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Friend Messed Up Taper......


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My friend has been trying to taper off K 1.50mg for 1 1/2 years.  She has rushed the end of her taper since  she reached .50mg she wasn’t able to stabilize tolerance.  Her PDoc put her on Adivan to finish the rest of her taper.  I told her that isn’t right because the half life is short and she wouldn’t be able to taper off.

She is now on the Ativan trying to stabilize but still feeling strong K symptoms.  Like I told her this is ass backwards.  Can she still taper off Adivan since K is not an option, neither is Valium?  I have reviewed with her the Ashton Manual Several Times and it doesn’t recommend tapering a short acting

Benzo.

 

I told her that I think she went the wrong route.

 

Has anyone heard of this?  Is it possible?

 

Fighting

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I had a very hard time with Ativan and Klonopin. Is there a reason valium isn't an option? If not, the best they can do is basically scrape away the smallest percentage they can handle and hold until steady, then so on.
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Like Mentally, I wonder why valium isn't an option. But if it isn't, there are plenty of ppl on here who have successfully tapered Ativan on its own. I would do a search using the search bar.

 

Ativan is available in liquid form from your pharmacy. Or, you (she) can make her own solution, dissolving it first in a bit of alcohol, then topping up with water. Using liquid makes a daily taper possible, which is often preferable to cut and hold.

 

So, just some thoughts.

 

But there's no reason she can't taper Ativan directly. Switching to valium just makes things go so much more smoothly. I switched from A to V and was very glad I did.

 

Hope this has helped.

 

Katz

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I did it. A lot of people have a hard time quitting Valium, and crossing over can be difficult too. In my case, I didn't want to mess around with yet another psychoactive drug, so I just tapered off the Ativan. It doesn't seem more difficult than any other benzo. If she goes slowly and listens to her body, holding the dose when the symptoms get too harsh, it'll be OK.
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Her issue is that Valium makes her extremely depressed.  Her PDoc is trying to get her stabilized from

her major cut from Klonopin for which she has been in tolerance for God knows how long.  Ativan seems to be the only option. 

 

I studied the Ashton manual and it said something entirely different.  If she’s able to taper the Ativan then I will stop lecturing her about the Ashton Manual. 

 

 

Thank you all for taking the time to reply.    Thank You

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She’s feeling significant symptoms from the Klonopin.  The Ativan is not covering them.  Would it be realistic to expect that Ativan would cover K symptoms?  I don’t think it would.  Benzos are not all the same.
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Ativan isn’t helping her symptoms from K.  I thought cross over was supposed to help with those symptoms since she was tolerant to K.  Valium isn’t an option due to her metabolism and depression.
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Like Mentally, I wonder why valium isn't an option. But if it isn't, there are plenty of ppl on here who have successfully tapered Ativan on its own. I would do a search using the search bar.

 

Ativan is available in liquid form from your pharmacy. Or, you (she) can make her own solution, dissolving it first in a bit of alcohol, then topping up with water. Using liquid makes a daily taper possible, which is often preferable to cut and hold.

 

So, just some thoughts.

 

But there's no reason she can't taper Ativan directly. Switching to valium just makes things go so much more smoothly. I switched from A to V and was very glad I did.

 

Hope this has helped.

 

Katz

I m trying to crossover to valium from Ativan when I do not sleep at all...
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  • 2 weeks later...

My friend is still trying to get her Ativan dosing right since her crossover from K and unable to take Valium.  Is the point of crossing over to diminish the symptoms from the other Benzo?  If so, this isn’t happening.  She did a huge cut on K and dropped to .50mg  the Ativan is .50mg  I would think that should cover her symptoms somewhat.    Any help would be appreciated.

 

One thing I noticed was that .50mg of K is not equivalent to .50mg of Ativan.  That would be 1mg if I’m looking at this right.    Also, wouldn’t this be an Reinstatement because she would have to increase her existing dose?

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Its in idiotic way and I hate that doc.

To taper ativan is very very hard especially the last crumbs - no wonder she feels so bad.

If possible I would go back on the old dosage of Klonopin and wait til she feels a little bit better and then taper even more slowly than before with a lot of rests. Why is returning on Klonopin not an option?? Even if she does not get the stable feeling (under Ativan she wont get that either) her body is used to it and staying on it seems to be better than ativan.

 

Its nearly impossible to adjust from Klonopin to ativan - the feelings are totally different under the 2 and because of the half-time it makes no sense either. 

 

So my advice would be to return on Klonopin, taper very slowly no matter how she feels. Thats the devil she already knows. Ativan only creates new problems on top.

 

And give that doc a kick in the ass from me.

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Doc refuses to put her back on Klonopin.  Is Ativan strong enough to cover her symptoms from Klonopin?  I know not all Benzos are the same.  She’s getting zero relief from Ativan.  Help Please!
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Doc refuses to put her back on Klonopin.  Is Ativan strong enough to cover her symptoms from Klonopin?  I know not all Benzos are the same.  She’s getting zero relief from Ativan.  Help Please!

 

I dont believe she will feel better on Ativan no matter how high the dosage is because Ativan just feels different, its "lighter" than Klonopin and other Benzos with a longer half-life - so I guess she will have to walkt that path till its over, sadly. I did a 2 year taper from Ativan being in acute from the beginning and I made it, so I think others can do that, too. Cause I am not a strong person..and I made it.

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