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Lorazepam titration help.


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I am on 1.5mg of ativan per day (0.5mg x3).  I take it for headaches, vertigo, facial pain, ear pain, severe hyperacusis (most sounds cause ear pain), tinnitus, and nerve pain in my wrists/forearms.

 

I am looking to try and cut medications out again, after having failed several attempts.  How can I begin my titration?  I've always used a valium cross taper in the past, so I am new to this.

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Hi Marquee:

 

Good for you for wanting to come off Lorazepam. I successfully withdrew from Lorazepam and jumped this past January. There is a ton of info and help on kicking lorazepam in the following thread:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=44903.3950

 

Also a great group of folks there who are in the midst of withdrawing. I can also be of help if you pose a specific question. It sounds like you have 0.5 mg pills which will make things somewhat easier than if you had the 1.0 mg pills. But we need to understand what contributed to your failure last time so that we can ensure success this time around.

 

laser

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Hi Marquee:

 

Good for you for wanting to come off Lorazepam. I successfully withdrew from Lorazepam and jumped this past January. There is a ton of info and help on kicking lorazepam in the following thread:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=44903.3950

 

Also a great group of folks there who are in the midst of withdrawing. I can also be of help if you pose a specific question. It sounds like you have 0.5 mg pills which will make things somewhat easier than if you had the 1.0 mg pills. But we need to understand what contributed to your failure last time so that we can ensure success this time around.

 

laser

 

I have 1mg pills that can be broken in half. 

 

I didn't fail last time.  I succeeded in tapering and was off of the drugs for several months.  I did feel good for a while, but as the symptoms of my underlying condition continue to worsen they become harder and harder to deal with without the use of medication.  I am in a lot of pain, particularly head, face and ear pain, but my arms and wrists hurt a lot as well.  I also experience nauseating vertigo and very loud screeching tinnitus.  My life is nothing less than torturous, and the drugs make it easier to get through the days and the nights.

 

The reason I want to discontinue is because I am afraid they may make things worse in the long run. 

 

My doctor doesn't want to prescribe me valium this time so I am interested in doing a milk titration.

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Milk titration is generally not recommended with Lorazepam.  Although, Valium and Klonopin work well titrating in milk, Lorazepam, as well as Xanax have no affinity for the fat in milk and thus do not form an even mixture, IMO. 

 

What I've read that some buddies have success with is mixing a small amount of high proof vodka, (like 1ML), with the Ativan to be titrated, (to dissolve or partially disolve the Ativan), and then mixing the 1ML of vodka/Ativan with water.

 

Hopefully someone else will come along and give you an idea of the amount of water to use and also the amount they would draw off each day.  I dry cut to get free, so I just know some of the basic info of titration.  Others who actually titrated can give you more info.  Good luck.

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Milk titration is generally not recommended with Lorazepam.  Although, Valium and Klonopin work well titrating in milk, Lorazepam, as well as Xanax have no affinity for the fat in milk and thus do not form an even mixture, IMO. 

 

What I've read that some buddies have success with is mixing a small amount of high proof vodka, (like 1ML), with the Ativan to be titrated, (to dissolve or partially disolve the Ativan), and then mixing the 1ML of vodka/Ativan with water.

 

Hopefully someone else will come along and give you an idea of the amount of water to use and also the amount they would draw off each day.  I dry cut to get free, so I just know some of the basic info of titration.  Others who actually titrated can give you more info.  Good luck.

 

Truth. :thumbsup:  With lorazepam, stay away from milk and water.  It will not dissolve.

 

There are several ways to turn lorazepam into a liquid.  Some use alcohol.  You can go to a compounding pharmacy and have them liquify for you.  You can suspend it in a good quality suspension liquid like Ora Plus (note this is not dissolving, but seems to work well).

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Thank you for the replies.

 

Can anyone elaborate on this:

 

What I've read that some buddies have success with is mixing a small amount of high proof vodka, (like 1ML), with the Ativan to be titrated, (to dissolve or partially disolve the Ativan), and then mixing the 1ML of vodka/Ativan with water.
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  • 3 weeks later...

Did you ask at the pharmacy counter?  I was not able to find them in the store, but the pharmacy gave me them for free when I asked.

 

They are also available online.  I used Allegro Medical.  A good quality brand is BD.

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Thank you.

 

Where I can purchase a 10ml and 1ml syringe?  I tried all my local drug stores and they do not have them.

 

Most pharmacys give them away.  Ask the pharmacist.

 

Also widely available at Amazon.

 

 

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Have you considered using a compounding pharmacy ? My local compounding pharmacy makes up a liquid Ativan solution for me monthly and supplies me with the syringes to draw it up ( with syringe caps for transporting them as well) My solution is 0.5mg/ml but these pharmacies can usually accommodate a concentration of the solution that works best for you.
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I do exactly what Judy does, and sometimes I have to get 1 ml syringes at the veterinarian's office, but usually the compounding pharmacy has them.  They are free at both places.  I am not familiar with the 10ml. 

 

I highly recommend a compounding pharmacy--at least from my experience--makes the whole titration thing so much easier. 

 

You could also try a medical supply store/pharmacy if there is one in your area.

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ok i am trying to dissolve 0.5mg of ativan into 5ml of 40% vodka but it's not working, i can still see the white powder of the crushed pill floating in the mixture.  why is it not working???
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It sounds like you are seeing the fillers.  Most of the pill - more than 90% - is inert filler, not the lorazepam.  A lot of it won't dissolve and just stays there.  That's okay.

 

Also, what alcohol are you using?  Is it 40% or 40 proof?  40% (80 proof) will dissolve about 2mg/ml while 40 proof (20%) will dissolve only .23mg/ml - about 10 times less.  You're better off with high proofs.

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i am on day 2 of taking liquid ativan at my full dose and i feel very anxious and sketchy with brain fog like i'm feeling withdrawal and i don't understand why.
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Can you describe everything you did?  It is not uncommon at all to feel a cut just by switching to liquid, even if it is the exact same dose.
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i take 0.5mg 3x a day.

 

what I do is i use my syringe to measure 2ml of vodka and put it in a tiny shot glass.  I crush the pill using a pill crusher and add the powder to the vodka, which I then swirl around a little bit and let sit for 5-10 minutes. 

 

Then, I measure out 8ml of water with my syringe and put it in a small glass (the remainder being the 2ml of vodka to make it equal 10.)  Then I do the same thing 6 more times with full 10ml of water to equal a total of 70ml.  I then add the pill/vodka mixture to the small glass, stir, and drink.

 

I do this three times a day, once for each 0.5mg dose.

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Your not cutting so I'd say you are either losing some lorazepam during crushing or left in the shot glass.  OR you are not losing any and the symptoms are do to the switch to liquid dosing.  Are you sure you are getting all the crushed lorazepam?  And did you rinse the shot glass to get all the residue?  And did you rinse the dose glass and drink it?

 

I really would try to do everything in the dose jar if that is possible.  It is easy to lose benzo on the extra surfaces.  And I'd make all three doses in one batch.  For example, put the three pills in (without crushing), then 6ml alcohol (most brands of pills will break up on their own), give them plenty of time to dissolve (hours) and swish them every so often.  Then add 204ml water and mix well.  Next, split into three jars, eyeballing them level.  When you dose, be sure to rinse and drink the rinse.

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A lot of things, the liquid titration thing is really confusing in general and I can't concentrate on anything becuase of brain fog and because i'm in horrible pain and sick most of the time
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