1mg ativan a day

Been on 1mg for about 4 months. I take .5 in am and .5 in PM. Will my taper go longer than I've actually Been on it? I have dysautonomia and naturally have some of the symtoms people get with benzo w/d that will probably be recommended to be treated by my Dr this week. It's a new diagnosis from before starting ativan. He wants to help me off ativan but I have my doubts he will do so properly. Maybe my symptoms are from the dysautonomia and need the medical treatment. I'm so scared of making things worse. Regardless, I'm not going to live on benzos. Are there any meds i should absolutely avoid if he tries to prescribe? This is going to be taking place in a cardiac hospitsl because I already do not tolerate medications well.  My Dr is a cardiovascular electrophysiologist and I know he means well, I just think he will try to get me off the ativan too fast. Thanks for any advice.

Hello ImComingUp,

 

I understand your concern, but it might be a good idea to wait until your Dr appointment to figure out a taper plan, although I do feel it's important to go into it armed with information in case your Dr is unaware of best practices.  We don't want to see you taper longer than you've been on the drug, but given the challenges you're dealing with, you may need to be flexible in order to remain functional.

 

As for other medications, rather than pointing you to what medications you need to watch out for, it would be better to wait to see what he may prescribe.  Once that happens, you can do a forum search on the Other Medications to see what our members have said.

 

Here are some resources for you to look at before your appointment and if any of them look good to you, you may want to print them for your Dr.

 

The Ashton Manual which includes a slow taper of Ativan with a crossover to Valium.  https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s8  I don't see you needing to cross over, but it will give you an idea of the speed of a taper.

 

https://w-bad.org/slow-tapering-protocols/

 

https://www.benzoinfo.com/

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=9522.0

 

Pamster