and being really hyped up on the third day.  But it gradually diminishes a bit. I messed up my math for my cut and it’s less than planned but rather than increasing it, I will make my cuts more often and see how that goes. Yes, the insomnia is probably the worst thing besides the muscle pain and burning. I’m kinda getting into a routine.  I feel excited that yesterday I had a couple of hours that were pretty “normal”. I had some energy and the horrible depressed feeling was lifted for a bit. I’ll take it!

 

 

I’m not sure where I read this .  Maybe on the insomnia thread or another benzo website but it was that when you start having the vivid dreams and nightmares that is because your sleep, especially your REM sleep is getting back to normal and in time will quit being so upsetting..  So it is a sign of healing Haimona!

 

Everybody hang in there!  We might have have different symptoms and timelines but we’re doing this together.

 

[[Ha...]]

2cats, I'm glad you had those couple of hours yesterday -- that is exciting!! Maybe they are the beginning of more and more windows for you. 

 

I love the idea that vivid dreams are a sign of healing and better sleep.  If that's the case, that horrible horrible horrible nightmare would have been worth it (but I would like my next vivid dream to be a vivid dream of swimming with dolphins, or something like that, lol). 

 

Haimona

[[Pa...]]

Hi Strongone,

 

I'm hoping that by increasing your dose to .75 mg instead of .5 mg will help you achieve your goal of only taking your dose 4 times a day instead of 6.  The increase in your dose should help you get through the anticipated interdose withdrawal.

 

You could also play with the dosages a bit, perhaps cutting one dose to .5 mg and putting the extra .25 mg onto your nighttime dose to help you sleep through the night.

 

What do you think?

 

 

Dear pamster.

 

I don’t think I am strong enough with chemo and mastectomy and radiation soon to start cutting the pills. That’s why I wanted to somehow take 0.5 mg every 6 hours instead of every 4 hours. Somehow extending the time from 4 hours to 6, thus taking 4 pills a day instead of 6.

 

Extending it like 5 minutes a dose a day until I got to the 6 hours. I don’t know how long this would take. I hear I’ll be very exhausted from radiation. Time is the only way I can think of right now.

 

I don’t want to go beyond 6 hours between doses. Or start cutting. I won’t be able to do that yet

 

I have time.

 

Thank you so much

 

Strongone

 

I'm not sure I'm following your logic, so I hope you'll help me understand.  If you space out your doses from .5 mgs every 4 hours to .5 mgs every 6 hours this will mean a loss of 1 mg of Ativan in a 24 hour period.  I thought your purpose was not to taper at this time but to make your life easier by only dosing 4 times a day.  What am I missing?

[[St...]]

Hi Strongone,

 

I'm hoping that by increasing your dose to .75 mg instead of .5 mg will help you achieve your goal of only taking your dose 4 times a day instead of 6.  The increase in your dose should help you get through the anticipated interdose withdrawal.

 

You could also play with the dosages a bit, perhaps cutting one dose to .5 mg and putting the extra .25 mg onto your nighttime dose to help you sleep through the night.

 

What do you think?

 

 

Dear pamster.

 

I don’t think I am strong enough with chemo and mastectomy and radiation soon to start cutting the pills. That’s why I wanted to somehow take 0.5 mg every 6 hours instead of every 4 hours. Somehow extending the time from 4 hours to 6, thus taking 4 pills a day instead of 6.

 

Extending it like 5 minutes a dose a day until I got to the 6 hours. I don’t know how long this would take. I hear I’ll be very exhausted from radiation. Time is the only way I can think of right now.

 

I don’t want to go beyond 6 hours between doses. Or start cutting. I won’t be able to do that yet

 

I have time.

 

Thank you so much

 

Strongone

 

I'm not sure I'm following your logic, so I hope you'll help me understand.  If you space out your doses from .5 mgs every 4 hours to .5 mgs every 6 hours this will mean a loss of 1 mg of Ativan in a 24 hour period.  I thought your purpose was not to taper at this time but to make your life easier by only dosing 4 times a day.  What am I missing?

 

Dear pamster

 

Thank you for helping me! Yes my goal is to make my life easier by dosing 4 times a day, but I can’t increase the dose of 0.5 That  I am on.

 

I do want to have a reduction from 3.0 to 2.0, simply by changing the time between doses. I want to go slow. Like 4 hours 5 minutes a day per dose holding a few days Or a week

 

Then go to 4 hours 10 minutes a day per dose holding a few days or a week

 

Then Repeat. to 4 hours 15 minutes, etc.

 

Eventually I would get to 6 hours between doses without cutting pills yet.

 

I would be on 2 mg a day. 0.5 times 4 doses Without cutting pills

 

Once I am at 4 doses I will start reducing each dose. And stay at 4

Hours.

 

Is it okay my last refill was a different generic and I’m worried about it! I had activis (Watson) ans they have me leading edge.

 

Thank you for all your help!

 

Strongone

 

 

[[Pa...]]

It looks like I finally understand your thinking, thanks for being so patient with me.    I'll be very interested to hear how this works for you as I've never seen it done, you'll be a pioneer. 

 

As for your generic tablet, I've read some members notice differences in brand names but I've not seen any of them mention a problem with Ativan, mostly Klonopin.  Worrying about this will of course set you up to experience problems since stress and fear play a big part in our symptom severity.  Did you ask the pharmacy if they can get the Watson?

[[St...]]

It looks like I finally understand your thinking, thanks for being so patient with me.    I'll be very interested to hear how this works for you as I've never seen it done, you'll be a pioneer. 

 

As for your generic tablet, I've read some members notice differences in brand names but I've not seen any of them mention a problem with Ativan, mostly Klonopin.  Worrying about this will of course set you up to experience problems since stress and fear play a big part in our symptom severity.  Did you ask the pharmacy if they can get the Watson?

 

Dear Pamster

 

I hope it works extending the hours. I’ll keep everyone posted.

 

After I picked up the meds I asked if they can get activis and they can. It’s a hospital pharmacy. I have so much going on that I can’t believe I didn’t make sure.

 

So glad to know people don’t have problems with Ativan generic. I will be Praying about it anD not worrying.

 

Thank you so much!

 

Strongone.

[[58...]]

Hi,

I took Ativan for 2 years; I tapered off October 17,2020.

Arlene

[[St...]]

Hi JBen,

 

I hear you on the distinct pattern. I have noticed it's around day 3 I start to feel incredibly anxious, jittery, and jumpy, around day 5 my memory tanks (which is really saying something because it's awful throughout this taper), and I start to be really dizzy and off-balance, and by day 8 or 9 I start to sleep (sort of, I mean, in the context of chronic w/d insomnia) again. Then I do the next cut.  Except right now I'm on day 11 and still holding because I haven't had one semi-decent night since the last cut.  And the night before last I had one of the worst nightmares of my life, horrible, I spent half the day with my heart still pounding in my chest.

 

You are getting so close! Soon you will be away from this horrible poison, and the real healing will start for you.

 

Strongone, you have been through a lot between the cancer treatment and mastectomy and benzos.  You are aptly named.  I have noticed differences between some of the generics and now I insist on Watson.  Having said that, I'm not familiar with Leading so maybe it's a decent generic.  Someone else may know.

 

I hope everyone is hanging in there.  2cats, how are you doing today?

 

Love and strength to everyone.

 

Haimona

 

Thank you haimona for answering. I am quite upset by my not taking note of the brand of generic. I usually do, but so much is going on!

 

I hope the leading pharma is okay as a generic. They won’t take it back. I have 2 weeks worth

 

Thank you

 

Strongone

 

[[...]]

Greetings Friends,

 

I wanted to stop by and give a shout out to all of you on your courageous journey off Ativan.  It truly takes a tremendous amount of self-discipline, strength and self-awareness.  And most importantly it takes a extraordinary amount of patience and self-compassion.  I congratulate you all for simply embarking on this journey.

 

I finished my taper in mid July and have rarely looked backed.  I'm here to tell you brighter days are possible!  I feel so much better than during my taper; I have more energy, more creativity and more satisfaction from the things I enjoy.

 

These are not easy times for anyone even without tapering. So you are tapering in a particularly difficult time when depression and anxiety can be more common.  It's also a time of loss for many.

 

I wanted to say you're not alone, you will be successful and to keep the faith even in most difficult moments.  This support group can be a big help- both giving and receiving help- so lean into it as you need it.  You might never realize how much you might have helped a "stranger."  I'm incredibly thankful for the people who supported me here for 19 months!

 

Don't give up, it takes an incredible amount of patience.  (And don't eat too much sugar or other food you don't normally eat over the holidays.  I paid for it last year.)

 

In gratitude and wishing you all well.

 

Luey

 

 

 

 

[[Bi...]]

Luey,

 

Thank you so much for stopping by. Your success post-tapering is such an encouragement. It helps to hear from those of us who "graduated" and are doing well! I'm so happy for you.

 

Things started getting better for me 6 weeks ago when I finally switched to a liquid compounded solution that allows me to microtaper accurately. As I am decreasing my dose every 4th day I am continuing to feel better and better. I notice that I am now actually below your stop dose. That is extremely encouraging.

 

I still have symptoms but they are not nearly as severe. The biggest ones right now are tinnitus that comes and goes, and insomnia. I have actually slept better the last two nights, so that is encouraging also. I feel like I am healing, and will be better than I ever have when I am off this drug. I have a lot of hope.

 

I have begun working on my functional skills now. For example, I am cooking on weekends for my husband which is huge. My executive functioning took a big hit but is slowly getting better.

 

Thank you again for your encouraging words Luey,

 

-Bibsjo

 

 

[[Ha...]]

Luey, it's so nice to hear you are doing well! You were one of the first buddies I encountered here, and always so supportive and encouraging.  I am still trudging on through my taper, making slow but fairly steady progress using a scale and dry cutting.  It's always great to hear from someone who has completed their taper and is doing better.  It gives us hope while we are still in the trenches.

 

Haimona

[[2c...]]

Thanks Luey for the encouragement.  It’s motivating to hear that you are doing well in your recovery.

Yes this board is helping us get through.

 

I can’t wait for all those things to come back, energy, creativity and satisfaction with life!  Thanks for the reminder to be patient!  That’s a hard one for me.

 

Be well!

[Guest [...]]

Hi Everyone:

 

I'm getting close to starting my Ativan taper.

I've tried a few times and failed miserably.

I've tried one kind of liquid suspension that was horrible.

Tried c/o to valium - terrible.

Don't want to move to Clonazepam.

So stuck trying to get off Ativan.

I'm going to try another liquid suspension to see if that's better.

 

I am quite symptomatic today, had a better week.

 

I currently dose at 12 pm and 10 pm, do people find it better if they space out their doses evenly throughout the day.

 

I could try 8 am, 3 pm and 10 pm, would that work better and possibly make me less symptomatic?

 

Once I get the liquid, I wanted to try a DLMT to get off, instead of the cut and hold.

 

Looking for people's experiences on the 3 doses.

 

thanks,

WinnieDog

 

 

 

 

[[St...]]

I found out something interesting. I got leading pharma Lorazapam, 0.5 mg, instead Of activis Watson 0.5 mg Lorazapam.

 

I am taking them and they seem the same as the activis. Here is the news. I pop one in my mouth and it starts to dissolve on my tongue. So I experimented. I put one tablet in water and it dissolved in just a few seconds.

 

I don’t know if every single tablet does this or it’s just this batch. I’ll call the pharmacy Monday. But these would be good for a water taper. They dissolve and there is nothing there except water

 

Just thought this may help someone.

 

Strongone.

[Guest [...]]

are the pills that dissolve on your tongue a blue colour?

 

If so they are sublinguals, and I don't believe that they are soluble in water.

 

As they dissolve, they go directly into your bloodstream, so you get it quicker.

 

They have been my nemisis, as you it is so hard to cut them and weigh them, as they are so small.

 

WinnieDog

[[Bi...]]

Hi -

 

Maybe someone else can chime in here, but I think it is not recommended to dissolve Ativan tablet in water alone. The dose is not consistent that way or something. I think you need a tiny bit of vodka or propylene glycol. There are quite a few posts with info, but not sure where.

[[Ha...]]

Thank you Luey, I’ll order what Jim Hawke suggests . I hope using water is ok.

 

Hi Jannalla,

 

I'm glad to hear your plan to order the supplies; it will help you practice and build your confidence.  Sorry I'm repeating myself, but from what I've learned on BBs, Ativan is not soluble in water.  Your dosing amounts would not be uniform if you don't dissolve it first. Jim Hawk gives alternatives to using alcohol as a solvent:

 

1. Use liquid Ativan, Intensol, available by prescription.  It comes as a concentrated solution that needs to be diluted with water to micro taper. No solvent needed.

2. Use propylene glycol as an alternative solvent to using alcohol. 

3. Make a suspension instead of a solution using Ora-Plus.  (Jim Hawk says the downside would be "the medication is not as uniformly distributed as when it was dissolved by a solvent.")

4. Do dry tapering using a scale.

 

I know all these options might seem confusing and difficult to make a decision.  Maybe go back and read both of Jim Hawk's README FIRST sections again and it will help you decide.  I also had to take a lot of time researching the different options, but once I got going with liquid I now find it routine.  Isn't it crazy how so many of are using these sophisticated micro tapering methods that most of our doctors don't even know about? Please let me know how I might be able to help.

 

A warm hug,

 

Luey

 

I found the above doing a search for propylene glycol.  I hope this is helpful.

 

Haimona

[[Ha...]]

Hi everybody,

 

This board has been quiet lately. I hope this means everyone is feeling well enough to do other things and not need the support right now.  I was pleasantly surprised by a 2.5 (I could call it 3) day window from most of Saturday to the end of yesterday.  I slept pretty well, I felt much clearer mentally and my memory was kicking in way more than usual.  I felt like I was starting to be my old self again, or at least I could see my old self making a comeback.  Then I woke up this morning after a rotten night's sleep, foggy, forgetful, and scared/anxious again.  I hate this! I am also grateful for the window, but ... it's a real bummer to be back here again.

 

I have had three horrible nightmares in the past week.  Vivid, so real seeming, awful.  Then I remember one of the buddies (2cats?) (if my memory was working I would remember, sorry) said they read in the insomnia board that nightmares and vivid dreams are a sign that we are healing and getting REM and nREM sleep, which our brains need to heal, again.  I went over to the insomnia board and there was a very interesting article on this, which said if you are majorly sleep deprived and you finally start getting better sleep, your brain will have lots of vivid dreams/nightmares as it tries to make up for lost dreams, so to speak.  So thank you buddie, because I now feel better about having the awful nightmares.  I wake up and think HOLY HELL, then I slowly shake off the nightmare, then I think -- but that's a good sign I am healing -- and I feel better.

 

I know I am rambling.  Today is a hard day but I am still grateful for the window and all the buddies here.

 

Haimona