Tapering off Ativan Support Thread

[[Ho...]]

Oh Cedar, we miss you so much....I cried when you posted on your blog that you were going to be limiting your time on BB -- a good cry and a bad cry -- so happy for you that you are at the point that you can let go of this part of your life; sad b/c you have been such a support for so many of us.

 

And for those of us who are several months off and struggling, I keep going back to your success story!!!

[[Al...]]

Anybody on Ativan withdrawal getting very rapid heart beats. I was out working in the Garage earlier. When I came in my heart was racing 120 b/m. It has since come down tp 97. I runs anywhere between 77- 88 normally but every now and then it takes off to outer space.

 

Anyone have similar experience?  Thanks

[[ce...]]

Oh Cedar, we miss you so much....I cried when you posted on your blog that you were going to be limiting your time on BB -- a good cry and a bad cry -- so happy for you that you are at the point that you can let go of this part of your life; sad b/c you have been such a support for so many of us.

 

And for those of us who are several months off and struggling, I keep going back to your success story!!!

That is so sweet to hear Hoosierfans!  Thank you so much for the kind words.

 

I hope you enjoy every moment of your life!   

[[ce...]]

Anybody on Ativan withdrawal getting very rapid heart beats. I was out working in the Garage earlier. When I came in my heart was racing 120 b/m. It has since come down tp 97. I runs anywhere between 77- 88 normally but every now and then it takes off to outer space.

 

Anyone have similar experience?  Thanks

All Tied Up, this is very very common.  My heart was racing 24/7.  Felt like someone stepped on the gas and wouldn't let off.  It was torture. But, my heart has returned fully back to normal.  What a relief! 

[[Ho...]]

All Tied Up, yes the tachycardia is very normal.  If you start to get really symptomatic (lightheaded or passing out), just check in with your doc.  When I stopped Klonopin earlier in the year I had one episode of it and checked in with my doc -- she said nothing to worry about unless it kept repeating itself and I was getting other symptoms (pain, lightheaded / passing out).  Had it once and then never again.

 

Your body is just telling you that you might need to take it a little easy. 

[[Al...]]

Thanks to all of you for the feedback. I thought as much but it is always reassuring to hear it.

[[ce...]]

Bumping this thread up for the new people who are taping Ativan. 

[[gi...]]

I think I am in tolerance withdrawal and it is driving me crazy. I really need help. I started out tapering off of 3 mgs of ativan a little over a year ago. I am down to .32 ativan which I am titrating. I have barely cut at all in the past few months because of severe insomnia, little did I know by doing this I would be put into something even worse than the insomnia..tolerance withdrawal.  Oddly enough I have not had insomnia in awhile but now I am having panic attacks during the day which I never even had before until the withdrawal. I have not driven in over a month and it is driving me crazy! I tried to go out today and drive two blocks away and my heart was up in my throat pounding so hard it felt like I had just had the crap scared outta me. I just could not drive for the life of me..my body and mind will just not let me. I ended up forcing myself to walk even though I felt paranoid doing that too. I was going to join a gym to see if that would help me but when I went in there the lady took my blood pressure and heart rate and said " Oh that's not right, lets see are you taking any other meds". I told her no because my heart has been doing that all the time. It shoots way up when I'm barely doing anything! My doctor has been no help and tells me it is all psycological. Ok.. yeah this is not all in my head. I just don't feel comfortable with myself the whole bit. This is not me. Is it possible to taper of of ativan directly? I am wondering if anyone can give me some kind of advice..please. I take the .32 of ativan all at night. Would it be better to split it up over the day too? And do I just start cutting again to get off of this asap because I feel this is just from this stupid drug! PLEASE HELP!

[[Ma...]]

Ginger, it is possible to taper off ativan directly, but for some it is harder than others.

 

You may find switching to valium would help you.  I don't know if you've read the Aston Method, but the premise is that ativan is so short acting that Dr. Ashton recommended switching to longer acting valium, which comes in smaller dose pills and is easier to cut small amounts as well. You can also titrate valium, or have liquid valium prescribed for you. This is a personal decision for you to make, and hopefully you will be able to find a doctor who will agree to prescribe the valium.  You would only need less than 4 mgs of valium, so that should make it easier for you to find a doc who will prescribe it (they often don't want to prescribe high doses).

 

There are a few people on this thread that are going through exactly what you are going through right now.  Benzodownlately is one.  Please read up this thread and see his posts, and maybe PM him.  He is struggling too on low dose ativan and is titrating also.

 

Splitting your dose into 4 doses throughout the day might help, but you are on such a little bit of ativan it might be difficult to make that transition, I'm not sure.  Perhaps try two doses a day to start?

 

It seems to me that a lot of people have a really hard time at lower levels of ativan, and switching to valium may really help at this point.

[[gi...]]

Thanks Mairin.

Earlier in my taper, I tried to switch to Valium but it made me sick. I don't know it may have been because my doc nor I knew much about switching to it properly. If I remember right, I think he told me to start taking the valium without tapering the ativan at all. So maybe that is what made me sick? If so, maybe I could try valium again. But how would I switch over to that correctly? Is there someone who can advise me? I don't know if this is what I'll do for sure.

Otherwise is there anyone who can give me some courage/ advice in moving forward with my taper from ativan directly? I feel so discouraged at this point. 

Ginger, it is possible to taper off ativan directly, but for some it is harder than others.

 

You may find switching to valium would help you.  I don't know if you've read the Aston Method, but the premise is that ativan is so short acting that Dr. Ashton recommended switching to longer acting valium, which comes in smaller dose pills and is easier to cut small amounts as well. You can also titrate valium, or have liquid valium prescribed for you. This is a personal decision for you to make, and hopefully you will be able to find a doctor who will agree to prescribe the valium.  You would only need less than 4 mgs of valium, so that should make it easier for you to find a doc who will prescribe it (they often don't want to prescribe high doses).

 

There are a few people on this thread that are going through exactly what you are going through right now.  Benzodownlately is one.  Please read up this thread and see his posts, and maybe PM him.  He is struggling too on low dose ativan and is titrating also.

 

Splitting your dose into 4 doses throughout the day might help, but you are on such a little bit of ativan it might be difficult to make that transition, I'm not sure.  Perhaps try two doses a day to start?

 

It seems to me that a lot of people have a really hard time at lower levels of ativan, and switching to valium may really help at this point.

[[Bi...]]

Hi Ginger3,

 

I have had high blood pressure for years but I managed it by drinking extra water and cutting out all sodium. We do not even have salt shakers in the house, I threw them all out. 

Then when this W/D thing happened to me my blood pressure went sky high and the Dr. almost hospitalized me for it.

 

There is NO WAY I could do my taper on Ativan without help from beta blockers. Also they are mentioned in the Ashton Manual.  I take Inderal and it keeps by BP and my beats down and it relaxes me in general.

 

I am also VERY SLOWLY moving my dose into Valium by slow blending and the Valium seems to be more calming to me than the Ativan.

 

More Data - http://www.minddisorders.com/A-Br/Beta-blockers.html

 

I hope this helps

 

Hugs

 

BM

 

P.S. I take my dose 4 times a day. That helps much to halt W/D symptoms too.

 

 

 

[[Ma...]]

Hi Ginger,

 

Yeah I read one of Birdman's posts and he/she made a lot of sense about combining V and A. 

 

I thought about that a lot a while back, a partial move to valium instead of a full move, but ashton only speaks of a full move to valium.  It would seem to me that maybe a small amount of valium might help with the interdose w/d's of ativan.  Because sometimes people have a lot of trouble on very high amounts of just valium.

 

Anyway, the protocol for a crossover from one drug to another is supposed to be gradual, meaning you slowly substitute a certain amount of A with the equivalent amount of V.  This is supposed to take place over several weeks.  Its supposed to be gradual.  Check out Kian's Buddie Blog, he is changing over to V right now, that's an example of how it should be done, slow gradual replacement.

 

Perhaps that is why people fail to adjust to valium, because its not done gradually a lot of times.

 

Also you might want to look into micro-titrating, where you only cut very tiny amounts.  You've done well though to get down to this level, you really have!  I wish I could help more but I have not been down that far yet, I am just telling you what I have read on here, people's experiences.  I've been reading on here for 8 months now.

 

Hugs to you

Mairin

[[be...]]

Hey Ginger. I wouldn't be so sure about labeling your situation as tolerance wd.

I had the same experience after holding for 5 weeks. It hurts when you start cutting again because you are again messing with a stabilizing brain chemistry. If you continue cutting, slowly, you will see improvement. That is if you are like me. I'm surprised you made it this low without splitting up your dose.

I dose 4 times a day. I have a liquid compounded at a pharmacy. I'm presently at .192 mg a day. Highly functional, but not exactly feeling like Richard Simmons either. Probably a good thing

 

Anyway. I would say split up the dose, move to liquid, make tiny frequent cuts and pay attentions to your body and mind.  You will find a comfortable rate of withdrawal. No need to rush. The goal is to feel ok.

 

Good luck and pm me if you want me to relay any personal experience. I've been at this a while now and I have an understanding doctor.

 

BDL

[[gi...]]

Hey Birdman, thanks for the advice. I should probably be drinking more water and the salt is something to think about cutting out too. For me it is my heart rate that shoots up all of a sudden. I really hate having my blood pressure taken. It irritates me so bad when it squeezes your arm..lol. So maybe that is why my heart rate shot up. I read the link you posted about beta blockers. From what I can see, I wouldn't be able to take beta blockers because of having asthma although it sounds like it would really help me. I have a lot of dizziness. I wish I could find another doc for this to try the valium again.

Hi Ginger3,

 

I have had high blood pressure for years but I managed it by drinking extra water and cutting out all sodium. We do not even have salt shakers in the house, I threw them all out. 

Then when this W/D thing happened to me my blood pressure went sky high and the Dr. almost hospitalized me for it.

 

There is NO WAY I could do my taper on Ativan without help from beta blockers. Also they are mentioned in the Ashton Manual.  I take Inderal and it keeps by BP and my beats down and it relaxes me in general.

 

I am also VERY SLOWLY moving my dose into Valium by slow blending and the Valium seems to be more calming to me than the Ativan.

 

More Data - http://www.minddisorders.com/A-Br/Beta-blockers.html

 

I hope this helps

 

Hugs

 

BM

 

P.S. I take my dose 4 times a day. That helps much to halt W/D symptoms too.

[[gi...]]

Yeah Mairin, I think that is why I did not handle valium well the 1st time. Doc wanted to just switch me straight over, nothing gradual about it. And yeah I believe he switched me over starting at 9 mgs of valium at that time when I was on 1mg of ativan because he knew I wanted to start tapering again. So yeah he had that ALL messed up. Yeah I may look into micro tapering more. Thanks for the advice and encouragement!

Hi Ginger,

 

Yeah I read one of Birdman's posts and he/she made a lot of sense about combining V and A. 

 

I thought about that a lot a while back, a partial move to valium instead of a full move, but ashton only speaks of a full move to valium.  It would seem to me that maybe a small amount of valium might help with the interdose w/d's of ativan.  Because sometimes people have a lot of trouble on very high amounts of just valium.

 

Anyway, the protocol for a crossover from one drug to another is supposed to be gradual, meaning you slowly substitute a certain amount of A with the equivalent amount of V.  This is supposed to take place over several weeks.  Its supposed to be gradual.  Check out Kian's Buddie Blog, he is changing over to V right now, that's an example of how it should be done, slow gradual replacement.

 

Perhaps that is why people fail to adjust to valium, because its not done gradually a lot of times.

 

Also you might want to look into micro-titrating, where you only cut very tiny amounts.  You've done well though to get down to this level, you really have!  I wish I could help more but I have not been down that far yet, I am just telling you what I have read on here, people's experiences.  I've been reading on here for 8 months now.

 

Hugs to you

Mairin

[[gi...]]

Hey BDL, I was splitting my dose up in the beginning of my taper but then since I took it to help me sleep and I originally took it all at night, I thought that I needed to take it all at night to keep me sleeping well. I didn't really know about interdose withdrawal. Never seemed to have any before but now that I think about it that is probably where a lot of my problems lately have been from. Yesterday I took your advice and split the dose up 4 times over the day. I am probably going to hold for awhile again though because of depression and anxiety though. Thanks for the advice and encouragement! Congrats on getting down so low in dose! I like the Richard Simmons comparison though..to funny!

Hey Ginger. I wouldn't be so sure about labeling your situation as tolerance wd.

I had the same experience after holding for 5 weeks. It hurts when you start cutting again because you are again messing with a stabilizing brain chemistry. If you continue cutting, slowly, you will see improvement. That is if you are like me. I'm surprised you made it this low without splitting up your dose.

I dose 4 times a day. I have a liquid compounded at a pharmacy. I'm presently at .192 mg a day. Highly functional, but not exactly feeling like Richard Simmons either. Probably a good thing

 

Anyway. I would say split up the dose, move to liquid, make tiny frequent cuts and pay attentions to your body and mind.  You will find a comfortable rate of withdrawal. No need to rush. The goal is to feel ok.

 

Good luck and pm me if you want me to relay any personal experience. I've been at this a while now and I have an understanding doctor.

 

BDL

[[Bi...]]

Hi Ginger,

 

Drinking about 9 glasses of water per day can't hurt.  It does three things.  It acts as a natural blood thinner and it also removes the excess salt from your body and then finally it makes you pee like a fish so stay near a restroom, lol 

 

Hugs

 

BM

 

P.S.  I also tried switching to Valium all at once and I wigged out bad in the first 24 hours and went crawling back to Ativan.  I have been slowly crossing to V for 6 days now and it is a piece of cake if you do it super slowly. I am not doing a full cross yet and when I get to 50/50 Ativan/Valium I am going to use this blend all the way down to jumping off to stretch out my limited benzo supply. My Dr. is caring but wants me off in a timely manner so I do what I have to do in my situation.

[[Bi...]]

Interesting Ativan videos -  More reasons to switch to Valium and get away from Ativan

 

PART 1  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2iZQ9tVSAU&feature=related

PART 2  http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=OWHKri71qaE

 

Tell me what you think.

 

Take care

 

BM

[[Ma...]]

I watched the videos Birdman.  I really hope that ativan is not the worst one

[[be...]]

Wow. That video is insane. It's amazing that awareness of the very real dangers of ativan has not changed much in 30 years.

[[Bi...]]

Yes the video's were enlightening to say the least. It was interesting to see Heather Ashton at 25 years younger too.

I am not worried since I got down to .5mg from 5mg in only 6 months but my body is now telling me to slow down or to switch to Valium, so I am doing both now, very slowly.

 

Take care all

 

BM

[[TO...]]

I feel as I am always in a panic on this stuff...Could I be having an adverse reaction? I almost always feel panicky and nervous...I took a .5 this morning and I am climbing the walls...I really dont know what to do...having a bad morning. What should I do? It all started after trying to get off of Ambien. I dont know how I can survive this taper...I currently have been doing .5 at 6 am .25 at 12pm .25 at 6 pm and .5 for bedtime around 10 pm. Anybody ever feel like this? Plese advise or let me know what you think..

[[Bi...]]

Are you tapering Ambien or Ativan? What other drugs are you on?  You should give more detail in your signnature line so people can help you better.

 

BM

[[TO...]]

Are you tapering Ambien or Ativan? What other drugs are you on?  You should give more detail in your signnature line so people can help you better.

 

BM

 

Ill fix my signature...I took Ambien for nine months. I started Ambien 10MG in January 2012. I had a panic attack in September 2012. ER gave me Ativan, took that for 2 two weeks. Called Primary Doctor told him what happened, he prescribed me Xanax took that for two weeks, quit cold turkey. No idea what I was doing. Went to see a Nurse Practioner abot a month ago, told her what was going on. She prescribed me Ativan .5- 3 Times a day. I started taken it, but never a full dose. Been to the ER twice since. So now I started taking  .5 at 6 am .25 at 12pm .25 at 6 pm and .5 for bedtime around 10 pm. so I could start leveling off. I started that a couple days ago. I want to level off so I can begin to taper. Thats where I am at.

[[Bi...]]

Hi TOPFAN,

 

That is very lop sided dosing.  Ativan for some reason does not lend itself to unequal dosing while tapering.  I use to do it that way and kept suffering until I went to 4 equal doses per day and I found accuracy was very important!! I always felt better taking 4 equal doses.

 

Also are you tapering the Ambein? Maybe you never tapered it properly. That could be the problem.  You need to slow taper Z-DRUGS like Ambein and Zopiclone too and those take 4-6 months or longer to taper from and Valium is used not Ativan which causes additional problems in my opinion. 

 

Ambein (Z-drug) taper is in the Ashton manual  too-  http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s12

 

I hope you feel better soon.

 

BM