Hospital cut my ativan in half

Edited for privacy concerns

Hi ImComingUp,

 

I'm sorry to hear you've been through so much, can you tell me a bit more about your situation?  Did you experience withdrawal symptoms when you started on the Valium, I'm assuming you removed all of the Ativan at once when you started the Valium?

 

You mentioned having depression before, but Valium can do this to you as well, it's a common side effect.  I know you need to get off of the Valium as quickly as possible, especially since you've only been on it for such a short time, so you should taper according to your symptoms.  This is the idea taper, listening to your body and tapering accordingly.  Ashton didn't go in for micro-tapers, these are fairly new to the mainstream benzodiazepine world, no one really talked about them much when I first joined the forum in 2008.

 

Given the fact that you've felt okay since you crossed to the Valium, I'd think you could taper off of it fairly quickly, but you should let your body be your guide.

 

 

 

I started immediately on 5mg of valium and did not take anymore ativan. That was 9/10 days ago. I'm so anxious bc I know under this is derealization bc I've had it throughout and any time I decrease my dose. My family can't handle me when I am in that place. It's constant. I think it's from having decreased blood flow to my brain from the POTS but it causes immense anxiety. I felt it the first day on valium and it's decreased since. My other symptoms are the intense eye pain. Its neuropathic. I had depression before benzos. I had two episodes of serotonin syndrome with ADs right before starting ativan. They may have triggered the derialization too. I didn't know what it was then.

We typically like to see a gradual addition of the Valium while decreasing the Ativan, this allows the slower acting drug to build up in the blood while eliminating the shorter.  You switching immediately didn't give the Valium a chance to build up, so you probably went straight into withdrawals and it's difficult to stabilize.  Combine that with the fact that you were on the equivalent dose of 10 mgs Valium before they reduced your dose of Ativan to .5, you began this taper at a deficit.

 

Would you like help with your taper, exactly how long have you been on the 5 mgs?

Yes please with the taper. My scales to microtaper arrive monday if needed. I started 5mg on Wednesday the 22 of January.

I'm sorry I never got back to you, I just saw my note to check in with you.  Have you started your taper yet?

I'm approximating 10% decrease for the past 3 days. My scales were delivered broken and I have reordered so I will be more precise with cuts once they come. A part of me feels like I physically handled the 50% cut well (relatively speaking) and should be progressive, but the logical side says to give my brain more time to heal. Do I cut 10% of the original dose each week or of the current? Seems like cutting the current would leave for a long w/d after only being on it for 4 months before being cut in half and starting the taper. I wish I knew exactly how quickly I am metabolizing it, but nobody really knows. So, I don't know when to expect changes to base my cuts on. I've seen some people say 3 days for valium and others say up to 14.

 

Feedback?

 

Thank so much, Pamster. I hope to be like you one day

Bad luck to receive broken scales, I'm glad you'll get the new one soon so you can get more precise.  The cuts are typically made to each decreased dose, most find that as they get lower in dose the symptoms get a bit more intense, but much of this process is about listening to your body's cues.  I've said before that a taper is a living thing, it must adapt as your symptoms change.

 

Given your short time on the drug, I know you're concerned about your taper going on too long, we don't like to see anyone taper longer than they were on the drug so this is your challenge.  You're going to need to pay particular attention.  I would give your first reduction a week to 10 days at least, Valiums half life is so long, I feel you should give your body time to recognize the loss of it. 

Thank you for the response and input. 

 

Yes, the challenge is not tapering longer than on the dose, which has been my thoughts and dilemma.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Title edited to reflect the current conversation