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Trying to wean off Lorazepam with no help


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Hi guys. I'm 37 & have been on Lorazepam(no more than 1 mg. Usually just little pieces for panic attacks) for about 8 years(don't remember exactly when I started it). I also would take a half every now & then to help me sleep. I was only on it as needed for panic attacks(never every day) up until I think December/January. I then started taking it every 6 hours due to anxiety from wellbutrin & THEN withdrawals from Wellbutrin(1 mg split up into quarters every 6 hrs). My psychiatrist didn't wean me off wellbutrin xl(150mg). She switched me to Prozac, which I couldn't take because of side effects. So some time in February(sorry my memory is bad) I decided to start weaning off of lorazepam. I saw somewhere on line to cut back 25 % the first week. So I did that. Talked to my PCP & she said to go to every 8 hours, then 12, then 24. I'm now taking .25 mg every 12 hours. I'm having extreme anxiety, diarrhea, brain zaps, weird sensations, burning in my chest, nausea, depression has gotten worse, suicidal thoughts on & off, sensory issues, feeling exhausted & out of it & other things I can't remember at the moment. I tried to take a little more than .25 to see if that helped, but it just made me even more tired & out if it. I've been to the E.R, talked to my therapist, psychiatrist, PCP, called a rehab hotline & a detox center in my town & no one will help me. The detox center & rehab hotline said I'm taking too low of a dose for them to help me. I'm not sure what to do at this point. There have been a couple of times where I've had to take a small dose in between the 12 hour doses. I'm about to start Lexapro & I'm scared to do that because I think it will just make things worse. Sorry for the long post. Any advice on weaning or anything else would be greatly appreciated! This is getting to where I just want to hide in a dark room & I'm too anxious to be around people. I'm also having racing thoughts & feel like I'm going nuts! Have thought about checking myself into the psych ward a few times recently. Help!
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Hello, Iamstrong37- Welcome to BenzoBuddies!

 

Congratulations on your decision to become benzo-free! A lot of the symptoms you have named can be caused by benzodiazepines.  It's kind of crazy that the medications prescribed for anxiety can cause anxiety, but it is actually a listed side effect. 

 

I'm so glad you decided to join the forum - you'll find plenty of information and support here. Our members have gone through all aspects of benzodiazepine use and withdrawal, so you'll be able to connect with others who understand what you're going through and can tell you what has worked for them.

 

Please feel free to post to any of the specialized boards, which can all be accessed from the BenzoBuddies Community Forum homepage. Based on the information provided in your introduction, the following links may be a good starting place for you:

 

General Taper Plans

 

Withdrawal Support During Your Taper

 

When you have a chance, I highly recommend that you take a look at The Ashton Manual, which is an authoritative source on what to expect during withdrawal and recovery, authored by Dr. C. Heather Ashton, who is an expert in the field. It provides a great deal of information that can be very reassuring during any stage of this process, including a list of common symptoms with helpful explanations on the reasons for their existence.

 

For those who are currently tapering, we suggest reducing no faster than 5-10% every 10-14 days, and some taper even slower than that. One exception: very short-term users of a few weeks or less may be able to taper faster than that. 

 

Please take the time to Create a Signature. This will allow members to see where you are in the process, so that they can better support you.

 

Again, welcome!

Greencup  :smitten:

 

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Hi and welcome!

 

I agree with you that the Lexapro could make things worse due to its side effect profile. It certainly will provide no relief from benzo withdrawal symptoms in my opinion unless you are still in SSri withdrawal also.

 

You are being tapered too quickly . I would recommend speaking with your doctor to get you to a steady dose where your symptoms are tolerable. And then start a very slow taper down from that point. Unfortunately most of the medical community is still uninformed about how difficult it is to taper quickly . You might try bringing the Ashton Manual with you to your appointment and there is also a recent New Yorker article discussing the difficulties getting off of these meds that

might help enlighten him or her.

 

Nothing you are describing is life threatening based on what you’ve said. But very uncomfortable .

 

Good luck. I hope your physician will work with you.

 

Carol Jean

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Thank you! All the Dr.'s I have talked to, including my PCP keep saying its fine to take it every 12 hours for 2 weeks, then every 24 for 2 weeks & then quit. Even though I'm telling them my symptoms. I just wish I could get a more detailed slow taper from someone who knows what they're talking about. But I haven't found anyone to help yet. I was thinking about spacing the dosage out 2 hours every couple of weeks. But I'm having so many problems at every 12 hours, I don't see how I'll be able to do that. My psych said I could decrease it by 25 % every 2 weeks, but I think that's too fast. & I'm confused about how much to cut off the pills or if I should add some back. Ugh. This is a nightmare.
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Hi Iamstrong37,

 

I concur with GreenCup & Carol Jean - your symptoms are a normal result of being tapered too fast off lorazepam.  I'm also tapering off lorazepam (see my signature for details), and had the same symptoms you're describing when I went too fast.  Slowing down is key to a more tolerable taper. 

 

If your current doctors are not helpful, can you find a new one?  All you need doctors for tapering is to provide enough lorazepam for you to do a patient lead taper.  Buddies here can help you with the rest.

 

Besides the Ashton Manual, here's Kaiser's (the largest HMO in the US) latest benzodiazepine guideline, which includes recommended gradual patient lead tapering...

 

The most effective strategy to manage benzodiazepine discontinuation and prevent adverse outcomes

associated with severe withdrawal—such as severe seizures—is a gradual taper of benzodiazepines. (pg.9)

 

Their recommendation is rates of 10% every 2–4 weeks, longer if necessary.

 

https://wa.kaiserpermanente.org/static/pdf/public/guidelines/benzo-zdrug.pdf

 

I'd encourage you to give this a read, print it out, highlighting important sections and take this into your doctor for discussion.

 

Hope this is helpful. 

 

I'm also happy to share my experience doing a direct taper from 1mg lorazepam.  You'll find a lot of help & support here at BB.

 

xo,

 

sierra  :smitten:

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Thank you so much! I'm just not sure if I need to up the dosage I'm taking every 12 hours or if I need to take it less than every 12 hours. I'm so confused. I'll check out that link. Thanks again❤
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Finding a dose you can feel stable at is ideal.  In your situation, that may mean increasing your current daily dose or remaining at your current dose for awhile until your body can acclimate. 

 

With lorazepam, any changes you make dosing will be felt within a few days and you can adjust accordingly. 

 

Another important factor is lorazepam is considered a faster acting benzodiazepine - it's duration of action (the time you feel it's effects) is approximately 6 hours (depending on one's metabolism, etc.).  That means if you're dosing once every 12 hours, there's a very good chance you're experiencing interdose withdrawals, which may be really uncomfortable where symptoms flare up more.  Once I spread my dose out to 4x/day, the interdose withdrawals were eliminated and tapering was much smoother.

 

If you're able, you may want to make some of these adjustments to get yourself into a more stable place. 

 

I know how horrible what you're going through right now is and I'm so sorry. 

 

Hope some of these suggestions are helpful to you.

 

xo,

sierra  :smitten:

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Thank you so much! If you don't mind me asking, how much were you taking per dose when you were taking it 4 times a day.
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I had the same experience as Sierra except with Xanax which is also a fast in and out benzo. I was taking .25 twice a day but shifted to .125 four times per day. My schedule is 7 and 11 - both a.m. and p.m. It took some shifting around to find what seems to be stabilizing on the times.

 

Sending good and healing vibes. It may take a little time and experimentation to find what works for you, but I'm sure you will.

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Thank you! I'm confused about .125. This sounds dumb, but is that less than .25? Lol. If so, how did you cut it up & figure out how much you were taking?

 

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Hi Iamstrong37,

 

The dosing goal is to achieve even blood levels of lorazepam, avoiding dips and spikes as much as possible.  Ideally, that would mean evenly quartering your daily dose and taking each quarter approximately every 6 hours.  If you sleep more than six hours (lucky you!), I wouldn't set an alarm, instead you may take your morning dose upon waking.  Does that make sense?

 

However, in my case I kept my evening dose a bit higher than the others because I originally began taking it for insomnia.  As I've been tapering, I remove a consistent percentage from each of the 4 doses.

 

We just want you feeling more stable and I hope this will help get you to a better place before you resume a slower taper.  :hug:

 

xo,

sierra  :smitten:

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Hi Iamstrong.

 

Yes. The .125 is half of .25.

 

I take .5 mg per day. I have some .25 Xanax pills - the smallest dosage. So, I take one pill in the morning and one in the evening, but I break each pill in half to split each dose with four half pills in one day.

 

When I wake up (if I do sleep while it's dark), I feel awful. The half pill at 7 a.m. knocks me out for a couple of hours. Then I take the other half at noon. In the evening I do the same with half the .25 pill at 7 pm and then at 11 p.m. with hopes of sleeping.

 

If I did not explain that clearly, let me know. I cut too much and too fast and went up and down on amounts until I was a wreck. Now I am feeling periods of clarity with the doses spread out. Plus, I slept a full night last night which was fabulous.

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Thanks so much guys! That makes more since. I think I'll try splitting up my doses in fours tomorrow or Sunday. That's better advice than I've gotten in months, so thank you again. I really appreciate it!
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My math tip may be helpful as well.

 

Put your question in Google.

 

Example:

 

What is 5 percent of .5

 

Google pops up with: .05

 

Example:

 

1 mg minus 10 percent

 

Google pops up with:  .9

 

I use this to double check. So, I can run the math and then Google the math problem using basic words and get the number to compare. There will a couple of Google hits with the answer at the top of the page and more links also showing the answer plus how it was calculated if you want to double check the double check.

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Iamstrong37,

 

If you find dosing 4x/day alone doesn't get you more stable after a few days, then you might look to updosing as your next possible step before resuming a slower taper.  When I tapered too fast, a small updose helped smooth things out.

 

Wishing you the best,

 

sierra  :smitten:

 

 

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I have 1 mg pills. So is there an easier way to break a half (.5 )into 4s? I just tried & the pieces are so tiny. & it doesn't look like they're all the same amount. I bought a pill cutter, but it was cheap & didn't work well. Hopefully I'm understanding what you guys are saying. The withdrawals are making me feel out of it & dumb. Lol. I need to cut my daily dose into 4s, right? & then if that doesn't work, try an updose. Sorry for all the questions guys! Thanks so much for yall's help❤
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If you go to the top of your page, you can click on "home." That will show you all the boards including a section on various tapers. You're talking about a dry cut taper.

 

Many of the people on dry cut use scales, and they can suggest good ones and ways to shave down pill amounts and so on.

 

I'm at the point where I am looking at what to do to continue tapering and don't want to try to weigh tiny amounts (or break pills into four pieces). I'll be shifting to liquid titration which is basically dissolving the pill(s) and making a liquid and measuring instead of weighing.

 

There are advantages to the different approaches, and some people do better with one approach and others with another. The tapering boards have people who know loads about each approach, and you can ask questions just like here. There are specific boards for various styles of cutting down the amounts too.

 

Hope that helps.

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So I tried splitting up my dose of .50 & taking it every 6 hours. Seemed like my anxiety got worse. So I updosed to .75 split up(probably not exactly evenly) every 6 hours. I think I started last Sunday. I'm so much more anxious now. Like paranoid & scared, anxious. Like uncomfortable around people & just feeling almost scared 24/7. I'm not sure what to do now. Do I updose to 1mg & split that up or do I go back to taking my dose every 12 hours? I didn't feel good doing that either. I'm getting really worried that I'm never going to get off of ativan. I feel like its ruining my life & I don't feel like myself. I'm just really not sure what to do at this point. Feeling anxious 24/7 at this point. Any suggested would be greatly appreciated!
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Hi Iamstrong37,

 

Getting off benzos is really tough and I'm sorry you're suffering.  The symptoms you're experiencing are, unfortunately, normal for withdrawal.  I was there too, anxious, trembling, crying and so on.  Finding relief required time, slowly tapering down (see my signature) and a lot of radical acceptance.  I felt better on lower doses and improvements continue now that I'm off the drug.  This is your goal.  It's worth the fight.  Could you find someone to help you out?  Having a good support system helps a lot.

 

If the updosing isn't working to get you to a more stable place, some people find relief by transitioning to valium and tapering from there.  Read through the Ashton Manual for details:  https://benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha02.htm

 

I hope this helps.  Keep reaching out for support and suggestions.  Lots of good, knowledgeable, experienced people here to help.

 

xo,

sierra  :smitten:

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Hello Iamstrong37,

 

As a fellow member who took Ativan for most my Benzo life (see signature) then read this thread, I believe the following:

 

Well first you were on Ativan for 8 years taking 1MG everyday, so your CNS is soooo used to that dose then your "un-informed" doctor tried the old school method of weening you off the medication, as did mine own here in N.S Canada did as well, he actually switched me over to Clonazepam because of the so-called longer "half-life" and easier to ween off of, well that failed and only lasted 16 days and the symptoms were too much, DP/DR, the craving like I "needed" to take another dose to feel stable and the worse was the insomnia that made me crack. I literally had to go to ER and lie and say I was going to self-harm if they did not take my symptoms serious and help me......well finally I got switched over to valium and that has been a GOD SEND, it has stabilized me and allowed me to have a normal life again and work/volunteer and spend time with my boys while I taper daily.

 

The reason why (IMO) you are suffering these symptoms each day is because you are taking small doses that yes do equal out to the correct amount each day but they don't help while you take that current dose at that current time. your CNS is shocked from the 25% cuts those poor doctors suggested you do. Research the Ashton method and switch over to valium, it has saved me. I only take it at night because yes it is sedative but it allows me lots of sleep and I do yes wake up feeling bit sedated but after my morning decaf coffee and shower and fresh air I feel fine and Valium is the lowest potent benzo with the longest half-life (200 hours) vs only 40 hours of Ativan so you can take it only once a day and not have those cravings all day the next day etc....thus why Heather Ashton recommends it for her tapering plan(s).

 

many members have also stayed on Ativan and multi-dose and successful jumped, most recently above member Sierra7!!!!!!!!

 

But from your thread I do believe that your CNS has taken quite a shock from those 25% cuts and splitting up your doses might not be as beneficial as switching over to Valium where once stabilized on it you only need one dose all day due to the long half life, but many members are different so if you decide to stay on Ativan then yes multi-dosing many times is key because of very short half life but if you switch then go to Valium,

 

Either way GOOD LUCK!!!!

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I agree with Nick. Valium is definitely the way to go for the majority of ppl. I never could tolerate  direct tapers of the more potent benzos like K, X, and ativan. Good luck my friend.
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Thank you guys. Would I switch directly to the valium or would I taper off the ativan first? My Dr doesn't prescribe valium very much. The Ashton Method is a little confusing, since my dose is less than what she has listed online to start a taper & switch to valium.
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Thank you guys. Would I switch directly to the valium or would I taper off the ativan first? My Dr doesn't prescribe valium very much. The Ashton Method is a little confusing, since my dose is less than what she has listed online to start a taper & switch to valium.

 

Hi Iamstrong37,

 

If you read the Ashton Manual, it has a conversion of Ativan to Valium:  1mg A = 10mg V.  Ashton also has examples of slowly crossing over from Ativan to Valium by incrementally substituting doses.  Equivalencies are not set in stone, because how everyone tolerates the various benzos is different, so some testing may be necessary.  If you don't see exact listings for the Ativan dose you're taking, you may need to convert Ashton's down.

 

Hope this helps you.

 

xo,

sierra  :smitten:

 

 

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Ok. Thanks! Just worried because my doc said she doesn't prescribe valium much & I just hope I get switched over to the right amount. The table is a little confusing. Just don't want to make things worse than they already are! Kinda scared!
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