ativan.Newbie need help

Hello! I started taking ativan for anxiety, about 2 1/2 months ago. never got informed about any possible withdrawal that could happen. I am currently tapering down after experiencing many symptoms when I intuitively started to decrease the dosage of medication. currently I am taking:

 

• 0.18 mg Am (8:00)

• 0.18 mg PM (7:00)

 

I am tapering down by about 5% of one of the dosages every 2-3 days as I tolerate. I am wondering if anyone can provide any tips for when the dosages are very low? How would I cut and weight? i have a gm weight scale. Also, as I progress, should I leave those times for my medications or ahould I spread them wider apart? I always took 2x per day. But I do not know if this can contribute to inxreased Aymptoms. As the dosages get smaller I am scared to experience more waves or to not do something right. This experience has been traumatizing just in itself. I appreciate any help! Thank you

You have not really been on benzo very long so I would suggest holding in-between cuts until you feel well enough to continue on. Keep in mind that it is not advisable to be on this class of medication any longer than absolutely necessary. Try not to be afraid about "doing things right" as there is no set protocol. What ever works best for you is the standard.

Thank you!

I found it exceedingly tricky to taper those small, pesky 0.5mg ativan tablets. They're tiny, and all I had was the nail file, gemini scale, a cutting board and the eXacto knives for tiny little cuts. I would cut the 0.5mg Ativan pill with a pill cutter, and then I would bring down each .25mg to a needed dose with the help of the scale, eXacto knives and the nail file. I'd used magnifying glass on occasion, too. It's painful. I wouldn't rush it.

 

You may want to consider asking your health provider to switch to 2mg Valium pills, as those are infinitely easier to cut down without big rebounds in symptoms. Although, some people have severe trouble switching from Ativan to Valium. But, theoretically speaking, you may be better off taking 2mg of Valium in the AM and 2mg in PM. Now, whether this would work for you in practice, nobody really knows. But I thought I'd throw it out there.

 

I did lose patience with the ativan taper when I got to around 0.16mg and then I just dropped one of the doses (I dosed 2x a day for the longest time) and ended up on 0.08mg and then I soon got to 0.06mg (single dose) and dropped that, too. It just got too hard to cut down and measure pieces that small. Some people start doing liquid titration and go down to the last 0.02 or so. I don't blame them. It's been day 8 off of Ativan, and my body is telling me that I got off the last 0.2mg too fast. Hoping it gets better for me. I still take 2.5mg Valium from the previous valium taper, which probably allowed me to get to 0.2mg to 0mg quickly, but it's still Hellish, to be honest with you.

LorazepamFree,

 

Your taper looks pretty somilar to how I will be proceeding mine. i dont think my health provider will prescribe Valium. Also, I am not aure if I would rather stick to ativan for now. I am sorry to hear it was hrd. it has been hard for me too, even at such low dosages

 

 

• for how long did you take ativan?

• I dont have the valium dose I hope I will be ok.

• I also have the same tools you did to measure the pills. It is pretty hard to cut them. Thank god my father does that for me and he is a chemist so he makes them pretty exact. But I would probably have dropped one of the dosages if it wasnt for him.

 

Thanks for your info and input!

LorazepamFree,

 

Your taper looks pretty somilar to how I will be proceeding mine. i dont think my health provider will prescribe Valium. Also, I am not aure if I would rather stick to ativan for now. I am sorry to hear it was hrd. it has been hard for me too, even at such low dosages

 

 

• for how long did you take ativan?

• I dont have the valium dose I hope I will be ok.

• I also have the same tools you did to measure the pills. It is pretty hard to cut them. Thank god my father does that for me and he is a chemist so he makes them pretty exact. But I would probably have dropped one of the dosages if it wasnt for him.

 

Thanks for your info and input!

 

You will be ok. The process takes time, and I think you know how to proceed. I think you'll do well, actually

 

I took ativan on daily basis for solid 5 years. I'd taken it intermittently for about 3 years in the beginning and then weekly for about 1 year. So 9 years total since the first dose of it. My doses in the beginning were small, and the tolerance took a while to build up over time, but once it happened, it got extremely bad.

Thank you so much <3