Ativan titration schedule help

Hi all, I am currently on 1.5mg of ativan a day taken as .5mg at noon then 1mg at bedtime I have tapered from 3mg in the past year by pill splitting but the withdrawal symptoms were terrible. I would like to taper off  the rest of the way using titration but not sure where to start. Any help would be awesome!

Anyone know how I should continue my taper using water titration? Feeling lost and need some guidance.

Have you read these two links at the top of the titration board? They'll help you gain a greater understanding of the process and it's limitations.  After you've done this, let us know which form or titration you're interested in.

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=231828.0

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=231363.0

 

 

Thank you so much for the links. After reading, I feel I am ready for "homebrew" liquid titration. Is Ativan only soluble in alcohol? I know its definitely not water soluble. Thank you very much for the guidance.

I've heard it's soluble in high octane alcohol and I've also heard full fat milk mentioned, but I'm not proficient in titration so I'll need to get someone here who can answer your questions.  For now though, can I get you to answer some questions to get the ball rolling?  The answers will help us figure out the best taper rate for you.

 

 

1) How long on benzo

2) Why on benzo(seizure history could make plan different)

3) Tried other benzo's

4) How many mgs

5) Frequency of dosing

6) Previous tapers or cold turkey

7) Doctor support

8. Allergies/sensitivities

9) Tolerance

10) Symptoms experiencing

11) Other medications

12) What type of taper

13) Interdose symptoms

14) Fear/anxiety

15) Alcohol use

16) Time frame limits

 

 

Hi,

 

1) have been on Ativan for approximately 3years

2) Put on benzos for sever anxiety disorder

3)No other benzos

4)3mgs a day, down to 1.5mgs now

5).5mgs at noon and 1mg at bedtime

6)Tapered from 3mgs to 1.5 over the past year cutting .5mgs every 4 months

7)Doctor does not know I have tapered yet. I have an appt coming up but she is usually supportive

no allergies or sensitivity

9)Tolerance, I started weaning off myself after getting interdose w/d 3mg was not working anymore and I refused to go up in dose

10) Currently symptoms are headache, foggy head, bad lower back pain, back muscle tension and pain, leg pain, hip pain, irritable.

11) no other meds

12) would like to do liquid taper, would also consider dry if I can find a scale.

13) interdose symptoms are the same as above

14) anxiety is low most of the time, only fear is the damage from the benzos on my body and not recovering from this.

15) Quit alcohol years ago. 0 intake

16) would like to get off ativan as quick as possible but balance symptoms also.

 

Would I take my .5mg in 100ml water and take out 3ml for a 10% taper? Getting a nice window today! Didn't realize how supportive my family would be!

Hi bud,

 

I've reached out to someone to help but haven't heard back, let me try someone else, okay?  Terrific that your family is supportive, that's kind of rare, so you're lucky!

Thanks Pamster!

Hey bud21ca, 

 

From what I've learned, most benzos are not soluable in water.  I use whole milk with my benzo for titration, but I understand not all are soluable in milk. 

 

According to the web ... lorazepam, like diazepam, is virtually insoluble in water.  I can't find anything about milk and lorazepam.

 

Taken from the link below ... For those who for personal reasons do not wish to use alcohol or propylene glycol, SyrSpend® or Ora-Plus® can be used to create a suspension solution. It holds the granular components of the tablet "in suspension" throughout the solution preventing them from either floating to the top or settling down. The medication is randomly dispersed in the solution and is not as uniformly distributed as when it was dissolved by a solvent.

As the viscous property of the product is needed to provide suspension capability, Ora-Plus is recommended to be diluted up to 50% of the total volume to preserve its suspension capability.

 

http://benzo.alwaysdata.net/titration/titrationHelp.htm?  Lots of good information regarding tapering.

 

Also, check out this link of which the above information is connected and plug in your numbers. If you decide to do a dry taper or a liquid taper, the chart is there.  It will tell you how much solution, etc. you need.

 

http://benzo.alwaysdata.net/

 

One thing, don't take out anything as it's wasteful.  You just taper a little bit each day and, therefore, there is never any wasted solution.  I know it all sounds confusing as I was once at the beginning of my taper and was totally befuddled. Sometimes, I still am, but I finally know what I'm doing with my taper and it's working. 

 

I wish you the best!

 

 

Thanks CAgirl, it is confusing to start, but I figure my brain isn't functioning too well on the benzos anymore. Thanks for the link to the tapering schedule calculator, very helpful and simple to use. I used to be goid at math but not so much anymore. I guess this starts my road to recovery and healing.

You're very welcome, bud21ca.  I wish you the best and do keep us posted.

Thanks, will certainly keep you posted.

I've heard it's soluble in high octane alcohol and I've also heard full fat milk mentioned, but I'm not proficient in titration so I'll need to get someone here who can answer your questions.  For now though, can I get you to answer some questions to get the ball rolling?  The answers will help us figure out the best taper rate for you.

 

 

1) How long on benzo

2) Why on benzo(seizure history could make plan different)

3) Tried other benzo's

4) How many mgs

5) Frequency of dosing

 

 

 

 

WHAT DO YOU MEAN HIGH OCTANE, please, Pamsterr??  i am using 80 proof vodka, is that not strong enough, please ty

 

 

 

Cathy, 80 proof is fine, that’s what most people use.

 

I've heard it's soluble in high octane alcohol and I've also heard full fat milk mentioned, but I'm not proficient in titration so I'll need to get someone here who can answer your questions.  For now though, can I get you to answer some questions to get the ball rolling?  The answers will help us figure out the best taper rate for you.

 

 

1) How long on benzo

2) Why on benzo(seizure history could make plan different)

3) Tried other benzo's

4) How many mgs

5) Frequency of dosing

 

 

 

 

WHAT DO YOU MEAN HIGH OCTANE, please, Pamsterr??  i am using 80 proof vodka, is that not strong enough, please ty

Just an update, I was doing so well tapering down but between withdrawal symptoms and this Coronavirus hysteria the combination proved to he too much. I am back at 1.5mg a day. I feel like I let myself down.

Don't feel bad, this is a rough process and it sometimes takes several tries to get off of it.  Is there anything we can help you with?  Was your titration working for you, were you going slow enough to minimize your symptoms?

The titration was working great, I was making progress but I think my taper was too fast I was trying to get off my .5mg within 30 days. Way too fast to minimize symptoms. So I will stabilize and start over when everything calms down.

Yes, please regroup then go more slowly.  You need to understand that getting off of the drug quickly just increases our pain, it does not make us heal any faster.  Your brain has a lot of repair work to do and will do this while you taper and for some time after you're completely off of the drug.  Might as well go slow and be somewhat functional as you rid yourself of this nasty drug.

 

Thank you so much for the support. The W/D symptoms that got bad were palpatations and Benzo belly. I felt so bloated and not hungry at all. Kind of scary I started thinking I had something wrong in my stomach. But it is getting better each day after updosing.

Going up in dose while not the direction we wish to go is the perfect test to know what is a real physical problem or if it's benzo withdrawal related.  Now you know and hopefully you can take comfort in that. 

Thank you. I definitely know it is benzo related now!

When you resume your taper, just keep in mind that no spreadsheet is fool proof, don't assume the numbers you see should remain static, you can and should make adjustments when you feel you need to.

Hi bud21ca,

 

Don't be too hard on yourself as updosing does happen.  I've updosed three times in the past 15 months, but I keep on trucking and things do get better.  I believe, too, that you were going too fast.  .5 mg of your benzo is equivalent to 10 mg of mine and according to my plan, it's going to take me 10 months from January 27 to be finished with the last 10 mg.  I had lots of trouble with withdrawal as I believe I definitely went too fast, but now it's all good and the last 10 mg will take nearly as long as the first 35 mg.

 

Yes, and as Pamster said, "No spreadsheet is fool proof." I've adjusted my spreadsheets often and this last leg will be ever so slow, but that's okay.  Listen to your body and hang in there. 

Hi bud21ca,

 

Don't be too hard on yourself as updosing does happen.  I've updosed three times in the past 15 months, but I keep on trucking and things do get better.  I believe, too, that you were going too fast.  .5 mg of your benzo is equivalent to 10 mg of mine and according to my plan, it's going to take me 10 months from January 27 to be finished with the last 10 mg.  I had lots of trouble with withdrawal as I believe I definitely went too fast, but now it's all good and the last 10 mg will take nearly as long as the first 35 mg.

 

Yes, and as Pamster said, "No spreadsheet is fool proof." I've adjusted my spreadsheets often and this last leg will be ever so slow, but that's okay.  Listen to your body and hang in there. 

 

Isn't .5 mg of Ativan equal to 5 mg Valium?