Lorazepam taper - need advice!

Hi, I have taken Lorazepam on/off for the last three weeks (going on 4 weeks today) for dental crisis and job promotion loss.  I mostly took .25 once a day and sometimes twice but also skipped a day here and there.  Wednesday, I had two .25 dose of Lorazepam and then I was done.  Well, so I thought.  Sunday I had extreme withdrawal symptoms with anxiety, dark thoughts, nausea, crying, panic.  Today, Monday,  gave in and took .25 and yup - worked.  Calmed me down, etc.  Now - 12 hours later, I feel off again and my body is getting shaky.  I do NOT want to take any more of this addictive crap but have to go to work tomorrow and have a husband and life and can't lie in bed all day to cry and freak out.  Should I try and "push" through the next week and quit cold turkey or do you or anyone suggest a taper and if so, HOW?  .25 every other day and then move down to have of that for a week and then jump after two weeks?

I'm sorry to hear you are going through a rough time!

 

Please don't cold turkey! That can sometimes shock your nervous system and make you feel badly. It's great that you have not been on it very long, but I still definitely recommend a taper.

 

The general advice is to cut 10% every 1-2 weeks. If you haven't developed a tolerance you may be able to go faster, but I would start there and let your symptoms dictate it. If you feel okay taking 0.25mg every day, I would start there. Then, after a week or two depending on how you are feeling, try going down to 0.1875mg. You might not feel great stepping down, but if your symptoms are so severe that you can't function, try going back up to 0.2mg and holding there until you feel ready to go down again. If you aren't having severe symptoms, then you can try to make bigger cuts, but I would not go any faster than 1-2 weeks. So, it could look something like:

 

4/5/2021: 0.25mg

4/19/2021: 0.1875mg

05/10/2021: 0.16mg

05/31/2021: 0.13mg

06/21/2021: jump off

 

But again, it is up to you! You may find that you can handle doing cuts every week, and that's totally fine, too. I think the best and smoothest way to taper is to start slowly and listen to your symptoms. I went too fast in my taper in the beginning, and I think that is making it harder for me now.

 

 

Best of luck!

I don't think it's dangerous at all given that you haven't taken it for very long. It's still a big cut to go from 0.25 once or twice a day to 0.125 once a day (50 to 75% cut). Just go slow and if you feel like your symptoms get too intense, you can always go back up a little bit to stabilize before continuing to taper.

 

 

You got this

I'm not sure totally sure about how things differ for people who took benzos for a short term. All I can say is that in my experience, sometimes symptoms hit me the hardest 2 weeks after I've cut. I don't anticipate that being the case for you, but you may want to give yourself more than 2 days to make sure you feel stable before dropping again. 1-2 weeks is the advised length of time. The best advice is to listen to your body, like you did, and if symptoms are too intense, updose and stabilize or hold for longer. It couldn't hurt to ask specifically about taper plans after a brief use.

It definitely could be from the taper. Anxiety, negativity, and shaky feelings are normal. Sorry you are feeling this way, but you will get through it!

I don't think anyone has a "bad chance" of recovery - everyone heals. But I do think your recovery will be quicker and hopefully easier because it was a short term use.

 

Intrusive thoughts will likely go away on there own as your symptoms change or when have gotten through this process if they are from the benzo withdrawal!

 

Sending positive thoughts your way