Tritrate schedule needed for Seven1

Hello!

    I am taking lorazepam .5 mg. pills. I take one every 10 hours. I have cut down each .5 mg. pill to .35 mg over the course of 3 months. I have not been able to get past this .35 mg. dose every 10 hours without experiencing unpleasant to severe withdrawal symptoms. I am proceeding as if I have a 30 hour day, which is a .35 mg. dose every 10 hours. So I take three .35 mg. doses each 30 hour day. I have tried cutting one .35 mg. dose down at a time and not cutting the other two .35 .mg doses. I have tried going for longer lengths of time on cutting a single .35 mg. dose down, but again began to experience withdrawal symptoms. I am somewhat stable at this dose, but I need to continue my taper off this terrible drug. Titration seems the way to go now, so I can make minute cuts that won't cause me too much trouble. I already have a 100 ml. container. I want to go as slow as I can and still taper off this nightmare drug. I'm afraid of going too fast and having horrible withdrawals again.

Than You, Seven1

Hi Seven,

I'm not sure why you posted the above to this thread.

You will need to explain your regimen more carefully. For example, "I take one every 10 hours" does not divide into a full day (24 hours), and 'take one' what? We need to know doses and the frequency of doses. I'll have a look for your other posts.

Edit: I found your other posts: http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=7910.msg94767#msg94767. You should start a new thread on this board, and please try to explain your situation more carefully. Without this we cannot give you an opinion of how you might proceed.

Take care.

Hello!

    My doctor prescribed lorazepam 1.mg pills to me for insomnia. I really did not have a problem of not being able to sleep. I just couldn't sleep because I had pain and vibration in my body preventing me from sleeping. I know now that this was caused by a high acidic condition. I only took the 1.mg lorazepam pills occasionally at night, maybe twice a week. So, it was a 1. mg dose for that day when I would take it to sleep. After about 3 months of taking the 1.mg dose intermittently (not every day) I decided to stop taking it. After 10 days I began to experience severe withdrawal symptoms. I didn't know you can't just stop taking this terrible drug. So I asked my doctor to help me taper. The doctor was not very knowledgeable about this. I began taking .5mg pills of lorazepam twice a day (every 12 hours). It stabilized me for a few days, but the .5mg pill was not making it all the way to the next dose, which was 12 hours away. I began having unpleasant to severe withdrawal symptoms. I then started taking a .5mg pill every 10 hours and that worked perfectly. After 7 days I cut the first .5mg pill down to approximately a .45 pill with a large razor blade and a big magnifying jewelers lamp. (Ok, this part is crucial for your understanding of how I am taking these doses.) I cut the first .5mg pill down to a .45 pill. But, the next dose 10 hours later was the full uncut .5 mg pill, and so was the next 10 hours after that also a full .5mg pill. Then again 10 hours later I took the cut .45mg pill.  It was as if I had a 30 hour day consisting of 3 doses 10 hours apart. I was successful and I continued to cut my three, 10 hours apart, .5mg pills down to .45mg pills one at a time every seven days. This continued to work for me until I cut all three doses of my .5mg pills down to .45 pills. Using the same method I cut my .5mg pills down to .35mg pills until I had cut all three of my 10 hours apart doses. This is where I am stuck at right now at .35mg every 10 hours. The size of pills I am using are .5mg lorazepam which I cut down to .35mg. I am unable to cut the pills any longer without suffering very bad withdrawal symptoms. Now titration is the only way to make the minute cuts I need to continue my taper. Thanks, Seven1

Hello!

    I forgot to write my total daily dose in my last post. My total daily dose is 1.05 over a 30 hour period. Essentially I have a 30 hour day consisting of 3 doses 10 hours apart. This is what has worked for me so far. Thank You, Seven1

Hello!

  Would it be better if I took my three doses 8 hours apart instead of 10 hours? So, that they would fit in a 24 hour day. I've been reluctant to do this because I feel as if I'm upping my doses instead of cutting them. But, maybe it's easier to schedule my taper more precisely. Is it? If so I'll do it. I so much want to continue my taper. Thank You, Seven1

Hi Seven1,

It would be better if you stabilized on 3 doses per day. Could you please start a "new topic" under titration tapers so you  can have your own blog area, as you have piggy-backed on someone elses blog. I will see if we can move your previous posts over to it. Thanks!

T2

Hi Seven

So, you are having to fit in your sleep around 10 hour regimen - this is not conducive to a smooth and manageable withdrawal.

First, I suggest, that you would fair far better if you were taking you medicine three time a day, about 8 hours apart. I can convert you present 1.05mg over 30 hours into an equivalent dose over 24 hours - how does this sound to you? I would develop a schedule that you will tell you how much to liquid to consume in 24 hours - it will be up to you how spread it over the 32 hours. I recommend that you do it as evenly as possible.

I will will need to know what taper rate you wish to follow, a start date, and size and increments marked on your measuring cylinder (we recommend 100ml with 1ml increments).

Hello!

  Yes! That sounds great.

Thank You, Seven1

Hello!

  I will post here now. I was unfamiliar with where to post. I didn't know I had piggybacked on someone else's posts. I just saw the topic and desperately posted there. Thank You for your understanding. Seven1

Hi,

I just split off your posts as you posted the above, so I've merged your above post with the posts I split from the other topic. Keeps it all together.

I will need all the details I asked for in my last post. You will need a measuring cylinder from a pharmacist or on the Net.

Hello!

  I already have a 100ml container. I'm unfamiliar with what taper rate to follow. I want something that is going to be safe, with minimal withdrawal symptoms. Perhaps you can suggest something for me. I would like to start now, but how about Saturday May 10th. It would give me a chance to digest the information and get it all together. Thank You, Seven1

Hi

I assume the cylinder is marked at 1ml increments then?

Most people taper at about 10% of their every 7-14 days. I'm unsure what rate you have tapered in the past. Perhaps take the middleground of 10% over 10 days (1% every day) and see how it goes? I can draw up a new schedule if you feel you should speed up or slow down your rate of withdrawal.

Hello!

    Yes the container is marked in 1ml increments.

I'd like to try 10% over fourteen days.  I'm afraid of going faster right now because I had so much trouble trying to cut down this .35mg dose. I want to try it and see how it goes. Thank You, Seven1

Hello!

    I'm very anxious to start this titration. I'm waiting to see what this schedule looks like. Thank You for your help, not just for me but for all the other unfortunate victims of these nightmare drugs. Thanks again, Seven1

Hi Seven,

Here's your schedule: http://www.benzobuddies.org/spreadsheets/tt-seven1-2008-05-10.html.

Add the following to your signature in your profile:

[url=http://www.benzobuddies.org/spreadsheets/tt-seven1-2008-05-10.html][u]My Titration Schedule[/u][/url].

The above will add a link to your schedule at the foot of all your posts. You should also print off a copy in case you cannot access the site, or the site is down for some reason.

You take a total of 1.05mg every 30 hours. This translates to 0.84mg per 24 hour period. This is one whole pill, and 0.34mg from your second pill.

You titrate one whole 0.5mg pill with 100ml of water (or preferably, milk). 68ml from 100ml of liquid made with a 0.5mg pill is equivalent to 0.34mg. So, the equivalent dose of your present regimen is 68ml taken from 100ml, and an additional 0.5mg pill. Each day you will take one whole 0.5mg pill and the amount of liquid taken from the titrated liquid indicated by the schedule. Once you have titrated all the way down with this first pill, you will start on the second (you will no longer take a second pill).

I suggest that you spread your total dose as evenly as possible over the day, in three separate doses.