I was reinstated on Ativan

People may remember me from this board. I was having a really bad time coming off clorazapam. I was also on another med geodon. A month and a half ago I started having adverse reactions to the geodon and was hopitalized. In the hospital I listed benzos as an allergy. I was taken off the geodon and put on a different anti psychotic and a anti depressant however I was also out of it for part of this time and upset and they started me without my knowledge  on Ativan 3 mg a day. Once I knew about it I was upset and they started tapering me off. They added 200 mg gabbapentin to help with the withdrawal. It seemed to help because before that I felt some w/d which made me feel really sick and like my skin on fire. In the hospital they tapered me down to 2 mg a day. Please no lectures about being ploy drugged. I just need to know how to safely now taper off this Ativan??? I'm so upset as it was almost the roughest year ever off clorazapam. Whats interesting is on the Ativan I feel totally like myself again. No anger, no brain fog as much, my creativity is back, my soul and connection to the world are back. I know it is not good for me though and I have to go thru coming off and praying for normalcy without it one day. How do I taper off 2 mg Ativan the right way?

Hi sunlit,

 

No lectures, it is what it is, we're here to help.  Its sad the drug has you feeling like your old self again but it confirms that what you were feeling was the result of withdrawals from the Clonazepam.  Sometimes people get scared thinking this is the real them, that the anxiety and fear are who they are now, but you know it's all because of the drug.

 

We can help you do this, but I feel it's important you go very slowly, will your Dr support you tapering off of the Ativan?

Hi sunlit,

 

No lectures, it is what it is, we're here to help.  Its sad the drug has you feeling like your old self again but it confirms that what you were feeling was the result of withdrawals from the Clonazepam.  Sometimes people get scared thinking this is the real them, that the anxiety and fear are who they are now, but you know it's all because of the drug.

 

We can help you do this, but I feel it's important you go very slowly, will your Dr support you tapering off of the Ativan?

 

Thanks so much. I have not seen my doctor yet but I was dischareged with it in the notes that I finish being tapered off the Ativan and then the gabbapentin. I know my doctor did not believe in my old w/d and this online community so there may be some disagreement about how quickly I taper off but I think if I have a plan she will support it.

Maybe you can stay on the Ativan for a little longer until you feel stabile enough to taper?

Sunlit, I'm so glad you're feeling like your old self again. That's amazing. Fwiw, as I'm still on Valium, I would take this feeling good thing as a gift and taper slowly, like 10‰ every two weeks. Now that you're finally feeling great I would try to keep this throughout my taper as much as possible, but that's just me.

Thanks guys. 10% sounds good but the pills are really small. Maybe I can break them in half at least. They are .5mg. What would the Aston method say about how to get off?

Ashton say 5-10% in every one or two weeks. Are you stable enough to start tapering? Why have they choosed this relative high amount af ativan?

 

Thanks guys. 10% sounds good but the pills are really small. Maybe I can break them in half at least. They are .5mg. What would the Aston method say about how to get off?

Ashton say 5-10% in every one or two weeks. Are you stable enough to start tapering? Why have they choosed this relative high amount af ativan?

 

Thanks guys. 10% sounds good but the pills are really small. Maybe I can break them in half at least. They are .5mg. What would the Aston method say about how to get off?

 

I'm sad to hear its a high amount. I kept asking if that was so in the hospital. I don't know if I'm strong enough to come off but I figure the sooner the better. Does ativan come in liquid? How to you reduce the dose? Again I have very small .5 mg pills.

People may remember me from this board. I was having a really bad time coming off clorazapam. I was also on another med geodon. A month and a half ago I started having adverse reactions to the geodon and was hopitalized. In the hospital I listed benzos as an allergy. I was taken off the geodon and put on a different anti psychotic and a anti depressant however I was also out of it for part of this time and upset and they started me without my knowledge  on Ativan 3 mg a day. Once I knew about it I was upset and they started tapering me off. They added 200 mg gabbapentin to help with the withdrawal. It seemed to help because before that I felt some w/d which made me feel really sick and like my skin on fire. In the hospital they tapered me down to 2 mg a day. Please no lectures about being ploy drugged. I just need to know how to safely now taper off this Ativan??? I'm so upset as it was almost the roughest year ever off clorazapam. Whats interesting is on the Ativan I feel totally like myself again. No anger, no brain fog as much, my creativity is back, my soul and connection to the world are back. I know it is not good for me though and I have to go thru coming off and praying for normalcy without it one day. How do I taper off 2 mg Ativan the right way?

I am so sorry you are having such a hard time, my thoughts would be to try a 10% over a months time, and adjust if it too much. I went down the rabbit hole twice because I went too fast. I hope that your Doctor will be OK with your tapering at your own pace. If you go to the Titration board and place a thread there, someone will help you to set up a taper plan that will benefit you. Stay Strong. 💖 Peace and Healing.

How long were you off before you reinstated?

How long were you off before you reinstated?

 

About 10/11 grueling months. I never wanted to reinstate though.

I was sort of wondering what happened to you and how you were doing. It's interesting to read that taking the Ativan has completely wiped out your symptoms. If you really want off, you better go very slowly and maybe you won't feel all those symptoms you did previously.

How are you doing lately?  I took .25mg of xanax.  It didn't help.  Wondering if I need to take more to feel the effect.

It is the nature of Ativan that you feel like your true self. I have heard this sentence so often. I was on Ativan, too. Under all of my meds (god, I was on so many) Ativan had in comparison to other meds, no sedating effect, its more making the mind clear and you feel (only FEEL LIKE) "normal". But this is not normal. Under Ativan in a high dosage the danger of hitting tolerance is very high, because of the short half -time.

 

My advice would be to switch to Valium, is this possible for you? To taper ativan was the worst one for me, because in the end, the short half time just puts you in the feeling of having zero as the dosage long before you reach the zero. Ativan was my personal final enemy. And I still believe the long term effects which had such a bad impact on my life came mainly from the Ativan.

 

Its a scandal they put you on such a high dosage, I think its not allowed.

 

If you cannot switch to Valium or a benzo with a longer half-life, check out the instructions given on the taper plan board here on bb, I have seen members used different techniques, from liquid to stripes...

 

Sending you strength!

 

aMarigold

Can we get an update on how the reinstatement is going?