greetings

I've  been using lorazepam for anxiety on and off for about 3 years and am now trying to get off it. I'm interested in what others are doing to manage withdrawal symptoms.

Hello govinda, Welcome to BenzoBuddies!

 

We're glad you've found us, are you tapering, if so, at what rate?  We suggest going very slow, perhaps a 5-10% reduction of your dose every week or two.  It's important to go slow to minimize those symptoms, and it sounds like you're experiencing them, nasty aren't they?

 

Most of us have found out that once our bodies become tolerant to the drug, our anxiety gets worse, have you found this to be true as well?

 

If you'd like to check out our Withdrawal Support (during your taper) board, you can connect with others who are dealing with the same issues you are.

 

Please let us know how we can help.

 

Pamster

Hi. On Dec.12, 2019 I  began tapering down from 1.0mg lorazepam.  I have been on .75mg a day since that date and was planning to go down by 1/4 mg. every two months but wondering if I should go even more slowly since I've had pretty awful rebound anxiety when I've gotten off in the past. I've been on the drug this time since last January.  Went into the hospital with major anxiety in Feb. where I was up to 2mg/day for a few weeks. Since that time I've been on between 1-1.5mg a day. Wondering if I should ask my doc to put me on diazepam since I've had such a bad time in the past with withdrawals.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

It sounds like you could benefit from a very slow taper given your past exposure to benzo withdrawal.  We have many members who say it seems to get worse with each instance, so one quarter reductions are probably too much.  I would suggest either dry or liquid titration or you could ask for Valium, either way, this needs to be done slowly.