You will heal too!

[[Ja...]]

Tx Cedar. I will do it on titration site.

[[...]]

Thank you so much for sharing your story.

It brings me hope.

I am on benzo 10 years now. Also I have tried so many other psycho drugs.

Nothing worked to me.

My last pill is benzo.

Its 7th month since I started tapering benzo.

I am dreaming to say I am healed someday.

[[ce...]]

Hi Maki.  I just cannot even begin to tell you how happy this makes me to hear you are getting off benzo's.  Tapering takes time, but its going to be worth it to become drug free and feel well again.  I'm just really excited and happy for you!  Keep up the hard work!

 

Best of luck for a happy and healthy recovery! 

[[tr...]]

Love hearing success!  Congrats and thanks for inspiring us all!  :-)

I jump tonight to never look back so your post came in the perfect time!

 

Take care

[[ce...]]

Love hearing success!  Congrats and thanks for inspiring us all!  :-)

I jump tonight to never look back so your post came in the perfect time!

 

Take care

Oh my, I hope you'll do okay.  Is .25 mgs Klonopin your last dose?  Thats a really high amount of benzo to jump from, but I wish you well all the same.  I know we can recover.  I've even seen many people who cold turkeyed recover fully.

 

Lots of love to you Traycee and wishing you great success, health and happiness! 

[[Ma...]]

Love hearing success!  Congrats and thanks for inspiring us all!  :-)

I jump tonight to never look back so your post came in the perfect time!

 

Take care

Oh my, I hope you'll do okay.  Is .25 mgs Klonopin your last dose?  Thats a really high amount of benzo to jump from, but I wish you well all the same.  I know we can recover.  I've even seen many people who cold turkeyed recover fully.

 

Lots of love to you Traycee and wishing you great success, health and happiness! 

 

So we cold turkey folk can heal, too? How long does it take? I had no choice but to c/t ... it was hell in the beginning ... now it's easing a little. But I'm a long, long way from healed. Some days I feel very ill and discouraged and wish my life was over.

Please give me a little ray of hope ...

[[ja...]]

I wasn't going to post this morning about my daughter until I could find out how random she is taking Lorazapam. But last night was so discouraging to me to see her in the state of mind she was in. I have posted about this before and really would like some advice from my fellow buddies. Cedartree I have talked before with you about this, but my daughter was not ready to stop taking it. Now she is having more problems due to the drug.

 

First off my daughters name is Becky and she is getting married next May 2014. She works full time as a dental assistant and needs to keep her job. I believe over the past 2 to 3 years she has very randomly taken Lorazapam. But this past year I believe she has taken it more ofton, yet not at the same time everyday.

 

She has become increasingly more agitated and more anxiety, emotional and fearful. Worrying a lot. I have said things to her for a while now, but she cant talk about it. I think it scares her to confront this. Unfortunately she is going to have to now I believe.

 

Last night we went and picked out Tuxes and had dinner. After we went to her house and talked. I went home and soon after she called me in tears. She was in a full blown panic attack to the point of even throwing up. She said she is in a living hell. She took a Lorazapam and in about 45 minutes she calmed down some. She use to take Lorazapam and would calm down within 20 minutes.

 

My question is should she get on a steady dose and get stable then taper and how much? Or should she start cutting down smaller now from what she takes. I'm not sure a c/t would be good for many reasons, but what do you think about that given her usage?

 

I am so worried for her. She is 25 years old and a lovely woman, but this drug is ruining her life. She is very fragile. Please, Please, help me. As a mother I feel so torn apart. I feel like someone has just stuck a knife in my heart. I'm going to re post this on the Lorazapam blog and mine. I appreciate any and all thoughts on this.

 

Love Jackie :smitten:

 

 

[[Mo...]]

hi jackie brown,

 

i can see you are so worried about Becky thats why i am answering.  best thing would

be to find a benzo-wise doctor and switch over to diazepam(valium), which has

a longer half life.

have you read the ashton manual? may be you could present it to a doctor.

otherwise if you post on the tapering section you will find more response.

i hope cedartree will answer soon, in the meantime try not to worry we will

find a solution i am sure.

take care both of you

claudia

[[ja...]]

Dear Claudia thank you for posting. I am so sad for Becky, she is such a sweet young lady. As you can see by my signature I c/o from Xanax to Valium and glad I did. My Doctor is her Doctor he doesn't understand benzos, but let me do Ashtons protocol. I'm just not sure if her c/o would be right and I'm not sure he would do it because she took the Lorazapam so sporadically.

 

I appreciate your compassion more then you will ever know. I cant find the Ativan blog for some reason this morning. I feel bad posting all this on Cedars blog, but I'm in great need of thoughts on this.

 

Thank you my friend

Love Jackie 

[[tu...]]

C-

 

It's been a while since I have dropped you a note.  I am hanging in there.  Things continue to slowly improve, but I am not healed yet.  Stress (and I have had a few things this summer) still rev things up much more than I would like it to.  I do get impatient with it, but mostly I just keep pushing on.  I am back to working (part time).  Parts of most days have symptoms popping up, but I do my best to muddle through.  I am 18 months off now.  Some days I wonder if I will ever be 100% who I was before this.  I put my faith in all who have walked this road before me and pray that in TIME I will be ME again.  It is a tiring journey.  Would love to hear from you.  Hope all is well for you!

 

Love,

Turtlegirl

[[ce...]]

 

So we cold turkey folk can heal, too? How long does it take? I had no choice but to c/t ... it was hell in the beginning ... now it's easing a little. But I'm a long, long way from healed. Some days I feel very ill and discouraged and wish my life was over.

Please give me a little ray of hope ...

Hey Maggie.  Yes, I have known people personally and on the forums who have healed completely from a cold turkey. Read more success stories and you'll see them.  You must have hope because all of this is temporary.  In the meantime try to distract distract distract from the pain.  You will get through this as many others have before you.

 

Much love to you! 

[[ce...]]

I wasn't going to post this morning about my daughter until I could find out how random she is taking Lorazapam. But last night was so discouraging to me to see her in the state of mind she was in. I have posted about this before and really would like some advice from my fellow buddies. Cedartree I have talked before with you about this, but my daughter was not ready to stop taking it. Now she is having more problems due to the drug.

 

First off my daughters name is Becky and she is getting married next May 2014. She works full time as a dental assistant and needs to keep her job. I believe over the past 2 to 3 years she has very randomly taken Lorazapam. But this past year I believe she has taken it more ofton, yet not at the same time everyday.

 

She has become increasingly more agitated and more anxiety, emotional and fearful. Worrying a lot. I have said things to her for a while now, but she cant talk about it. I think it scares her to confront this. Unfortunately she is going to have to now I believe.

 

Last night we went and picked out Tuxes and had dinner. After we went to her house and talked. I went home and soon after she called me in tears. She was in a full blown panic attack to the point of even throwing up. She said she is in a living hell. She took a Lorazapam and in about 45 minutes she calmed down some. She use to take Lorazapam and would calm down within 20 minutes.

 

My question is should she get on a steady dose and get stable then taper and how much? Or should she start cutting down smaller now from what she takes. I'm not sure a c/t would be good for many reasons, but what do you think about that given her usage?

 

I am so worried for her. She is 25 years old and a lovely woman, but this drug is ruining her life. She is very fragile. Please, Please, help me. As a mother I feel so torn apart. I feel like someone has just stuck a knife in my heart. I'm going to re post this on the Lorazapam blog and mine. I appreciate any and all thoughts on this.

 

Love Jackie :smitten:

Absolutley NO, she should not cold turkey.  No one should ever cold turkey.  She has got to accept the fact that if she does not taper safely off of benzo's, she will only get worse and eventually the benzo won't even help her within 45 minutes!  This happened to me.  I took benzo's for so long that my body finally reached a point that no matter how much I took it did not help ease symptoms whatsoever. This is called tolerance withdrawal.

 

She should not despair because she is fortunate that she is not at that place yet and if she is on a low enough dose, she could be benzo free before her wedding next May!  That's happy news.  If you want help with an Ativan taper plan I was able to do it successfully and I know that she could to. 

[[ce...]]

Dear Claudia thank you for posting. I am so sad for Becky, she is such a sweet young lady. As you can see by my signature I c/o from Xanax to Valium and glad I did. My Doctor is her Doctor he doesn't understand benzos, but let me do Ashtons protocol. I'm just not sure if her c/o would be right and I'm not sure he would do it because she took the Lorazapam so sporadically.

 

I appreciate your compassion more then you will ever know. I cant find the Ativan blog for some reason this morning. I feel bad posting all this on Cedars blog, but I'm in great need of thoughts on this.

 

Thank you my friend

Love Jackie 

 

Hey Jackie.  If she cannot cross over to Valium for some reason, then here's the Ativan taper thread........

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=44903.msg1146496;topicseen#msg1146496

 

Also, just let me know if you want to see my suggestions for tapering Ativan.  It really did work.

[[ce...]]

C-

 

It's been a while since I have dropped you a note.  I am hanging in there.  Things continue to slowly improve, but I am not healed yet.  Stress (and I have had a few things this summer) still rev things up much more than I would like it to.  I do get impatient with it, but mostly I just keep pushing on.  I am back to working (part time).  Parts of most days have symptoms popping up, but I do my best to muddle through.  I am 18 months off now.  Some days I wonder if I will ever be 100% who I was before this.  I put my faith in all who have walked this road before me and pray that in TIME I will be ME again.  It is a tiring journey.  Would love to hear from you.  Hope all is well for you!

 

Love,

Turtlegirl

Hey TG.  I have to run for now, but I'm so happy to hear you're working and keeping busy.  This helps keep your mind off wd, fear, etc.

 

I'll message you more later.  Lots of love to you!!! 

[[ja...]]

Thanks Cedar, I might need your help. She has to be ready that I know. She did tell me she has taken .05 when she takes them. Sometimes she has taken 1mg. You are a blessing Cedar. I hope you will help me when she lets us help.

 

Thank you

Love Jackie

[[ce...]]

Do you mean she takes .5 mgs or .05 mgs?  I'm guessing you meant .5 mgs.  Tapering from 1 mg a day will only take a few months and she could feel a lot better if she could understand that the longer you take benzo's, the more damaged your entire central nervous system becomes. If you can help her understand this or print out info for her, she might be more inclined to make a decision to begin tapering right away.  The longer she waits, the harder it becomes.

[[ja...]]

I do know it will only get harder. Most of the time when she takes it she takes .05 mg. !/2 of a 1 mg pill. But she doesn't take it everyday. Its random, like maybe Monday she would take it and then not until Thursday.  Would she have to take it regularly to taper? And what would you suggest?

 

Love Jackie

[[ce...]]

I do know it will only get harder. Most of the time when she takes it she takes .05 mg. !/2 of a 1 mg pill. But she doesn't take it everyday. Its random, like maybe Monday she would take it and then not until Thursday.  Would she have to take it regularly to taper? And what would you suggest?

 

Love Jackie

Half of a 1 mg pill is .50 mgs.

 

But, Yes yes and yes she would absolutely have to take it regularly to taper.  Sporadic use is very likely the reason her wd is so bad.  Ativan only lasts 5-6 hours. (this is why we dose 4 times a day).  Which means after 6 hours wd begins to happen unless you take another dose of the Ativan. So, here is my advice on tapering Ativan and what worked out for me.   

 

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:

 

.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!

 

 

It is not difficult to taper Ativan if you are able to keep your doses spread out evenly over the course of the day. 

[[ja...]]

Thank you Cedar I appreciate you putting this on here. I think Ativans halflife is short like Xanax which is what I c/o from. I am a bit confused on the .50 I took Xanax .05 mg 4 x a day for 20 years. That's how 1/2 of a 1 mg was on my prescriptions. Sorry I just feel confused by this.

 

I will print off your schedule for future. Thanks so much. Hope you have a great day.

 

Love Jackie

[[ja...]]

Ok so that really bugged me about the .50 mg being half of 1 mg so I looked it up and 0.05 mg = 50 mcg =1/2 of a 1mg The reason it bothered me is because like I said before all my scripts said .05 mg. So they both equal 1/2 of a mg, but 50 is mcg. I didnt want to be confusing anyone or myself and I thought I would hope my pharmacy was doing this right after all these years.

 

Thanks again for all your help. much appreciate it.

Love Jackie

[[ce...]]

Sorry to be confusing.  I was just trying to get us on the same page with the mgs.  Ativan and Xanax are both short half life benzo's.  I'm sorry you went through so much with your cold turkey from Xanax.  It really sounds like you are the perfect person to help your daughter with this whole process since you've been through it yourself.  You can encourage her and educate her on what to do and what not to do.  She is in good hands. 

[[ja...]]

Cedar, one of my biggest worries and confusion was if she needed to be on a steady dose. You cleared that up for me and I'm grateful. I wish we didn't have to but I understand why. And also having your plan will help me too so I'm doubly grateful to you.

 

As a mother it is far worse to know I need to get her off of this then for me tapering. I would rather take the pain for her. Honestly this is killing me mentally with worry for her. She will have to really find her inner strength. She always comes to me for help with everything. That's why I worry about her.

 

Thank God you have been through Ativan and understand how to do this. I have no clue when it comes to this benzo. So really Thank you!!!!

 

Have a good night and thank you for giving of yourself even though you no longer take it.

 

Love and BIG HUGS Jackie :smitten:

[[ce...]]

Hey Jackie, how are things going?

[[ja...]]

Hi Cedar, how are you today?  My daughter just isn't wanting to do anything yet. I have no choice but to wait. She has been told and hopefully she understands, but truthfully I know she doesn't understand how bad this can get. The good news is you have told me what to do and I will always be here to help her.

 

I am doing good for the most part. Keeping my chin up even on the hard days. Making my cut tonight to 4.5 mg. So excited to be down this low. Trying to be patient and excited at the same time.

 

I have a busy but fun day planned today. Helping my daughters friend make over her house. Do some shopping with her too. Love my family and friends, love my life for the most part. Thanks Cedar, hope your day is great!!

 

Love Jackie :smitten:

[[ce...]]

Jackie you are an amazing woman and a wonderful mother.  All you can do is share what you know and keep loving her.  Sounds like you have a great day planned.  I'm getting ready to go out now too.

 

Have a wonderful weekend!  Congrats on being so low in your taper.  You're getting close and I'm really excited for you!

 

Much love,

Cedar