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Off Lorazepam sub plan with Diazepam/will getting off Diazepam be harder?


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After 2 1/2 yrs on Lorazepam (Ativan) with a dose as high as 2.5 mgs a day; a doc who was just a prescriber; and an “almost there” self reduction to 3/8 mg per day just before Xmas that failed and I went back up to 1.5 mgs a day since my kids and grandkids were coming from afar for 10 days and I was suffering, I have finally found a doc, a psychopharmacologist who specializes in opioid and benzo addiction withdrawal, and in two months I am off Ativan!

 

But that was done with a substitution taper of 9 mgs a day of Diazepam (Valium) with decreasing levels of Ativan. I spent one week with just the 9 mgs of Valium a day to stabilize. This week I started the w/d of Valium with just a .05 cut but here on the 5th day I have some insomnia and itching. I meet with my doc via videocon on Monday as we are on vacation for this month. Is Valium harder to withdraw from than Ativan (Lorazepam)?

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It shouldn't be. Ativan has a very short half-life. Valium has a long half-life. You might go slowly in the beginning to see what your nerves can and cannot take. Don't ever rush this process.
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  • 4 weeks later...

I had been on Lorazepam for 2.5 years and tried 3 times to get off myself, but even at .75 per day I couldn't get off. I got a new doc, a really good, private pay psycho-pharmacologist with whom I am working. I'm at 7 mg of Diazepam now coming off of a start of 9 mgs which my new doc put me on in January to get me off .75 of Lorazepam. And I was off the Lorazepam in two months.

 

Next up was getting off the Diazpam. I started at 9 mg a day and am now at 7 mgs a day. However, after 5 days at the .5 cut of Diazepam (6.6% drop), I am having more w/d symptoms. I have a feeling that after a 5% drop, I need to be on a cut for two weeks, not one. Also, my doc said any time, I can call and we can go to titration. He uses a compounding pharmacy to make titration easier for me.

 

My question is: try two weeks on this cut and see how it goes? I tried two weeks on the previous cut to 7.5mg (6.2% drop) and it was ok, but when I cut to this 7mg the first few days have been harder. I'm just wondering after I try another week at this level of 7mg, should I try another .5 cut which would be a 7.1% drop or should I ask to titrate?

 

I know everyone is different but just wondering if anyone out there has personal experience at this particular level and percentage.

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