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I was just wondering what taper method is everyone using? I continue to file and weigh!! I am so glad I started this taper. I think the days of long terms prescriptions seem to be coming to an end. I continue to stockpile the Ativan! I just noticed a new type of timed release Ativan just got FDA approval...how messed up is that????
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I have tried doing cut and hold. Very small amount of .0625mg off of 4mg of k. I had up to dose over the past 2 years due to the stress of taking care of my Mom and awful medication induced setback. Amoxicillin and Augmentin for 14 days. Also, switching brands. I was below 2mg 2 years ago. Unbelievable, it what it is. I had tremendous stress and had to function. My Mom is now in Heaven, so I thought I would attempt it again. I am almost 68 and it is getting harder. My life will be calmer, but I miss my Mom so much. I would do it again for her.

I have entertained the weighing and shaving of my pills. I would be interested in the formula.

The cut and hold is probably doable, but I can feel the smallest of cuts.

Thanks again and greatly appreciative of any help.

 

Dana

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I was just wondering what taper method is everyone using? I continue to file and weigh!! I am so glad I started this taper. I think the days of long terms prescriptions seem to be coming to an end. I continue to stockpile the Ativan! I just noticed a new type of timed release Ativan just got FDA approval...how messed up is that????

 

Yes, very messed up indeed!  I use a pill grinder and weigh out tiny amounts on a micro scale, it works for me. I’m doing a 0.1mg reduction per week of Lorazepam.

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Dana, I hear you about cut and hold. I couldn't reduce that way, so investigated the DLMT (daily liquid micro taper) method. I think there's a thread on here about that. Anyhow, when I was down at 3, then 2, mgs of valium, I took the big part of my dose in pills, and liquefied 1 mg of valium (valium, 2 mls of vodka to dissolve the pill and 98 mls of water), which enabled me to make tiny daily cuts of .01 mg (1 ml of solution). It took me 100 days to reduce each 1 mg of valium but,  brother, it was sure worth it. I still noticed the reductions,  but not nearly as  much as with cut and hold. I was able to continue working and live my life.

 

Just a thought.

 

Katz (73)

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Katz,

 

Thanks for your support and suggestion. I had tried the DLMT in the past and will consider it again, if this method doesn't work.

I still have the posts from Builder that will help with the math.

I guess we can't eliminate symptoms, but just as long as they are manageable.

Good to hear from you.

 

Greatly appreciated,

 

Dana

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I have tried doing cut and hold. Very small amount of .0625mg off of 4mg of k. I had up to dose over the past 2 years due to the stress of taking care of my Mom and awful medication induced setback. Amoxicillin and Augmentin for 14 days. Also, switching brands. I was below 2mg 2 years ago. Unbelievable, it what it is. I had tremendous stress and had to function. My Mom is now in Heaven, so I thought I would attempt it again. I am almost 68 and it is getting harder. My life will be calmer, but I miss my Mom so much. I would do it again for her.

I have entertained the weighing and shaving of my pills. I would be interested in the formula.

The cut and hold is probably doable, but I can feel the smallest of cuts.

Thanks again and greatly appreciative of any help.

 

Dana

 

The liquid taper saved my rear end. There probably aren't many people on this planet who are more sensitive to meds, changes, sight, sound, etc. than me, so I thought I had hit the lottery when I learned about micro liquid tapers. I did really small cuts when I could tolerate them, and the liquid let me be able to make those cuts that I could never make with dry cutting. It took a while to get used to it, but wow, what a difference! At times I would do a few days in a row, but I always just held whenever my body dictated it. Let your body be your guide, and you'll be rockin' in the right direction :)

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I have tried doing cut and hold. Very small amount of .0625mg off of 4mg of k. I had up to dose over the past 2 years due to the stress of taking care of my Mom and awful medication induced setback. Amoxicillin and Augmentin for 14 days. Also, switching brands. I was below 2mg 2 years ago. Unbelievable, it what it is. I had tremendous stress and had to function. My Mom is now in Heaven, so I thought I would attempt it again. I am almost 68 and it is getting harder. My life will be calmer, but I miss my Mom so much. I would do it again for her.

I have entertained the weighing and shaving of my pills. I would be interested in the formula.

The cut and hold is probably doable, but I can feel the smallest of cuts.

Thanks again and greatly appreciative of any help.

 

Dana

 

The liquid taper saved my rear end. There probably aren't many people on this planet who are more sensitive to meds, changes, sight, sound, etc. than me, so I thought I had hit the lottery when I learned about micro liquid tapers. I did really small cuts when I could tolerate them, and the liquid let me be able to make those cuts that I could never make with dry cutting. It took a while to get used to it, but wow, what a difference! At times I would do a few days in a row, but I always just held whenever my body dictated it. Let your body be your guide, and you'll be rockin' in the right direction :)

 

Ditto this!  Liquid taper worked for me because the cuts were so small and I could hold whenever I needed to.  Highly recommend!  Good luck

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I thought pose a question...does anyone feel they have cognitive issues and memory problems after this long extended use of benzos. I feel like I do..I continue to taper, but I feel like I can't bring up words as easily and can't remember as well.
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I absolutely do!  I also see people much younger than us saying the same thing though and lots of evidence that it is temporary.  Since I have a mom with dementia and my own concerns about being on these drugs long term, it worries me at times but I am hoping it all gets better as time goes on….and I practice good brain health techniques which is all I can control.
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I thought pose a question...does anyone feel they have cognitive issues and memory problems after this long extended use of benzos. I feel like I do..I continue to taper, but I feel like I can't bring up words as easily and can't remember as well.

 

Yes, Going. I felt exactly that way on my taper and for a bit off it as well. I avoided talking to people, especially on the phone, and I sure couldn't write.

 

But these things do come back! It took about a year post-taper, but they did come back. What helped? Being off benzos, and practice.

 

Now I can talk to whoever I want to, and I'm back to writing (I'm an author). So don't despair . . . and be patient. Give it some time after you jump, and keep practicing. You'll get there.

 

Katz

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Hi there!

 

I’m a fellow Ativan (lorazepam) user and trying to plan my attack on the .5 mg pills, also weighing .050 g. To me, the easiest way to taper is to file/weigh. Can you explain how you’ve been doing this and at what rate? And are your pills crumbly like mine? Thanks! I was thinking of doing .001 g every 3 days.

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I thought pose a question...does anyone feel they have cognitive issues and memory problems after this long extended use of benzos. I feel like I do..I continue to taper, but I feel like I can't bring up words as easily and can't remember as well.

 

I surely do! Our brains are adjusting to a huge change and hopefully rebuilding itself. Age also has a big part in this change but benzo frankly took their toll.

Peace

Old Sal

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Hi there!

 

I’m a fellow Ativan (lorazepam) user and trying to plan my attack on the .5 mg pills, also weighing .050 g. To me, the easiest way to taper is to file/weigh. Can you explain how you’ve been doing this and at what rate? And are your pills crumbly like mine? Thanks! I was thinking of doing .001 g every 3 days.

 

Personally, the liquid micro taper saved my rear end. If you want specific help with cut and hold, then reach out to Bob7 here in BB's. Just do a search and send him a message. I'm sure he would be happy to help. Good luck!

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Hi ABR,

I too am tapering .5 Ativan. I am using a file and weigh approach. Mine also weigh about .050g. I am currently down to .15. What can I answer for you?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi to over 60 group and long term use!

 

Writing to know if anyone has horrible fatigue?  Like been lying in bed for days, just getting up to feed the rabbit or eat.  ?

 

Was put on benzos late 20's I am guessing.  So, 40 years...

 

Whad do you do about fatigue and no life and isolated?  It could be part depression as no family or friends now.  Deciding to get off was a mistake, but here I am.

 

A fwe days ago halved my ambien as it oes not seem to work and *possibly* it is causing me worse vibrations.  Yes, have had akathesia for 5 years since my whole debacle of adding mirtazapine and going into acute (sig).

 

Any ideas?

 

Also, baclofen, 10 mg.  Dr. gave it for myoclonic jerks.  Taken it once or twice.  Think helps sleep but does it make fatigue worse?

 

Thanks, oldsters!  ;)

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Hi BarbaraAve, like you I have taken benzos on and off for about 40 years but not continuously. The withdrawal has been difficult but I have good days. Sometimes I am too tired to get out of bed, like you say, just to go to the bathroom or eat. I have found that trying to push through this and DO something makes it all much worse so I obey my body and rest. Some days, I have a bit of energy and can potter about and go for a short walk. The thing is, when I have a bit of energy, I get all excited that this is really the road to recovery and then when the fatigue hits me I am SO disappointed!…and my mood drops, what a roller coaster we are on. I do have family support. I feel very much for you as say you have none, BUT here we are, all your Buddies, ready to give you friendship and support anytime.

Healing hugs.

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Hardy, I so get the having some hope and thinking you're healing and then... not.

 

What is a good day for you?

 

For me  a good day is going to the market (like 4 blocks away) and or drug store.  Occasionally the grocery that is 1.5 miles away.  I am phobic about driving now.  THAT is totally limited and contributes a lot to my depression.  That and no support.

 

Glad you do have some... guess, yeah, have to rely on digital help here.  ;)

 

You on anything now ??

 

thx for reply

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Hi Barbara, a good day for me would be……

A shower, a short walk, reading with pleasure, watching tv with pleasure, doing a few easy chores around the house and a little cooking or baking and talking with my friend on phone.

I put …….with pleasure…….as I sometimes read or watch tv through gritted teeth!

I do enjoy baking. Doesn’t help waistline.  I really love watching The Great British Bake Off on tv.

 

On exceptionally good days I can drive to the supermarket and stock up but I mainly do food shopping online. I’m not phobic about driving but sometimes I’m just too tired.

Everyday is a surprise……or a shock!

 

I take Venlafaxine and Mirtazipine and have no plans to reduce these at the moment, plus 0.5mg Lorazepam, tapering to 0.4mg tomorrow.

 

Healing hugs.

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Hi Barbara,

Welcome to our little group. I never knew Ativan was a problem until Oct 2019 when I thought I am just going to cut this half at night...well..to say i was shocked was an understatement. I quickly went up to my original dose of .5 and started in March of 2020 a slow taper. We are here for you. I am sorry you are struggling with this taper. It completely sucks. But honestly I do think for those of us older and on it for a long time, there will be a time when it will be harder to get a script. I do use Medical Marijuana at night and that helps alot for sleep. That's all that I take. My long term prescriber retired and I had another dr ask if i wanted a script for Gabapentin. I said no thank you. I am helping a friend taper off of Mirtazapine and it's been so hard for him. So I am not sure adding something new to the mix would be helpful. Just my opinion. Everyday I exercise and do some kind of word puzzle. I have to force myself to read, because my attention span sucks. We're here for you.

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Hi All

60 year old, 17 year clonazepam patient. Originally prescribed for insomnia in 2005, before the days of DR Google, when your doctor was your main source of information about the meds she prescribed. "Safe and effective", she told me, "take as needed". Doctors came and went and I rec'd no warnings or informed consent for probably 10 years. A benzo patient's worst fear, my doctor quit and I got a new PCP one week after I retired who told me she would not support continued use, thus began a descent into hell as I tried to get this stuff out of my system, with disastrous consequences. Going into the third year of tapering, I was still not half way to the finish line and suffering immeasurably from withdrawal symptoms head to toe. The worst of it was sleep deprivation, which got so bad I could not function, high anxiety, what I now recognize as pretty serious depression. I stopped participating in this forum maybe a year ago, as I felt as though much of the feedback I was getting was from someone who was "cured" and had all the answers for everyone else. I sensed a change in this forum from one of support to one of arguing, which as you know is not what my brain needed. So I just went away. Long story short, my condition worsened considerably. I think of it as going from someone with trouble sleeping to a psychiatric patient, it was that bad. My old doctor came back (not the original prescriber). She took one look at me, listened to my story, and offered to put me back on 1 mg clonazepam. Feeling physically and emotionally like I was going to die before I got off this drug and/or felt better, I accepted that offer. My quality of life improved, as my sleep returned to crappy but not non-existent as it had been. After a couple of months I realized that what hadn't improved was the very low moods - I'll label it depression - that had been new with withdrawal but continued to haunt me after reinstatement. I just cannot seem to get my mood on an even keel. One day I'm okay, the next day I can't get off the couch. I never used to cry. I cry constantly now. I've lost a very noticable amount of weight, part of that was good b/c I am able to run and work out as I have my whole life, but couldn't during withdrawal. So I lost any weight I had gained from inactivity, but my weight and mood continued to plummet, kind of together. Funny, I was a mess all through trying to discontinue Clonazepam, but looked healthy enough, so extended fam is suddenly so concerned now that I am tiny. Sometimes I wonder where their concern was when I was merely feeling like I was dying, but not looking that way. Is it psychological? - the the effect of more than two years of being completely beat up by withdrawal and isolated because of withdrawal and covid? I feel like the experience pushed me to my breaking point and I've been unable to regulate my mood and emotions, not previously an issue. Is it physiological? Has my brain been beat up by bathing it in clonazepam for so many years, then taking it away, then adding it back, to the extent it no longer knows how to handle any adversity? I'm really stuck. Stopping the drug is not an option, I can't go back to where I was, I won't survive. But now I'm experiencing visible signs of distress even now that I am back on the drug. This won't be a popular statement, but I feel like I was holding my own with the exception of a return of poor sleep while on the drug. Then withdrawal was rather forced upon me, and the withdrawal was so destructive to my brain and body that I lost myself. I know I need to address this, but I don't want any more drugs in me. I'm considering seeking a therapy such as CBT to try and restore some emotional resilience skills.

A good day = up at 5 with a clear head, run 6-7 miles, some type of outing, stretch-strength-balance work out,

reading, some TV. A bad day, which I had yesterday, is "up" at 4 or earlier, brain fog, headache, upset tummy, GI distress, deep fatigue, no physical activity, a day spent on the couch in physical and emotional pain waiting until it's time to go to bed and try again. I'm having those about once every 1-2 wks, as opposed to 3 or 4 per week during withdrawal. My true concern is the dangerously low mood.

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trode, why are you saying that stopping the K is not an option?  When I took Klonopin I was quite depressed; it's a known side effect. 
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Trode,

 

I can relate.  I have your bad days more often than not.  Got off clon. but still on about 4 mg ambien.  My body has broken down a lot.  Has been 5 years for me.

 

Yes, I was better on the clon.  I know several older people like me wish we had not tried to get off.  We didn't have to... we feel like jerks now that our life is destroyed.

 

Sorry if the clon is not working for you now, maybe?

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Hi All

60 year old, 17 year clonazepam patient. Originally prescribed for insomnia in 2005, before the days of DR Google, when your doctor was your main source of information about the meds she prescribed. "Safe and effective", she told me, "take as needed". Doctors came and went and I rec'd no warnings or informed consent for probably 10 years. A benzo patient's worst fear, my doctor quit and I got a new PCP one week after I retired who told me she would not support continued use, thus began a descent into hell as I tried to get this stuff out of my system, with disastrous consequences. Going into the third year of tapering, I was still not half way to the finish line and suffering immeasurably from withdrawal symptoms head to toe. The worst of it was sleep deprivation, which got so bad I could not function, high anxiety, what I now recognize as pretty serious depression. I stopped participating in this forum maybe a year ago, as I felt as though much of the feedback I was getting was from someone who was "cured" and had all the answers for everyone else. I sensed a change in this forum from one of support to one of arguing, which as you know is not what my brain needed. So I just went away. Long story short, my condition worsened considerably. I think of it as going from someone with trouble sleeping to a psychiatric patient, it was that bad. My old doctor came back (not the original prescriber). She took one look at me, listened to my story, and offered to put me back on 1 mg clonazepam. Feeling physically and emotionally like I was going to die before I got off this drug and/or felt better, I accepted that offer. My quality of life improved, as my sleep returned to crappy but not non-existent as it had been. After a couple of months I realized that what hadn't improved was the very low moods - I'll label it depression - that had been new with withdrawal but continued to haunt me after reinstatement. I just cannot seem to get my mood on an even keel. One day I'm okay, the next day I can't get off the couch. I never used to cry. I cry constantly now. I've lost a very noticable amount of weight, part of that was good b/c I am able to run and work out as I have my whole life, but couldn't during withdrawal. So I lost any weight I had gained from inactivity, but my weight and mood continued to plummet, kind of together. Funny, I was a mess all through trying to discontinue Clonazepam, but looked healthy enough, so extended fam is suddenly so concerned now that I am tiny. Sometimes I wonder where their concern was when I was merely feeling like I was dying, but not looking that way. Is it psychological? - the the effect of more than two years of being completely beat up by withdrawal and isolated because of withdrawal and covid? I feel like the experience pushed me to my breaking point and I've been unable to regulate my mood and emotions, not previously an issue. Is it physiological? Has my brain been beat up by bathing it in clonazepam for so many years, then taking it away, then adding it back, to the extent it no longer knows how to handle any adversity? I'm really stuck. Stopping the drug is not an option, I can't go back to where I was, I won't survive. But now I'm experiencing visible signs of distress even now that I am back on the drug. This won't be a popular statement, but I feel like I was holding my own with the exception of a return of poor sleep while on the drug. Then withdrawal was rather forced upon me, and the withdrawal was so destructive to my brain and body that I lost myself. I know I need to address this, but I don't want any more drugs in me. I'm considering seeking a therapy such as CBT to try and restore some emotional resilience skills.

A good day = up at 5 with a clear head, run 6-7 miles, some type of outing, stretch-strength-balance work out,

reading, some TV. A bad day, which I had yesterday, is "up" at 4 or earlier, brain fog, headache, upset tummy, GI distress, deep fatigue, no physical activity, a day spent on the couch in physical and emotional pain waiting until it's time to go to bed and try again. I'm having those about once every 1-2 wks, as opposed to 3 or 4 per week during withdrawal. My true concern is the dangerously low mood.

 

Being on this drug long-term is just flat out brutal. I'm super sorry to hear you say that "stopping the drug is not an option". I felt that way at one point too here and there, but thank the holy gods above that I got off this miserable poison! It will affect every cell of your being. Obviously, I can't tell you at all what to do, but if it were me, and based on my long experience, I would hold as long as it took to get "stable" and then begin a slow and healing taper...do a taper to the point where I was healing faster than I was tapering. At one point I was on 8mg of k/day with a steady 6mg/day over all the other years (27 yrs total), and many other psych meds in addition to the k along the way (monthly cocktails). So, I had to taper really, really slowly to get off that much k over two+ decades. It was worth it beyond any description I can give. At this point, sit back and really listen to yourself and your body and then move forward in the direction of your choice one step at a time. Like they say, "if you're in hell, keep going!!". You'll eventually get out. Our sincere best to you :)

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Hi Fi, can I ask why did you updose? Are you going to hold at your current dose for the future? Wishing you a happy, healthy life whatever!

 

I up-dosed to regain cognitive and physical functions which dramatically declined (essentially becoming nonfunctional) upon cessation and tapering of prescribed benzodiazepines. I have regained those functions to the levels they were prior to the cessation & tapering of the prescribed benzodiazepines. I am holding at the current prescribed dosage and I believe the benefits of doing that exceed the risks; i.e. as an adage that works well for me states: "If it isn't broken don't try to fix it."

 

Do you plan of just trying to stay on the 1 mg of xanax for the rest of your life? Your sig says you were up to  4 mgs if I read it correctly, so apparently you were having some issues with tolerance.

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