New Here & struggling

I have been taking 1mg Lorazepam at bedtime for approximately 4 years. It has recently stopped working. I cant sleep & feel miserable. I continue to take it, as I am afraid of withdrawal. My doctor wants to switch me cold turkey to 25mg of Trazodone & I am terrified. I am a wife & mother to two young children, work full time, & can't afford to be losing my mind. Like my user name...I AM SO OVER THIS!

Hi and welcome, sooverthis.

 

Trazodone won't cover the withdrawal from Ativan (Lorazepam).  After four years of use it's very much advised to taper slowly off over a period of time.  We recommend the Ashton Manual method of tapering no more than 5 to 10% of your dose every ten days to two weeks in order to keep the withdrawal symptoms under control.  This is especially important for someone who works and is raising a family in order to stay functional.  Some people, especially with a first withdrawal, can go faster than 10% cuts but to be safe, I'd stick with small cuts under 10%.

 

This is very doable, sooverthis.  It takes some time and hopefully your doctor will support you through this by continuing to prescribe while you  taper. 

 

Here's a link to General Taper Plans where you can post questions about tapering Lorazepam.

 

Please include your benzodiazepine information in your posts.  To make that easier by adding it to each post automatically, you can go up to Profile, choose Forum Profile, write the information in the text box and click Change Profile.

 

Take care, you can do this. 

 

Challis

You don't have to do that. If your doctor wont help you taper, you probably should find another doctor pretty fast. The other option would be to do your own taper, but then you have the problem of having a supply of the drug...legally.

Whatever - tapering is always the safest, sanest thing to do.

Do you think if you calmly (and very politely-) explained to your doctor your fears and worries, it might help him to do a taper??

east

A few years ago, when I was feeling stable, I attempted to cut my dose in half & regretted it greatly the next day. I felt like what I imagine a heroin addict detoxing would feel like, so I kept at the 1mg before bed routine & was functioning well, until recently when it just seems to have stopped working. I am now experiencing constant anxiety, intermittent panic attacks, muscle tension, feeling of inner trembling, headaches, insomnia. I saw my doctor yesterday to express my concerns about tolerance & inter-dose withdrawal. She stated that at my age (38) I should not be taking 1mg every night, (though she is the one who has been prescribing it regularly all these years). That is when she suggested switching to the Trazodone. I told her that I had great anxiety about cold turkey switching & her response was that 1mg is a relatively small dose & I should be fine substituting the Trazodone. However everything I have read seems to the contrary. I really don't want to be on another medication, especially an A/D. I am terrified of trading one evil for another. I currently have about 35 - 1mg Lorazepam tabs, & I filled the rx for the Trazodone, but really don't want to take it. I'm not sure if I should contact her & ask if we could continue with the Lorazepam & do a slow taper; or if I should just try to taper using what I have left. Based on her statements yesterday, I feel like she isn't going to want to continue prescribing the Lorazepam. I already feel pretty miserable & am utterly terrified at how much worse this could get no matter what I do. I have already started to miss out on so much of my normal life. My daughter started soccer last month & I have not even made it to one of her practices or games due to the anxiety of not feeling well. I have missed family events, isolated myself from friends, my husband is pretty fed up with me because he has had to do everything & of course life with me is not very much fun right now. I just want out of this misery & want to feel like myself again. Thanks for all of your support/suggestions...Sorry for the rant, I just feel pretty lost & confused right now.

I am so sorry! What you've described sounds like Tolerance Withdrawal, to me. This is something some doctors do not know about. It means that you are (in essence) addicted to the Ativan, and your body is reacting by having withdrawal symptoms. I would not recommend doing a fast taper off your 1 mg of Ativan. I am not a taper expert, but we have many members who are, and I suggest you go to our Tapering Area and start reading and asking questions.

 

Trazdeone has a pretty good reputation, however, for sleep. But it wouldn't be wise (in my opinion) to do a rapid taper off Ativan to go on Trazedone - or anything. Benzos must be slowly tapered off of, and youre having a month's supply is not enough. I understand your concern about going on another drug.

If you approached your doctor in a calm, pleasant way and go armed with good information about tapering perhaps she would be more receptive.

Age has nothing to do with benzo addiction, tolerance, etc. We have many members MUCH younger going through a bad withdrawal.

 

Okay....if I were in your shoes (I did not taper: I went cold turkey and that isn't anything I would ever suggest!) I would start reading about tapering and take notes. I would read The Ashton Manual, take notes. Some people print out the part they want to show to their doctors...in my experience (I am an old nurse) some doctors feel defensive when people do this sort of thing, but only you know your doctor. I would start to feel knowledgeable, comfortable with the knowledge, and design the taper I think is best. I would then go back to the doctor and present all this, in a calm, non-threatening manner...you don't want your doctor to be annoyed or offended, as you need her help! IF this doctor will not help you, I would suggest trying to find another one asap.

Getting off a benzo can be a serious business. Most people...MOST people, get off without a problem. But it sounds as if you are already having tolerance withdrawal symptoms, and this might hint of further problems as you taper. To minimize symptoms, your taper should be gradual and slow, nice and easy as possible. If I were in your shoes, I would start to read around this forum, and get an idea of what might happen. I would try NOT to be scared, keeping in mind that what I read is from those few unlucky people who have an especially bad time of it. (This is very important for you to understand---) I would start to read how people COPE with various symptoms, and start using those techniques: get comfortable doing so....especially how to deal with anxiety, insomnia and fear.

 

Many doctors are uninformed about this stuff, and I still don't know why. I have been an RN for many years, worked on a psychiatric unit and in a detox, and I have never met a doctor who really knew about benzos. This is sad, but its the way it is, and we have to deal with it.

 

You will find lots of great information on this site...lots of support, too. If you need any help finding something, let me know, please.

east