Seeking Liquid tapering schedule assistance - ATIVAN

[[Buddie]]

Hello [...]...I'm back again to pick your brain. I'm coming up to a week since I reversed tapered a bit and my symptoms are still over the top and affecting my daily activities. Is there any downside that you know of (other than the suffering of course) to holding at my current dose and waiting for symptoms to subside so that when I resume tapering down the road, I'll have less to come off of? Is it possible that these symptoms can ease up within a matter of weeks or could it be much longer?

My debate is whether I should struggle through or go back up to a dose where things are comfortable and then restart with a much better/slower/safer taper...the challenging bit is not knowing!! If I knew that things would be horrendous for a finite period of time, then life would be much easier...but I realize that is not the way it goes. I do believe though that tapering slowly and with minimal side effects is possible if done correctly and not the way I did.

[[Buddie]]

Hello [...]...I'm back again to pick your brain. I'm coming up to a week since I reversed tapered a bit and my symptoms are still over the top and affecting my daily activities. Is there any downside that you know of (other than the suffering of course) to holding at my current dose and waiting for symptoms to subside so that when I resume tapering down the road, I'll have less to come off of? Is it possible that these symptoms can ease up within a matter of weeks or could it be much longer?

My debate is whether I should struggle through or go back up to a dose where things are comfortable and then restart with a much better/slower/safer taper...the challenging bit is not knowing!! If I knew that things would be horrendous for a finite period of time, then life would be much easier...but I realize that is not the way it goes. I do believe though that tapering slowly and with minimal side effects is possible if done correctly and not the way I did.

That is almost certainly the most comfortable alternative, and in fact, will probably let you actually move forward faster. 

I hear folks say all the time, "but if I updose, I'm giving up all the progress I've made". 

If you're miserable and non-functional, there no progress there to give up.  The sooner you get your sxs manageable, the sooner you can resume a sensible taper.

[[Buddie]]

Hello [...]! I have another question if you are available?...I am pleased to say that I have finally stabilized at .25mg Ativan 3 times per day after dropping too much too fast! I will stick here for awhile and then I'll begin a proper liquid taper and go slow!! I will get my prescription from the compound pharmacy and will adopt the slow 5% per 14 days way of doing things. Is there a calculator or spreadsheet link that you know of to help me with the math and for keeping track of the days/progress? Many thanks for all that you do.

[[Buddie]]

The "math" is just simple subtraction, like this:

.75mg                        7.5ml
.747mg                      7.47ml
.744mg                      7.44ml
.741mg                      7.41ml
etc....

[[Buddie]]

Thank you. I think I'm finally understanding the math now...it is not my forte! I'm looking at the schedule I've done up with this calculation and it would appear that it will take approx. 6 - 7 months to wean off. This is wild, given that I haven't even been on Ativan for that long, but knowing the power of it first hand now, I want to do whatever will mean little/no suffering!

It will be interesting to see how low I can go before 'jumping'....

 

[[Buddie]]

I’m going off of Ativan by ml. Started at 3mg down to 2.7. How do I take smaller doses than that if I need to?

[[Buddie]]

"... starting from .25 mg of Ativan taken 3 times per day. " 

I guess that means a total dose of .75mg/day?

If you get a compounded liquid, specify .1mg per ml.  Or you can easily dissolve your tablets to create a .1mg-1ml solution.

A conservative taper would be 5%/14 days.  That's about .003mg/day reduction


Assuming a .1mg=1ml solution, your schedule would be:

.75mg                        7.5ml
.747mg                      7.47ml
.744mg                      7.44ml
.741mg                      7.41ml
etc....

Hello again [...] :-) I've been holding at .25mg of Ativan (.5mg pills cut in two) three times per day since I last reached out to you. I have just picked up Ativan in the compounded liquid form as per your suggestion of being made up to .1mg/1 ml...

I'm curious to know whether it would be a good idea for me to slowly move over to taking the liquid so the body adapts to this form versus the sublingual pills? Or is that, in your experience, not usually necessary...I could swap all doses over to the liquid and start titrating straight away?

Any advice where this is concerned, would also be greatly appreciated!!

[[Buddie]]

There is absolutely no medical, pharmacological, physiological, etc reason why switching to liquid should have any effect.  When you swallow a tablet, it become liquid within seconds of hitting your stomach.  On the old BDR board, where all  members were doing some form of liquid tqper, no one ever mentioned any issues switching to liquid.

But if a gradual transition makes you more comfortable, there really is no disadvantage.

[[Buddie]]

Thanks!! I may just plunge in then...I'm eager to get going. 

[[Buddie]]

One last question dear [...]! Do you have recommendations on the best syringes to use for the titration process? I was given a couple from my compounding pharmacy and the markings/numbers are already wearing off and it has only been 2 days!!