ativan taper

i am down to 1.05mg lorazepam, i cut 10% a month with capsules from compounding pharmacy. can anyone help with final taper off 1.05mg, i know at the end you have to go faster then 10%?, basically can someone help with a taper plan?

I will help you.

 

First, need some background.

 

How long were you on benzos?

How long have you been tapering?

What was your dose before starting to taper?

How are your symptoms during the month of each taper?  For example, do they peak around 1 week and then you hold for 3 weeks to feel stable?

 

If you have had success with a compounding pharmacy then keep using it.  You are right, percentages do not make sense as you get closer to the end of your taper.  You can switch to mg.  For example, you could tell the pharmacy to reduce you by 0.1 mg every month and you would be done in about a year.  But before we select a taper plan, I need to know the answers to the 4 questions asked above.

 

I am going to bed so if you answer tonight, I will not see it until the morning.

i was on lorazepam 16 years, i started taper at 2mg, i also just tapered off temazepam, also on mirtazapine, getting loud tinnitus and anxiety, can i message you for a taper plan?

i have been tapering for about 3 years now

Yes, we can work on a taper plan but we cannot do it over PM messages.

The team wants all such discussion to be in the open forum.

We can just continue to use this post to create your taper.

Do you want to stay with your current method or do a liquid or what?

 

i would like to stay at my current taper of compounding pharmacy capsules, i taper 10% a month and would like to stop the 1.05mg in 12 months or so, thank you.

I trust what you are looking for is advice on how to finish your taper.

 

Here is what I would do

 

(1) Start a journal recording the dose you are taking and your symptoms each day.

(2) Have compound pharmacy make the next reduction from 1.05mg to 0.95 mg

(3) Journal symptoms every day.

(4) Hold at this level for at least 2 weeks or until your symptoms are tolerable (whichever is longer). 

(5) When your journal says you reached tolerable symptoms, reduce another 0.1mg (or more if your Journal indicates you can handle it)

 

Keep this method all the way to zero benzos.

 

can you make a taper plan starting with 1.05mg? trying to cut 10% a month, but would like to finish this in 12 months or so. thank you.

There is no taper plan which will work for everyone.

 

You must journal your reductions and your symptoms and refer to that journal as you adjust your reductions each month.

I mean, otherwise, just tell the pharma, each month reduce by another 0.1 mg like this:

 

Month 1 = 0.95mg

Month 2 = 0.85mg

Month 3 = 0.75mg

and so on.

 

 

Bob 7 how will i taper when i get to the lower doses? You can't keep reducing by 10% or taper will go on forever?  Thank you.

While it is true, some slow down their taper at lower doses, MANY people have tapered all the way to zero at a constant reduction of 0.1mg.

 

Everyone is different.

 

This is why you must keep a journal of your dose and the impact on your body (symptoms).

 

As you reduce 0.1mg each month, you can look at your journal and if things are stable you can just keep cutting at 0.1 mg per reduction ALL THE WAY TO ZERO.

 

But if you start to see a trend of more and more symptoms, then we will slow down your reduction to perhaps 0.05 mg per cut.

 

Do you see the value of the journal?

 

 

yes, symptoms getting worse now, is 0.1mg what in per cent? i don't want to go more then 10%. i am cutting every 4 weeks is that okay? using capsules from compounding pharmacy, is that safe?

Compounding pharmacy are as safe as making your own taper - even safer.

 

Dropping 0.1mg from 1.05 mg is about 9.5%.

 

Please stop thinking about percents or anything.

 

Just make a cut of 0.1mg and observe yourself with your journal.  Do not let math or anyone else control your taper.  Let your body control it.

 

After the 0.1 mg cut, look back at your journal to make the next cut depending on how you did (all recorded in your journal).

 

After each reduction, wait at least two weeks or until your symptoms are tolerable (whichever is longer) based on your journal.

 

Nothing else matters but your personal experience as you taper.

 

 

so my next cut would be to 0.95mg, i dose 3 times a day, what would a single dose be?

That is an odd question.  Isn't it just 0.95 divided by 3.

I must not understand what you are doing.

 

Do you get from the pharma 0.95mg capsules and take 3 a day?

You need to explain more about what is going on.

Explain the exact steps.

 

1. You ask the pharma for what?

2. You get the pills from the pharma.

3.  What exactly do you do with the pills each day. 

i am at 1.05mg, i dose 3 times a day, so i take 0.35mg 3 times a day. i get tapering capsules 90 capsules a month from compounding pharmacy.

Bob 7 does that sound okay?

Yes it does sound fine.

But if your biggest symptom is insomnia, I would try to take most of the drug at bedtime and the rest if I wake up in the middle of the night.  For me, if I could get a good night sleep, I could handle other symptoms during the day.

Bob 7 it seems 0.1 mg will take more then a year.

I'm going to bed now so I can help you more in the morning but I can tell you I started at 0.125 mg and reduced 0.001 mg per day and it took  125 days.

 

Can you tell me all the values you entered into the spreadsheet?

i am on mirtazipine too-6mg, if i reduce 0.1mg a month will it take 10 months or so?

I do not understand the question.

Reducing 6mg of Mirtazipine at 0.1 mg per month is 60 months.

bob7 i'm at 1.05mg ativan, my next cut would be to 0.95mg or so?

That sounds like a nice safe cut.  Then hold for 2 weeks or until your symptoms are tolerable, whichever is longer.

bob 7 i have to cut every 4 weeks, can i use the dry benzo tapering chart on your page?