How do I do a liquid taper off lorazepam

I am completely confused about how to start (and continue through) a liquid tapering off lorazepam.  Cutting a .5 mg pill accurately is next to impossible.  Help would be greatly appreciated!

How are you feeling now, do you still feel like you’re sleep walking?  Your doctor more than doubled your dose when he prescribed that much Ativan and you’re still at a higher dose than you were at the 1.25 dose of Xanax.  Your doctor did you no flavors by increasing your dose by so much. 

 

https://clincalc.com/Benzodiazepine/

 

If you can, I’d try to taper a bit more by dry cutting your tablets, you may be able to taper at a faster rate because you haven’t been on this increased dose for too long.  Of course, if your symptoms are too bad, you’ll need to slow it down.

 

You’re on a fairly high dose so it won’t be necessary to use liquid titration for the whole amount, you can use both tablets and liquid for the time being.

 

What do you think, can you taper off this increased amount or do you feel your body has acclimated to it?

I am now down to 2.25 mg  Ativan.  Still have the "sleep walking" feeling.  But what is most bothersome is the constant, never-ending nausea, especially after I take a dose.  Thinking that it might be the large dose at 4 X per day, I am now dosing 6 X per day (so the dosages are smaller).  That doesn't seemed to have helped.  I have been vomiting every evening before bed! 

I have been able to go from 3 mg to my present 2.25 mg in 9 days.  Should I slow it up or continue to try to get off this high dose quicker?

I’m so sorry to hear about the nausea, its a common symptom, I lost a lot of weight because of it. 

 

I’m glad you did that experiment to try to find the cause, unfortunately we have to do this often in order to figure out what’s going on.  You may need to do another test, you might consider holding this dose for a few days to see if it gets rid of the nausea.  If it does, you’ll most likely need to slow down. 

 

Please let us know how it goes if you decide to do this, what you write helps me help others.   

Thanks for your help!

Feeling much better today (even though I was awake all night - wicked insomnia!).  Will take your advice a hold for, I guess, about a week.

Since I have trouble quartering my .5 mg pill, I was thinking of combining my 3 late morning and afternoon doses (total .75 mg) and doing a slow liquid taper with that, will keeping my other 3 doses the same.  This would be after I finish my hold.  Does that sound like a good idea?

I’m glad to hear you got a break, that nausea is terrible. 

 

We’re getting into the specifics of tapering where I have no experience so I’m going to find someone to help you but for now, if your body has acclimated to dosing 6 times a day then you might want to stay at that for the time being, I wouldn’t want you to become less stable while you’re holding for a week. Every time we change something, our body reacts.

Pamster asked me to stop in.

 

I read all the posts.

 

Sounds like you want to do a liquid taper.

 

Here is a link to the best instructions I have seen:

 

If you need additional help after watching the video, let me know.

 

Bob

Bob - thanks for your help!

First, please note my math was incorrect.  I am on 2.25 mg, and now dosing 7 times per day.  This seems to have eliminated my nausea and my sleepy feelings.

I watched the video, but I don't think I can evenly dose across all doses.  I seem to need a higher dose (.5 mg) before bedtime to sleep.  And if I do sleep, I usually wake up about 2-2:30 and need another .5 mg to go back to sleep.  So, my thought was to take the other doses (1.25 mg total) and start titrating them down until I get to 2 mg.  I thought I would dissolve 1.25 mg in 200 ml of water and reduce by 2 ml per day.  If that goes OK, I will reconsider titrating everything -the whole remaining 2 mg.  I am also open to holding at any point in the titration if symptoms flair.  Does this seem logical?  I am currently holding until the middle of next week to see if my sleep continues to improve.  Last night I got the best sleep I have had since this whole ordeal began!

Thanks again!

I have the same issue. I go to sleep OK but then I wake up about every 2 hours. That's actually normal sleep cycle.

My sleep doctor says everybody comes in-and-out of sleep every 2 hours but some of us wake up all the way..

Yes all of your thinking seems completely logical.  You might be going a little fast by completing the 1st liquid in 100 days but you can always hold.

Remember also you don't have to drink it all at once but rather you could sip it throughout the day and throughout the night as needed.

Bob7

I did not realize you could drink it over a period of time...I guess I thought you needed regimented dosages.

Anyway, due to a very active weekend (and lack of sleep because of my returning insomnia), I inadvertently decreased my daily dosage to 2 mg.  I have missed one .25 mg dose for three days now.  Except for insomnia, I am feeling OK, but am worried that such a large cut (although inadvertant) will catch up with later in the week.  Since I am now on 2 mg per day, should I hold that for a couple of weeks before starting my liquid taper?

Thanks for your help!

Well 0.25mg looks like only 10% of your total so you are in good shape.

You should hold at this level for at least 10 days or until your symptoms are tolerable, whichever is longer.

 

I am not a doctor but sipping your mixture during the day and night should give you some feeling of control and reduce anxiety.

Bob7

I am still holding, but two days ago I thought I would experiment with two doses dissolved in water, just to see how it would go before I start the taper.  I made sure to really shake up the solution before drinking.  But, I had a terrible reaction.  I felt like I never took the two does...terrible headache, extreme nausea and vomiting, exhaustion, but no sleep, etc.  I am just beginning to feel somewhat recovered today, though still very nauseaus.  Is is true that sometimes a liquid taper is not agreeable with everyone?  If not, what are my options?

Thanks for any advice

I am so sorry you had such a deeply troubling reaction.

 

I only seen this once before.  I think the person didn't drink the rinse water.  Did you know, after consuming the mixture, you must swirl water in the jar and drink the rinse water?

Yes, I rinses it two times and drank both.  Really nervous now about my taper.  I really wish they would make less than .5 mg tablets so I could do I dry taper!

In reading your signature, you reduced 2mg in about 8:weeks.

 

I wonder if you need more time to stabilize..  if it was me, I would try Buspar for 8 weeks before trying to go any lower.  Or worked for me.

 

In reading your signature, you reduced 2mg in about 8:weeks.

 

I wonder if you need more time to stabilize..  if it was me, I would try Buspar for 8 weeks before trying to go any lower.  Or worked for me.

 

Hey Bob, I wanted to let you know that EllieM tapered quickly at my suggestion because her doctor more than doubled her dose when switching her from Xanax to Ativan, I hoped she hadn’t been on the Ativan long enough for her body to get used to the higher dose.

 

EllieM, would your doctor be willing to prescribe the liquid Lorazepam?  It can take a minute to get used to but its less of a hassle than doing it yourself. 

 

Or, if you’d be more comfortable, you could get some jewelers scales and shave your doses and weigh them.

Well Pamster even before you suggestion she went down from 3 or 4 mg of xanax all the way down to 1.25 mg  in less than 2 months.

It could be that that earlier large drop is now catching up .

Well Pamster even before you suggestion she went down from 3 or 4 mg of xanax all the way down to 1.25 mg  in less than 2 months.

It could be that that earlier large drop is now catching up .

 

Thanks Bob, I don’t remember looking at that, you could be right. 

I have questions for both Pamster and Bob7

1.  Could you explain your reasoning for trying Buspar.  The web site for Buspar said the side effects include those same side effects ts of ativan I am experiencing the most-insomnia and nausea.  I have very little anxiety for which it is usually prescribed.  I am confused.

2.  Could I potentially have the same reaction to the liquid form that I did with my home brew?

3.  I am so confused about this holding.  While I am holding at 2 mg, I seem to be developing more and more symptoms.  I continue to vomit regularly (have lost 10 pounds in a week!).  I have trouble sleeping.  And now today, I have sharp pains in my groin and back, my teeth hurt and my hair has begun to fall out.  I have virtually given up on exercise as it is almost impossible with all the vomiting.  I look like a walking dead person...skin is bad and huge dark rings under my eyes.  I have given up on my usual folate, B12, C, magnesium. D3, and zinc, because they seem to make me even sicker.  So, holding seems to make things worse.  Or is it the cumulative effect of tapering?

Could either of you shed some light on this?  At this point, I just want to be off this horrible, horrible drug as soon as possible.

Thanks.

I see you inadvertently reduced your dose by .25 on May 5th, this isn’t long enough to be considered a hold, only 9 days have elapsed since then, to have it a hold you’d have to hold for longer than 2 weeks, do you feel you can do this? 

 

The problem is, if you keep reducing while suffering this much, you’ll most likely find yourself at the end of your taper with the greatest amount of healing happening after you’re off of the drug and without the drug to help soften your symptoms.  This is the purpose of a taper, to allow you brain to heal as you reduce. 

 

What you ask about cumulative effect of tapering, this is spot on.  This happens a lot with the longer acting drugs, you can make cuts and not feel much of anything until they seem to catch up to you, holding while the body balances out is key in this situation.

 

But, if you feel getting off the drug is your best choice then you have to follow your own best judgement. 

 

As to question 2, yes, the liquid can take a day or two to get used to but the accuracy is a plus.

I agree with Pamster - you are not holding long enough to get stable. 

 

As for Buspar.  When I was tapering, I went way too fast at first.  All my reductions caught up with me all at once.  I had chest pains and went to the doctor.  The doctor said my heart was fine but due to the benzo withdrawal, I was having intense anxiety. 

 

Anxiety affects people differently.  For me, it kept all my muscles in my chest tight all the time.  After a while, the muscle get tired and therefore I got chest pain.

 

The doctor gave me buspar to address the anxiety.  The buspar took the edge off the anxiety and after 8 weeks of holding at my current benzo level, I felt good enough to continue my taper.

 

This might be a double reply..because I went off the forum as I was typing it the first time.

Thank you both for you quick replies!

I guess I am confused about stabilization.  What goes it mean and what does it look like?  A part of me wants to say, that while I am still on the drug, how am I healing or getting better?  Am I just not prolonging the whole withdrawal process by getting my brain used to a lower dose...just to suffer again when I reduce again?

I don't mean to be difficult!  I just want to understand this so I can accept it as part of the process.

Many thanks!

I supposed stabilization means something different to different people.  To me, it means the withdrawal symptoms are tolerable enough to allow me to do my daily duties.

Bob has defined stable as I see it as well, you’re able to take care of your daily tasks such as showering and fixing a simple meal, it could also mean your symptoms have quit changing drastically and they’ve settled a bit.

 

You’re not being difficult, what we’re asking of you goes against everything we know.  Stay on the drug thats making your life miserable?  We get it!

 

The drug has made changes to how your brain functions, as you remove the drug, your brain has to build from scratch the pathways the drug disrupted, this takes time.  Allowing this repair to happen slowly over time keeps you from functional, and it allows your brain to recover its normal function in stages.  When I quit cold turkey, my world came to a dead stop, I couldn’t do anything but writhe in pain, the shock was too great.

 

We understand this process goes against what we know but its universally accepted as the way to discontinue benzodiazepines and some other psychotropic medications.