Wanting help on info on titration plan

I would appreciate help with coming up with a titration plan.  As you can see from the signature, I was on .5 mg of lorazepam (cut pill in half and took 1/2 in am and 1/2 in pm) since 1/2010, as of 4/2010 started trying to taper, went from .5 mg to .25 mg immediately for two weeks, then went to 1/4 of the .25 mg for one week and then went off completely.  Had been suffering from withdrawal symptoms at the .5 once per day but did not know it.  Had w/d symptoms during taper and after 3rd day of being completely off they got worse.  Have now started back on .25 mg (I cut this in 1/2, taking a 1/4 of tablet in am and 1/4 of tablet in pm).  Still am having some w/d symptoms but nothing like before.

Would appreciate help with a schedule and what to expect.  Have not got a cylinder.  Where do I get one or can something else be used?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Marym

We can come up with a simple titration for you. But I just need to clarify your post. What dose whole pill are you cutting? Is it a 0.5mg pill?

I am unclear what you previously tried.  You can quarter your 0.5mg pill, and reduce by 0.125mg(1/4 pill) every couple of weeks. Have you tried that already? That's doable for many people. That's what I did.

If that's still too difficult, we'll give you instructions on how to reduce your dose even more, using a simple titration where you won't need a cylinder.     

Sorry for being unclear.  I am cutting a 0.5 mg pill into 1/4's.  My original prescription was 0.5 mg pill once per day (I cut that one pill in half, taking 1/2 in am and 1/2 in pm).  When my new doctor saw I was on this so long she immediately wanted me to get off of it, telling me how bad it was and telling me where to find info on it (thank goodness).  She unfortunately did not give me any real info on how to taper so I started doing it myself.  That day I stopped taking the 1/2 of the 0.5 mg pill at night, only taking the 1/2 0.5 mg during the day.  Withdrawal symptoms were pretty bad just did not know that was what they were.  The next week I cut the 1/2 pill (from the 0.5 mg pill) into 1/4's and took only one 1/4 during the day for one week.  After that I completely stopped and after three days more severe withdrawal symptoms set in.  I ended up going back on 1/2 of a 0.5 mg pill per day (right now taking 1/4 of that in am and 1/4 in pm).  Still having some w/d symptoms but not as severe as of yet.  I still feel pretty weird but not sure if that is the withdrawal or the introduction of the medication again.  It has been so long since I have felt normal I do not know what it feels like.  I really would like something that is as easy as possible.  I really don't want some of those severe symptoms to come back. 

I have been suffering with w/d symptoms for a couple of months but did not realize it due to reaching my tolerance level with the medication.  I'm pretty desperate right now to find something that will be smoother.  I've done it wrong, ready to do it right and get off this stuff.

Thanks for your help and a simple method would be great if you have something I can do without the cylinder.

Marym

Hi Marym,

I just wrote something up for another member tapering ativan. You can use this exact same plan if you like. Let me know if this works for you. 

 

 

You can mix one of your quarters(0.125mg) in a measured amount of liquid, say 8 oz. Shake it well and drink 4 oz. This will either be your morning or evening dose. You choose. You can save the rest for the next day. With the other dose for that day, just take the 1/4 of a dry pill. This will reduce your  total daily dose by 0.0625mg. Do that for a week or two. When you make your next cut, you can alternate the time of day. So for example, the first 7 to 14 days, cut your morning dose in half, and the next 7 to 14 days, cut your evening dose in half.

If you want to make an even smaller cut, you can drink just 2 oz of the 8 oz mixture, though I don't think you will need to do that.

Let us know if that sounds doable to you or if you need clarification. It can get a little confusing at first. 

 

Here is an example:

 

 

Week one: Mix 1 quarter pill(0.125mg) in 8 oz of liquid. Drink 4 oz of mixture(0.0625mg) in the morning, and take 1 quarter pill (0.125mg) in PM. Drink the second portion the following morning. Do this everyday for one week. This is a daily dose of 0.1875mg

 

Week two: Mix 1 quarter pill(0.125mg) in 8 oz of liquid. Drink 4 oz of mixture(0.0625mg) in the AM, and the other 4 oz in the PM. Do this for one week. This is a daily dose of 0.125mg.

 

Week three. Drop the morning dose. Mix 1 quarter pill(0.125mg) in 8 oz of liquid. Drink 4 oz of mixture(0.0625mg) in the PM. Do this for a week.

 

If you want to slow down the rate, you can just stretch out each time frame (10 days; two weeks)

 

If you want to decrease the cuts,  you can drink just 2 oz(0.0312mg) of the 8 oz mixture. 

 

 

This looks to be simple and understandable, thank you. 

The one thing I really want to ask is that if I am having withdrawal symptoms from the current dose of .25 mg (dose cut in half for am and pm) which is half of my original dose do I go ahead and start this taper or should I go back to the full dose to try and stop the withdrawal symptoms?  Will they go away if I increase it and not be as uncomfortable during the taper or is it just one of those things that I am going to have to deal with?

I know I must sound like a real whimp since I seem to be on a low dose and it has not been that long but I have never taken medication before until I was put on this.  The first taper I tried was too quick and the symptoms were pretty bad.  Never had withdrawal symptoms so this is all really scary to me.

Thanks,

Marym

H marym

I had severe withdrawal symptoms and went back up to 1mgk, stabilized for a week and am now titrating down. Going up helped me stop the bad symptoms from my to fast taper.

I never felt totally better by going up and still feel "crummy", have anxiety, insomnia, inner trembling etc. but not as bad as when I cut to fast.

Its a crap shoot as to will going up help. Maybe and then maybe not. If it helps I guess you will be more comfortable as you taper down. If it does not help then you will have a longer time to taper.

Having a longer time to taper is not necessarily a bad thing. It takes a fixed amount of time to heal be it slow taper or C/T. So if you  slow taper you kind of slowly remove the Benzo as your brain heals. That way you don't feel as bad because you take away the benzo as the Brain needs less. When you to fast taper or C/T you shock the Brain, take away all the Benzo and feel real bad

during that fixed amount of time until your brain heals. Now I have seen it said that a one time use of benzos will not put you back in withdrawal, cause addiction or screw up your withdrawal.

If that is the case you could try the higher dose, see how you feel. If it helps, stabilize, then slow taper. If it does not work, quickly go back to your old low dose and put your head down, bite your lip and continue on through the Valley of the Shadow of Benzo!

Hope this helps marym

Teakettle

Thanks teakettle for the advice.  I appreciate any help offered.

Marym

marym , I went back up, and regretted it cause it just dragged out my jump off point.  I did find that going at 10% per week was my best withdrawl plan.  Its an individual decision , and no one can give you a one right answer.  If you are able to tolerate where your at now.  just slow down the withdrawl speed and push on.....

st

Everybody is different.  I went at 5% a week, from .125 down to .050, where I jumped off.  I really didn't notice any difference from day to day, going down roughly .001mg per day.  I am having more issues in the healing phase now at 93 days.  Nothing really huge, but unpredictable and aggravating none the less - mainly spots of insomnia and anxiety.  It IS decreasing though.

Stay the course and don't give up.