Micro tapering

Please can anybody help me with a plan to micro taper atuvan

Please can anybody help me with a plan to micro taper atuvan

 

I would recommend doing a search for a person named Bob7. Great source of microtapering!

Please read this and then let us know what method you'd like to use to taper.  Titration FAQ's

 

Hi.  I have posted before a long time back.  I am struggling so bad with my tapering. Can anybody help

Are you still interested in using titration for your taper?

Hi Sabi,

Can you tell us more about your taper?

 

1) What is your current daily dosage of lorazepam?

2) How many daily doses is this amount divided into?

3) How are you taking reductions (drug form, method, etc.)?

4) How frequently are you taking reductions?

5) What aspects of your taper are you struggling with?

 

We'd be happy to help you. 

hi.  I am on .25mg ati.  Tapering .03mg every two,weeks.  Using dry cut method.  Dosing twice a day as find it dufficukt to weigh any smaller.  Also on other drug and think posdibky in PAWS from previous withdrawls.  Sorry in such a state funding it difficult to type.  Hope I have answered your questions

Sorry not sure how to follow this link.  I am not sure who I am replying to.  Struggling with my lorazepam taper and have sent details of how I am tapering.  I am so tempted to CT as I am struggling so much

When you get a reply it will show up when you click on 'Show new replies to your posts' located next to your profile at the upper left of your window.  You'll need to be patient and wait for others to reply to your posts, as you can see there are many members who need help so it takes time to get to everyone.

hi.  I am on .25mg ati.  Tapering .03mg every two,weeks.  Using dry cut method.  Dosing twice a day as find it dufficukt to weigh any smaller.  Also on other drug and think posdibky in PAWS from previous withdrawls.  Sorry in such a state funding it difficult to type.  Hope I have answered your questions

 

You're doing great posting replies Sabi; we understand you and you answered all of my questions. In answer to Pamster's question it sounds like you are already "titrating", which by the forum definition means taking very small dosage reductions.

 

I understand that you are on 0.25mg/day of lorazepam, which you divide and dose twice a day. I understand that you're using a cheap milligram scale to weigh your doses. I understand that you are taking reductions of 0.03mg by pill weight, every two weeks. I also understand that you are struggling with neurological instability, which at the very least is impairing your ability to type.

 

I suggest holding on your current dose. It's my opinion that you have not recovered from your previous reductions, perhaps due to their size and/or frequency, or because of the impact of tapering your other medications, or due to your history of withdrawal, or a combination of these and other factors. In any case, I suggest making your current goal to establish far greater neurological stability so that you can continue tapering in the future with higher functionality, less symptoms, and an easier recovery; the best way I know how to do this is to hold and improve dosing reliability/frequency.

 

Since you are currently at 0.25mg, I suggest putting aside the scale for a few weeks. I suggest sourcing a quality pill splitter. I like the aluminum splitters on Amazon; I have the EqualSplit brand and

. I am hoping that you have 0.5mg tablets so that you can create 1/4 tablet pieces that are each 0.125mg and take these twice per day. This is where I would start.

 

IMO dosing lorazepam twice a day is not a good setup for stability. If I was on lorazepam I'd want to dose at least 3-4 times per day, and even if you have 0.5mg tablets I don't think this is possible to do at 0.25mg/day with just tablet splitting. So once you're holding on split tablets and regaining some functionality, I suggest exploring a new way to dose that is more accurate.

 

You could use the scale you have to spread out your doses and take further reductions, but I'm going to recommend dry grinding your tablets into a fine powder and mixing them at least 1:9 with filler to bulk up their weight. This way you can weigh out smaller more frequent doses for more even blood serum levels throughout the day, and so that you can take smaller more accurate reductions.

 

Do these suggestions appeal to you? Would you like to hold on split tablets and recover some important functionality? Would you like to implement a filler technique for dry titrating to get better accuracy from your cheap milligram scale?

 

Let us know how we can help. 

Thank you for your reply.  I feel I am in tolerance to the Ativan as getting zero relief when I take it.  If I was to hold would it help at all if I am in tolerance to,it.  Am I allowed to ask fior advice on other drugs. 

Thank you for your reply.  I feel I am in tolerance to the Ativan as getting zero relief when I take it.  If I was to hold would it help at all if I am in tolerance to,it.  Am I allowed to ask fior advice on other drugs. 

 

I think tolerance withdrawal is when we experience withdrawal symptoms while maintaining a steady dose that was previously asymptomatic; this is not the same as experiencing a minimum of drug benefits while taking reductions. IME it is very easy to reduce these drugs at a rate that causes doses to be completely ineffective in providing relief from symptoms much less a sense of normalcy. I think that many buddies make the mistake of associating their withdrawal symptoms with tolerance because they're unable to stabilize between reductions.

 

I think that buddies who are unable to stabilize between reductions are commonly dealing with issues related to dosage accuracy, dosage frequency, and the size and frequency of dosage reductions.

 

IME many buddies have an overly confident idea of the accuracy of the dosage that they're getting from a cheap milligram scale or an unstable suspension of deconstructed tablets, and as a result they are actually dosing quite differently from dose-to-dose and-day-to day. Also IME many buddies fail to dose regularly enough throughout the day to keep relatively steady blood serum levels. And lastly, IME many buddies fail to take reductions that are small enough to allow their body to remain functional while adapting to the new dosage.

 

I've found that these three factors can cause ongoing withdrawal symptoms and, unless addressed, can make benzo tapering extremely difficult if not impossible due to continued neurological instability and dysfunction.

 

This is why I suggested a hold. I think if you tried holding on a reliable dosage amount, which is why I suggested split tablets, you would see improvements if your dosing has been inaccurate. And I suggested that the next step could be to adopt a reliable dosing strategy that allows you to spread your daily dose out to 3-4 doses per day, which should again offer further support for your nervous system.

 

Only after putting accuracy of dosing and frequency of dosing in the best possible shape for improved neurological stability would I consider continuing the process of tapering. I think of dosage reductions as walking with two legs, one is taking an accurate reduction and the other is stabilizing on this new lower dose; in my opinion it takes one leg and then the other, back and forth, to taper functionally. Thus failing to stabilize on lower doses is IME a recipe for great suffering and a more difficult recovery.

 

Yes, you're welcome to mention other drugs but I personally won't be very helpful as I don't have broad pharmaceutical experience. I can only give the very common advice which is to taper one drug at a time; IME concurrent psyche-drug tapers have caused buddies a lot of suffering, confusion and frustration.

 

Let us know how we can help. 

Thank you for your reply.  I feel I am in tolerance to the Ativan as getting zero relief when I take it.  If I was to hold would it help at all if I am in tolerance to,it.  Am I allowed to ask fior advice on other drugs.

 

This area of the forum might helpful if you're asking about Other Medications.

Thanks for relying.  I believe I am in tolerance to the Ativan as it is giving me zero relief when i take it.  I also think that I am suffering from previous tapers off other drugs.  If this is the case would holding help at alll. 

Thanks for relying.  I believe I am in tolerance to the Ativan as it is giving me zero relief when i take it.  I also think that I am suffering from previous tapers off other drugs.  If this is the case would holding help at alll. 

 

I replied to this question of yours already. If you scroll up you'll see more replies, such as my response here: http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=256790.msg3318377#msg3318377

Is there anybody online who can talk to me

Hi Sabi, I am tapering down Lorazepam, now at 0.7mg per day. I am not expert in tapering or dosing but happy to offer emotional support and be a buddy while you go through this bad time. Feel feel to send me a message. Tell me about yourself. Sending very best wishes for a good day ahead.

Is there anybody online who can talk to me

 

The best way to get responses to your posts is to reach out to others, when we give support we get support.  I know it's difficult to see beyond our own pain but we're all in this together and share so many terrible symptoms that only we can understand.  Sometimes just a response of I understand is enough to lift someone's spirits and when they see your willingness to acknowledge their pain they'll reach out to you when you're feeling the same. 

 

I'm sorry you're feeling so terrible and you sent me a PM asking about tolerance and holding, I can't reply there because its against the rules to give taper advice via PM.  If you feel that holding isn't in your best interest then it might be time to reduce again, sometimes the only thing to do is to keep pushing and following our instincts.