Supposed to be on lorazepam temporarily while sertraline kicks in, but not so...

Hi All,

 

I'm very grateful to find this forum

 

I have been on Zoloft for around 5 years ever since the anxiety I've always had got much worse after my son was born, only rarely taking lorazepam (1mg) at night, for bad anxiety-induced insomnia.

 

I had always taken 75 mg Zoloft, but in October 2008, my psychiatrist recommended I try to go down to 50mg to make sure I was on the lowest effective dose. I did great for 9 months, until I had a horrible anxiety relapse. And because I hadn't seen my psychiatrist in over 3 months (because I was doing so well), she had dismissed me from the practice. So I had to go to my primary care doctor. She agreed I should up my dose of Zoloft to 100mg and take lorazepam (1mg) at night for the next few weeks until the increased Zoloft kicked in. At this point, I had not taken any lorazepam in more than a year.

 

Well, I think that was a bad idea!!! I tried to cut down to 0.75 lorazepam a few weeks in, but couldn't sleep AT ALL, had terrible nausea, diarrhea, waves of panic. Horrible. I couldn't function. And I found out my primary care doc is leaving her practice.

 

So I now have an appt. tomorrow with a Certified Nurse Midwife who does women's counseling and medication management, so I'm hopeful she'll be able to help me.

 

But in the meantime, I've been taking up to 2mg of lorazepam at night (for the past 3 nights) because my anxiety has been so bad. I'm thinking I need to switch to something other than Zoloft to control my anxiety so I don't need anything like a benzo and get off lorazepam ASAP, as it's not helping me.

 

It feels good to type all this out and I would happily read any advice or words of wisdom.

 

Thank you!

L

Hello lootie,

 

Welcome to Benzobuddies, we're so glad you found us!  It sounds like you've had a terrible time with anxiety.  We can help you taper the Lorazepam, as this could be causing some of your anxiety rather than helping it.

 

The symptoms you experienced when you tried to reduce your dosage are very common, so try not to be afraid they're permanent.

 

We recommend cutting 10% of your dose every 10 to 14 days to make withdrawal more manageable.  We can help you make a plan to accomplish this.  Have you read the Ashton manual, it's very informative and helps alleviate some of the fear from this process.  http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/index.htm

 

Please feel free to make yourself at home, we're here to support you and each other.  Again, welcome.

 

Pam

Hi All,

 

I'm very grateful to find this forum

 

I have been on Zoloft for around 5 years ever since the anxiety I've always had got much worse after my son was born, only rarely taking lorazepam (1mg) at night, for bad anxiety-induced insomnia.

 

I had always taken 75 mg Zoloft, but in October 2008, my psychiatrist recommended I try to go down to 50mg to make sure I was on the lowest effective dose. I did great for 9 months, until I had a horrible anxiety relapse. And because I hadn't seen my psychiatrist in over 3 months (because I was doing so well), she had dismissed me from the practice. So I had to go to my primary care doctor. She agreed I should up my dose of Zoloft to 100mg and take lorazepam (1mg) at night for the next few weeks until the increased Zoloft kicked in. At this point, I had not taken any lorazepam in more than a year.

 

Well, I think that was a bad idea!!! I tried to cut down to 0.75 lorazepam a few weeks in, but couldn't sleep AT ALL, had terrible nausea, diarrhea, waves of panic. Horrible. I couldn't function. And I found out my primary care doc is leaving her practice.

 

So I now have an appt. tomorrow with a Certified Nurse Midwife who does women's counseling and medication management, so I'm hopeful she'll be able to help me.

 

But in the meantime, I've been taking up to 2mg of lorazepam at night (for the past 3 nights) because my anxiety has been so bad. I'm thinking I need to switch to something other than Zoloft to control my anxiety so I don't need anything like a benzo and get off lorazepam ASAP, as it's not helping me.

 

It feels good to type all this out and I would happily read any advice or words of wisdom.

 

Thank you!

L

 

Welcome to BenzoBuddies, lootie. 

 

I do think you got bad advice from your GP - doubling your zoloft AND increasing lorazepam - but I understand why she did it.  You're main problem was anxiety and both those are pretty standard treatment.  I wonder what changed after 3 months of doing well on 50 mg zoloft.  Any ideas? 

 

I don't know of any drugs other than zoloft and benzos that treat anxiety but I'm certainly not an expert.  Perhaps you could get an appointment with your former psych doc.  The problem is, all drugs have side effects and virtually all "psych" drugs are addictive in one way or the other.  I was on one benzo or another for nearly 20 years and had to learn to cope with the inevitable stresses of life without them this past year.  Some days it's more of a struggle than others but I feel much better overall being off the benzos.  There are a lot of tips for learning to calm yourself and head off a panic attack over on the Anxiety and Panic board.

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?board=58.0

Thanks so much for the replies. I really appreciate them.

 

I had done well on 50mg of sertraline for 9 months, but after a trip cross-country, the jet lag (I guess??) really kicked my butt and I went a few days once I got back home of not sleeping. Which spiralled into bad anxiety. So my GP gave me lorazepam to try and kill the cycle of insomia, while upping my sertraline back to 75mg. This didn't work and I got even worse. I had been taking the lorazepam sporadically, so she told me to take it every night (1mg) while upping the sertraline again to 100mg to get on a even keel.

 

So now I've been taking the sertraline at 100mg for almost 3 weeks and taking lorazepam daily for the same amount of time. When I tried to cut back to 0.75 (at the doctors advice after 2 weeks on the 100mg) it was disastrous. So now I have an appt. with a new "doctor," it's actually a certified nurse midwife who does medication management and counseling and I'm hoping she can help me. I've actually been taking 2mg of the lorazepam at night for the past 3 nights because I just can't sleep. Vicious cycle.

 

 

Hi lootie,

 

I hope things go well for you with your appointment, but if it's your desire to cut down and eliminate the Lorazepam we can help you with a taper plan.  It's possible to become dependent on benzo's in a very short amount of time.  Your body will need more to accomplish the same effect.  Plus, interdose withdrawal can take place which means your body starts to actually withdraw from the drug between doses. 

 

I'm sorry your sleep was disrupted and that you're experiencing anxiety, but I feel your best bet is to taper from the Lorazepam and reassess your situation.  Whatever happens with your appointment, remember that you have the latitude to discuss the options suggested.  Do your research and help your caregiver work towards a good solution for you.

 

We're here to help you with a taper plan, a nice slow one that will be very sensible.

 

Pam

Thanks, all, for the wonderful support. I am going to talk to my caregiver tomorrow about the best way to get off Ativan without the horrible symptoms. I can't go through that torture, as I work full-time and have a 5-year-old son. I need sleep!! (Never mind the fact that no one should go through that torture!)

 

Currently, I only have 1mg lorazepams, so a taper would involve titration, I believe, which intimidates me! But I'll see how my appt. goes and pray she has a better suggestion!

 

I really appreciate the offers of a taper help. It eases my mind to know these options are here.

 

Many thanks.

Hi lootie,

 

If you decide that titration is the way to go, don't worry!  I never could understand it, but when I saw a video we have the link for it cleared things up for me. 

 

We understand you still need to function especially with your young son and a full time job!  Many people are able to work through this process, so don't be discouraged.

 

Let us know how it goes, we're here to help you!

 

Pam

Hi Lootie - I'm too tired right now to really post anything in your thread. I did want to stop by and welcome you though.

hi lootie welcome to benzobuddies  you're in the right place

 

i was just wondering...you said you couldnt sleep for days after you returned from a trip. did you have to return to work shortly after you came back from this trip?