Tapering off Ativan Support Thread

[[ce...]]

Hi all.

 

I am tapering off of adivan and I think I'm going to fast...I started April 12, 2013 2.50 mg a day I'm now at .75 mg a day. Last taper was last Thursday and I'm still feeling depersonalized, not able to focus, headache, vision impaired, etc. Here is my schedule:

7:30 am .25mg lorazepam

9:00 am 5mg buspirone

3:30 pm .25mg lorazepam

5:00 pm 5mg buspirone

10:00 pm .25mg lorazepam and 5mg ambien

Where should I go from here. Should I wait 3 weeks instead of 2 for the next taper?

Kim

Ah, you cold turkeyed Klonopin too.  I did that and was reinstated to Ativan.  Ack, just noticed you're on 5 mgs Ambien too.  Ughhh, I hope you haven't been on the Ambien too long.  It was hell for me to get off of.  It acts just like a benzo and takes a long time to taper from too.  Sounds like you're in a similar predicament.

 

I'll share my Ativan taper schedule and thoughts about tapering.

 

1. If you can take doses 4 times a day (rather than 2 or 3) it's better, as to avoid interdose withdrawals.

 

2. I suggest taking your largest dose at bedtime for sleep.

 

3. A Compounding Pharmacy can be your best friend.  Every city has a compounding pharmacy, so just ask your doctor about where the nearest one is, or google your city name and compounding pharmacy.

 

4. Spread your doses out evenly.  For instance 7 a.m.  12 p.m.  5 p.m. and 10 p.m.  (OR)  7 a.m. 1 p.m.  6 p.m. and 11 p.m.  This is important so as to avoid interdose withdrawals.

 

Note: if you choose to taper Ativan you'll have to watch the clock closely everyday to make sure you take your dose on time.

 

5. Get a calendar and map out your taper plan.  This was so helpful to me to know how much to take at what time of day. Otherwise it's too easy to forget what it was that you are doing.  There's enough pain and confusion with withdrawal anyhow.

 

Here's what a "possible" Ativan taper can look like.  You may choose to slow it down or speed it up depending on what your symptoms are.  Many people find that the lower you get on the doses the harder it is, so make it slower as you get to those low doses.  Try to make the cuts every 10-14 days for the best results:

 

Possible Ativan taper:

 

.50          .50        .50        .50                  Total:  2 mgs

.25          .50        .50        .50                  Total:  1.75

.25          .25          .50        .50                  Total:  1.50

.25          .25          .25        .50                  Total:  1.25

.25          .125        .25        .50                  Total:  1.125

.25          .125        .125      .50                  Total:  1

.25          .125        .125      .375                Total:  .875

.25          .125        .125      .25                  Total:  .75

.125        .125        .125      .25                  Total:  .625

.125        .125        .125      .125                Total:  .50

.125        .0625      .125      .125                Total:  .4375

.125        .0625      .0625    .125                Total:  .375

.0625      .0625      .0625    .125                Total:    .3125

.0625      .0625      .0625    .0625              Total:    .25

.0625      .0312      .0625    .0625              Total:    .2187

.0625      .0312      .0312    .0625              Total:    .1874

.0312      .0312      .0312    .0625              Total:    .1561

.0312      .0312      .0312    .0312              Total:    .1248

                .0312      .0312    .0312            Total:    .0936

                                .0312    .0312            Total:    .0625

                                            .0312            Total:    .0312

                                                                  Off!

 

 

[[ce...]]

Hey Bonestied.  Can you get your doc to write you a script for smaller doses?  If you explain to them that you are tapering they may cooperate.  That way you won't have to use a jeweler's scale. 

[[Bo...]]

Hi cedartree,

 

Thank you. The power of suggestion. I will ask. I did order the .001 gram scale along with a pill cutter. I do know I will have to cut myself as well. I'm excited about starting at under 1 gram per taper. This will take much longer but that doesn't matter. I'm hoping for a manageable taper over the next 8 months.

 

I will keep my progress going here on bb and if I run into trouble will reach out. Hoping you stay toned and sort of hold my hand in our virtual world 

 

K

[[Bo...]]

Cedar,

 

How small of a dose does Ativan come? Feeling so much better today!

 

Bonestied 

[[aw...]]

Hi, Bonestied:

Glad you're feeling much better. The smallest doses of Ativan that I know of are 0.5 mg tablets, which are pretty standard. That's what I take, plus a small amount in solution, which lets me measure the cut more accurately using a pipette or syringe w/o having to use a scale. Right now I make the solution myself, but I think my doc will Rx for liquid Ativan as my dose gets lower. You might ask your doc about that; it's no big deal. You could explain how it would make your measurments much more accurate as the amount measured gets smaller.

 

I think your "possible taper" schedule and thoughts on tapering are excellent. If I were going to dry cut, it would look a lot like that. Except I'd probably go even slower 

 

Aweigh

 

[[Bo...]]

aweigh,

 

.5 is what I have as well. Wow, you were taking a lot of ativan! Sorry buddy. keep my posted on your progress. What are your cuts? My next taper will be .0625 do you think it should be less?

 

I slept 9 freak'n hours straight! Can you believe it? I do take 5 mg of ambien still...will taper off that after the ativan. Urg.... but did awake with a wave, my alarm went of to take my first dose of ativan. I am also taking buspirone to help with the w/ds and tapering.

 

Already asked doc about liquid ativan. He won't do it for I o/d last November on liquid valium and klonapin 

so dry cut for me. Hope it works. Scared.

 

Here's to good day with lots of windows!

bonestied

[[Ma...]]

Hi Bonestied,

 

I would cut .0625 if you can.  Especially since you have been messed around with a large drop.  I really do think that its better to drop lower amounts and go slow rather than big cuts fast.

 

I know what you were feeling, I was dropped from a huge dose and it took me 5 months to get sort of normal from that.  I really think low and slow it the way to go.

 

Hugs,

Mairin

[[Bo...]]

Thanks Mairin!

 

I see you dropped a big amount last month. How do you feel? Today was kind of weird for me. Managable but weird. Small things like my 7 year old whining set me off today. I screamed at him  , had to breath deep....feel bad. I remember doing this to the poor kid a few months ago. I hate it!!! He knows that I am trying to get off a bad medicine so he is forgiving. 

 

We went to a movie today. Epic. The theatre was spinning at first. I had to laugh, HA. Reminded me of when I went to Florida in April. My mom surprized me with a 5 hour cruise. She knows what I am going through but I guess she didn't think how sick it would make me. I had to stick it out and do my best. Urg. It was hard but did it.

 

Thanks again.

bonestied

[[aw...]]

"Low and slow is the way to go"  That's the Mission Low Riders motto! I way agree with you, Mairin33.

 

Bonestied: Some doctors seem to think 6 mg/day is a huge, addiction-level dose...but if you look it up, the standard dosage range for anxiety in adults is 2-6 mg/day in most references. Anyway, it's a lot, no question. I take 5 mg/day now and expect to be off in well under a year. My reduction rate is < 0.02 mg/day, which sounds like nothing but adds up to > 10%/month, maybe faster than I want to go. Since the reduction is so gradual, sx have been minimal. So far 

 

I think it's good to spend time with your kid, even if it's "weird time", if you know what I mean. I know I won't let w/d take my family from me.

 

How does taking buspirone help with the taper?

 

aweigh

[[Bo...]]

aweigh,

 

I agree with you. I won't let anything get in the way of spending time with my son. He actually helps the w/d with distraction, laughter, physically activity and lots of love.

Buspirone is a non narcotic anxiety med. I'm on a very lose dose. Script says take 3 times daily but I only take 2.

Off to sleep land. chat more later.

Hope your asleep.

bonestied

[[La...]]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm new to the group & had questions regarding my ativan taper.

I was prescribed Ativan about 7 years ago along with other ssri's for severe depression & GAD.

They both saved my life! I'm now off all anti/depressants, but remained taking 1mg ativan for sleep & anxiety. I also drank while on ativan for about a good year, just up until recently when I decided I needed to change things because I found I needed to take more ativan because of interdose withdrawal symptoms. This really freaked me out, so I ran to my psych, told her I wanted to taper off the ativan, & she said she rarely had requests from anyone to do that.

I told her about the Ashton method & that I wanted to add diazapam to help ease the withdrawal symptoms. She prescribed 5 mg diazapam & said to do a complete crossover of my 1 mg ativan taken in the evening. Well I tried it & I found that diazapam was really hard on me & made me feel like I was so out of it, that I couldn't control any of my body movements. Also gave me horrible nightmares.

I even tried cutting the .5 mg dose in half one night, & then .25 another night, but all 3 times it terrified me. So I can't do the crossover & slow taper on it.

Then I decided to just start cutting back on my ativan in small doses.

Which I did 3 weeks ago. I'm now down to .5 mg at night, with an occasional need to take .25 dose in the late morning because of bad withdrawal symptoms.

I've lost 10 lbs in 3 weeks, have the shakes, feel spacey, & really anxious.

Taking the .5 at night helps curb all that, and so does the occasional .25 in the morning.

But I'm a mess...need to take care of my son, but I can barely function.

Am I moving to fast with this taper? Should I go back to taking 1mg once per day?

Should I go back to 1 mg & break it up through the day? I'm so confused. Or should I just keep doing what I'm currently doing & suffer through it? Can somebody please help me ASAP?

I don't want to have another day like I did today & the past few days.

I'm at the point where I'm questioning if this is even possible. I know realistically it is, but when I'm going through withdrawal it makes me feel like I can't handle just how sick I am.

 

Please help me!

Thank you,

Laelani

[[aw...]]

Hi, Laelani:

 

I see that you've already posted in Introductions and had some valuable responses from Sunnyside. Plus, you've already done your homework with the Ashton Manual  It may not feel like it, but I think you're well on your way.

 

As my signature line (it would be helpful if you could put one together--I know you have a lot to do) shows, I am tapering from Ativan 6 mg/day for 9 years. I agree with Sunnyside that your severe symptoms (sx) suggest that you may have tapered too fast and that a cut reversal (also called a rescue dose) may be the first step in getting to a stable place (tolerable sx that don't change from day to day) from which to begin a solid taper. That boils down to 'IMO, you're not taking enough Ativan and that's why you feel so sick'. This is not medical advice, just my opinion. It sounds like your psych would like to help you but [as she admits] she doesn't know much about it and doesn't have much experience.  This is your chance to educate her--seriously. You'll soon see how many buddies have doctors who...well, you'll see. You find one who'll listen to you, you hang on to 'em!

 

If I were you, I'd find a daily (24 hour) dose that will control most of your sx and allow you to function. You could start with the last dose you took that was adequate. Divide that amount into 3 or (better, but harder) 4 equal doses and take them at equal time intervals. In my case, 6 mg/day with 3 X day dosing = 2 tablets every 8 hours. Don't break up tabs and take them throughout the day in odd amounts "when you feel like it"; don't dose once or twice a day. That's what causes inter dose w/d sx. Don't worry about getting off of Ativan right away; you're at a low dose anyway. For now, you need to get stable and that will happen when you've taken regular doses at regular time intervals for a couple of days.

 

I think the Valium crossover may be possible, but it would need to be done more gradually, you can't just jump on that train. Personally, I'm planning on stayin with Ativan. You're pretty close to zero, c/o to Valium might not be necessary or advisable, even though Dr. Ashton is very big on it. Again, this is my opinion and not medical advice. However, I think you'll find I'm not the only person who has this opinion. So, my lay estimate would be 1 mg cut in quarters and taken every 6 hours, if 1 mg was what you were OK on before. If 6h is too hard to keep track of, do thirds every 8h. Don't set an alarm to dose--if you wake up anyway, have a "wake up" dose ready, otherwise dose when you awaken. It's OK if the cuts aren't exact; they add up to 1 tab.

 

I know you feel terrible, but you're right, it is possible. I'm doing it, so can you. Stick around, you'll meet some good people here.

 

Welcome home,

 

Aweigh

[[La...]]

Aweigh,

 

Thank you so much for your response and valuable advise & support.

I think breaking up my pill into 3 or 4 equal parts & taking them at exact times everyday is a better idea than what I've chosen to do presently. My biggest concern though is that I won't be able to sleep at night without taking a larger dose before bed. Have you found this to be a problem? After taking my .5 dose last night, all my symptoms subsided & I felt relaxed & slept pretty well. I'm exhausted every day. Another question I have is how do I then start tapering if I'm taking 3 or 4 equal doses per day? Do I cut one dose out every few weeks? Do I cut each little dose down? I'm hoping to start my new plan today so if you could reply to my questions I'd really appreciate it 😊

I will make that signature line as soon as I have time to sit & figure it out.

 

Any & all advise & opinions are much appreciated.

 

Thank you so much,

Laelani

[[aw...]]

Aloha, Laelani:

 

Just a guess. If I could live anwhere in the world, I think it would be the Kona coast.

 

IMO, if you need to take a somewhat larger dose at bedtime to get decent sleep, and that's what you're used to, I'd say that's OK during this stabilization period. Use the smallest effective dose. Take your other doses as calculated and don't worry about your daily total going up a little; it won't stay there for long. I take my standard, same-as-the-other-two, dose of Ativan 1 h before bedtime and 3 mg of melatonin 1 1/2 h before bedtime. It's a safe, OTC sleep aid. It works well for most people. Any drugstore. Don't take more than 3 mg. Less might work for you. I sleep well, most nights.

 

Which leads right into your next question. You'll probably figure out a taper schedule using information you don't have yet, which you'll learn from people on this site. Or elsewhere--we don't have a monopoly on taper assistance. It will be your taper, suited to your needs, and flexible because things will change as the taper progresses. Yours probably won't be difficult or take a long time, because you're starting from where I'll be in 6 months.

 

I would not start any dose reduction until I'd been stable [definition in last post] for at least one week. You'll feel a lot better.  By then you'll probably have learned enough to figure out your taper with minimal assistance from others here and hopefully from your doctor, who will also have learned a lot about benzos. That's important, because she may be prescribing them w/o knowing the dangers, and that's potentially lethal.

 

Sig line instructions and other valuable info can be found in the Introduction and new members area.

 

Aweigh

[[Bo...]]

Laelani,

 

Cedartree shared her tapering schedule with me, it's on this thread but I will cut and paste.

Here it is:

I'll share my Ativan taper schedule and thoughts about tapering.

 

1. If you can take doses 4 times a day (rather than 2 or 3) it's better, as to avoid interdose withdrawals.

 

2. I suggest taking your largest dose at bedtime for sleep.

 

3. A Compounding Pharmacy can be your best friend.  Every city has a compounding pharmacy, so just ask your doctor about where the nearest one is, or google your city name and compounding pharmacy.

 

4. Spread your doses out evenly.  For instance 7 a.m.  12 p.m.  5 p.m. and 10 p.m.  (OR)  7 a.m. 1 p.m.  6 p.m. and 11 p.m.  This is important so as to avoid interdose withdrawals.

 

Note: if you choose to taper Ativan you'll have to watch the clock closely everyday to make sure you take your dose on time.

 

5. Get a calendar and map out your taper plan.  This was so helpful to me to know how much to take at what time of day. Otherwise it's too easy to forget what it was that you are doing.  There's enough pain and confusion with withdrawal anyhow.

 

Here's what a "possible" Ativan taper can look like.  You may choose to slow it down or speed it up depending on what your symptoms are.  Many people find that the lower you get on the doses the harder it is, so make it slower as you get to those low doses.  Try to make the cuts every 10-14 days for the best results:

 

Possible Ativan taper:

 

.50          .50        .50        .50                  Total:  2 mgs

.25          .50        .50        .50                  Total:  1.75

.25          .25          .50        .50                  Total:  1.50

.25          .25          .25        .50                  Total:  1.25

.25          .125        .25        .50                  Total:  1.125

.25          .125        .125      .50                  Total:  1

.25          .125        .125      .375                Total:  .875

.25          .125        .125      .25                  Total:  .75

.125        .125        .125      .25                  Total:  .625

.125        .125        .125      .125                Total:  .50

.125        .0625      .125      .125                Total:  .4375

.125        .0625      .0625    .125                Total:  .375

.0625      .0625      .0625    .125                Total:    .3125

.0625      .0625      .0625    .0625              Total:    .25

.0625      .0312      .0625    .0625              Total:    .2187

.0625      .0312      .0312    .0625              Total:    .1874

.0312      .0312      .0312    .0625              Total:    .1561

.0312      .0312      .0312    .0312              Total:    .1248

                .0312      .0312    .0312            Total:    .0936

                                .0312    .0312            Total:    .0625

                                            .0312            Total:    .0312

                                                                  Off!

 

I'm starting at 1mg > .25  .25    .25  .25 I also take buspirone to help with the s/x. I will then have to taper off of that, but it is non-narcotic so I'm hoping it will be fine....but be4 I can take that on....yes, there is more...I take 5mg of ambien at night to help with sleep. I am an emotional wreck if I don't get proper sleep so...urg. Yet another hurdle I will have to concur. Ativan first, then the rest. This will be a year or so process for me. I have patience. I prefer a slow, managable tapering. Cuz I'm scared....I've experienced hell and don't ever want to go back again.

Best of luck

bonestied

 

 

[[Bo...]]

Also,

I have an Iphone and I am able to put as many "alarm" settinga as desired. This has helped me tremdously because time will fly and I will forget to take a dose. I have 7 alarms on my Iphone. One to wake up and the other six for my meds. Without it I would be late everyday.

Cheers.

bonestied

[[La...]]

Aweigh and Bonestied,

 

Wow....thank you so, so much for your replies. They have both pointed me in the right direction!

So here's where I'm at with all of it. I've decided to go back to a consistent .75 mg dose rather than back up 2 steps to 1mg. I was sporadically taking this dose anyway & alternating between .5 doses on other days.

I've learned from Aweigh that it's much better to be consistent everyday rather than be erratic with my dosing. Yesterday I was a mess even though I had taken .25 in late morning, & .50 at bedtime (which calmed me down quite a bit). Slept pretty well, woke up this morning and took .25 at 9am. Gave me a huge rush...really fast heartbeat for a good couple of hours, and woke me up with a lot of energy. Not sure why it had that effect on me. Didn't really care for it, but it was so much better than not being able to get out of bed, and feeling horrible. Today has been soooo much better then yesterday (knock on wood), and I have yet to feel any interdose withdrawal symptoms. I will take .5 mg at 9pm tonight to sleep. Since you both have advised me it's better to take 3 or 4 doses throughout the day, I'm presuming it's best not to stay on this on this twice daily dose?? If that's so....I was considering taking .25 3 x daily. However that doesn't allow for a larger dose in the evening.... so I may consider trying to taper using Cedartree's taper chart , and dose at 4 times a day, .25. .125 .125 and .25 at night. Just thinking out loud & trying to figure it out. Would love if either one of you could give me your opinions as I value your advice. 

 

Again, thank you so very much for your time...it means the world to me.

 

Laelani

 

 

[[Bo...]]

Laelani,

I so happy you are feeling better!!!!! I'm hope that schedule works for you. I dropped from 1mg to .75mg and was back in hell. I felt like 2 steps forward 10 steps back. It took me close to a week to stabilize. So I'm feeling great again. Minor s/x to be expected as of today. When I started this April 12 I was at 2.5mg so I'm proud of that. I can't tell you what to do or how to do it...what ever is comfortable for you my dear. This whole benzo thing ticks me off. I was put on it for too much caffeine intake. I quit the caffeine and that should have been enough...But now, I'm dependant on this poison and it will take a long time to recover. Back to you...try what you suggested and see how you feel. I think it could work. Not sure about sleep....drink some herb tea before bed, sleepy time tea or warm milk will help. check in with me in the am and let me know. I certain don't want you to suffer.

Have a blessed sleep and will stop by tomorrow to check on you.

Bonestied

[[Ma...]]

Hi Laelani,

 

I agree with other posters that dosing 4 times a day helps.  That is what I am doing, and in a round robin fashion, I am cutting each dose every two weeks.  You will see my signature at the bottom, and you can see what I am doing.

 

Today I just went down to 1.5 mgs.  That is .375 four times a day.

 

I get that by cutting a .5 pill in half, which gives me .25, and then cutting a quarter pill, which is .125, which gives me .375.

 

I've been going down by .125 each time I go down for the past few months.  I may resort to going down by half of that, .0625.

 

Dosing 4X a day will keep the drug going in your bloodstream, which will cut down on interdose w/d.

 

Hugs.

[[aw...]]

Hi, Laelani:

 

Pretty cool how people just come right out of the woodwork to help you  One thing that a lot of people use to improve their accuracy at pill splitting is a jeweler's scale. I use a  Gemini AWS-GPR20 from Amazon (costs $50 and will weigh accurately to 0.02 mg). Might not be worth it for a short taper if money is tight--OTOH, I'll bet you could sell it to someone on BB pretty easily when you're done with it. The big advantage is that when you get down to those low doses, visual pill splitting just won't cut it, so to speak .  Accuracy becomes much more critical at low doses, not just for simple math measurement reasons but also for neurological reasons. To oversimplify, you're just more sensitive.

 

I'm really glad to see how fast you're progressing. This thread is a good match for you.

 

aweigh

 

[[at...]]

Hello,

 

Found this forum an invaluable resource. Truly, few more insidious poisons have been inflicted on man than benzodiazepines. To add insult to injury, this poison was foisted upon mankind in the guise of "medicine." So, per doctor's orders, I now walk with the Devil. Being close to something so evil and so soul destroying can make it seem like there is no hope in the world, that everything we are, those we love, and everything we care about, is all for naught. I tell you this is not the case. The human spirit is stronger than a poison pill. Even if it kills you, it can never dominate your spirit unless you let it and if you do not let it dominate your spirit, it will not kill you.

 

Things that make me feel better:

 

1. Helping other and fellow creatures of the earth. If you can help another when you are yourself without hope, simply for the sake of alleviating suffering in another, the hope you bring into the world and to yourself is incalculable. I have found this act to be the very essence of hope.

 

2. Exercise. You can't do it? The pain here is better than withdrawal. Much better. Kills anxiety.

 

3. Talking to others, going out. So maybe you can't drink anymore but it's still fun to be with friends.

 

I was on 2mgs of Ativan for 3 years. I was able to quit for a month about 3-5 months into the treatment. Fast forward 2 years, the pharmacy screws up and I go a day without it. All hell broke loose. I realized that this drug had done some strange things to me. I soon cut my dose by .5mg. No problems for about a month, then the really bad withdrawal symptoms set in. Thinking I had something seriously wrong with me, it crossed my mind that it could be the Ativan. I looked up this board and found the answers.

 

About 2 months ago I started a 1% a day taper. I actually was about to get down to 1mg in about a month without many problems. Around this time, I realized that I was getting really bad anxiety (the absolute worst sx in my opinion) just before the next scheduled dose. I kept moving the PM dose back in order to combat this. I realized that I couldn't keep doing this. I stabilized for a week. Now I broke the pill into four doses. Much better. Much better. Going on another poison like Valium is not an option and having this take longer than it has it is also not an option. However for some it is and that is okay, we are all different. I hope to be off in about 2 months, hopefully sooner. I'm not going to push too hard.

 

Going through this is very difficult for some. I know, the sx have nearly broken me a few times. I am a man with great willpower. I quit virtually everything and it was easy. Smoking, drinking, etc. I lived through law school and passing the California State Bar exam. However, this is something different. This is the Devil's own poison. We should not feel sorry for ourselves. We, and I know this is difficult, must use this to make us stronger and more caring for others. Walking next to the Devil forces us to focus on the Good, it forces us to become acquainted with it in personal terms. We are simple forced to in order to see the light. This is the strength we can derive and when it is all said and done and we have left the Devil far behind us, we will think ourselves better as people because we resisted the dying of hope.

[[La...]]

Hello everyone,

 

Again thank you so much for your prompt responses & help with my withdrawal & taper.

 

So here I am today trying to figure out which taper is best for me. Yesterday was a great day, with my 9 am 1/4 dose or .25 , and my nightly 1/2 or .5 dose. The only complaint I had was about my morning dose.....heart pounding fast, and the feeling of the drug going through my system....almost like an addrenelin rush that lasted for a good while. Could this be a paradoxyl effect?

 

My night dose 8:30 pm, was fine didn't feel the same rush. Slept pretty good. So today I thought I'd try dosing more often to see if it works for me. Woke up & took an early morning 7am .25 dose cuz I thought I'd try the 4 dosing schedule. Felt ok but still felt that same rush throughout my body of addrenelin & fast heartbeat. I then changed my mind & decided to try a 3 dosing schedule because it sounded better than the 4 dosing. So I took .125  dosage, which is .25 cut in half. At 2 pm. Felt really weird & spacey after taking it, not such a fast heartbeat but nevertheless felt like I was a bit drugged up. So now I plan on taking the remainder of my .75 dosage which will be .375 tonight at 9.

 

I know this all sounds crazy cuz everyone suggested I take 3 equal doses, but I really don't like the way I feel taking even the tiny dose I took at 2pm. Since I was used to taking the entire 1 mg dosage at night, I think my body was used to that & now feels weird when I take it during the day. Could that be? The only reason I went back to taking the .25 in the morning was because I down too fast to .5 at night & was having such horrible withdrawal symptoms. I want to stabilize so bad but I also want to try other methods to see if they work for me.

 

As of now, I'm thinking that it would be in my best interest to stick with a morning dose of .25 & nightly dose of .5 at 12 hour intervals. I think my brain & body works best this way.

I'd then stabilize, God willing for a good week or 2, then start cutting my nightly dose ever so slightly.

Does this sound like a good plan to anyone? I sure hope it works if I do it consistently.

 

Again any & all thoughts, opinions and ideas are welcome. And thank you to those who have responded to my posts already & have supported me for the last couple of days while I try to figure things out. You have no idea how much it means to me to have someone listen to my neurotic questions & thoughts, without criticism. I'm blessed to have found you:)

 

Laelani

[[at...]]

Since I was used to taking the entire 1 mg dosage at night, I think my body was used to that & now feels weird when I take it during the day. Could that be?

 

Absolutely. I was taking 2mg at night for years. When I divided it for the first time into an AM/PM dose, it brought on withdrawal symptoms. I muscled through this and now dividing in 4 doses was not bad. I'm not sure what you can do. I don't have a problem with sleep or with waking up withdrawn (although if I go too long in the morning, the symptoms come on).

 

Perhaps you could start to slowly shift your PM dose over to your AM dose and see how it goes. It might make you feel spacey but it's better than withdrawal. I cannot work while I have those W/D sx, it is virtually impossible. Spacey, is okay. Tough but I can deal.

[[La...]]

In regards to my last post above (you'll have to read that first before responding to this)

Could the reason for me feeling so weird taking more frquent daily doses today be because my body isn't used to having the medication in the bloodstream during these times? Does dosing more frequently take getting used to? Do you think by taking 4 doses per day (using Cedartrees schedule at .75mg) would work better in the long run for me according to what you've seen and read throughout your experiences? I'm feeling a bit better after taking that last dose, not so out of it, so it made me think that if I kept a constant level of meds in my body throughout the day then maybe I wouldn't have these weird sensations every time I take a dose ( there were 7 hours between my morning & afternoon doses today & my afternoon dose was smaller) . I feel like I'm obsessing over this all day everyday. Just want to find out what will work best for me & try to stick to it. Agghhhhh!!!!!!

[[La...]]

Ativannie,

 

Thank you for your replay:) The thing is, as long as I take a morning dose, even though it makes me feel jumpy, nervous & weird for the 1st couple of hours, I'm usually ok, pretty symptom free 'till about 8pm, when I take my bigger of the doses. I do have trouble with insomnia that was the reason behind continuing this drug long after my original GAD diagnosis 7 years ago.

Hopefully you've read all my earlier posts to get a picture of what's been going on with me.

Anyway, from your experience of switching over your nightly dose & splitting it during the day, you said that you too felt weird & a bit spacey but it was better than feeling withdrawal. I agree, however I'm just trying to figure what plan would work better for me if I'm NOT feeling the withdrawal symptoms on a 2 a day dosing.

Did your body & mind eventually get used to the feeling of taking Ativan throughout the day? And did

the weird, spacey feelings stop?

Just trying to get a picture of things here and make the right taper plan that's best suited to me & in the long run will cause little if any withdrawal symptoms.

As always any and all answers, opinions, thoughts, advise & questions are most welcome & appreciated!

 

Thank you so very much,

Laelani