Tapering off Ativan Support Thread

Hi lostinMi: Welcome to the support thread. Sorry for what you have been through.

Ativan is a short acting benzo and it seems you are definately experiencing interdose WD, as you said.

Many people here ( myself included ) find that dividing the daily dose into 4 amounts greatly helps with the interdose wd. Dividing a dose can feel like a cut so, it is often recommended to hold a bit after dividing your dose into 4 . Cuts are often not felt until around day 4 , and it may take a few days for your CNS to "wind down" after you feel the cut ( This is all very individual and you definately have to listen to your body throughout this process). I too intially used a scale but found that it was too tedious and I really wanted an accurate taper that was less hassle, so switched to a compounded liquid ativan prepared for me by a "Compounding pharmacy". The taper has been SO much easer with this. Intially I was cutting every 7-10 days but as you get lower in dose , the percentage of the cut is taken off the remaining dose so I found that cutting smaller amounts every 5 days for now seems to be working pretty well eg. 2.5% rather than 5%. The liquid (0.5mg/ml) solution and a 1ml syringe gives the flexibility to do very small cuts if needed . Whatever method you choose, I think the dividing

of your doses as a first step would assist you in stabilizing initially. All the best. Sending you healing

thoughts and prayers for your taper.

Hello all...I'm new to BB but have been reading members posts for a week now.  I tapped out back on 10/31/14 with severe panic/anxiety and had to drive myself to the ER.  I'd had anxiety attacks in the past but thought this one was going to end my life.  Lets move forward.  In the last 4 months I've been hospitalized in-patient 3 times, have been given numerous SSRI's and was started on 1mg of Ativan/day when I was first hospitalized.  In between hospital stays I continued taking a small dose (0.5 to 1mg) of Ativan which was prescribed by my Primary Care Dr. to ward off the side effects of the various ssri's.  About 3 weeks ago I started feeling really anxious and panicky shorly after waking up every morning and couldn't figure out why since I was sleeping real good for my normal 6 hours or so.  Then it dawned on me.... I was suffering interdose wd's from the Ativan each morning when I woke up.  Now I find myself dependent on the Ativan and joined BB to seek help and advice for a direct taper off the stuff.  I've been taking at most about 0.5mg-.60mg each day most days I hold at 0.5mg.  At that amount I am feeling crappy and anxious all day, basically torturing myself, knowing my Brain is asking for more, but refuse to updose to a higher base level.  My pills are 0.5mg.  I've been cutting them in half, taking 0.25mg around 9:00a.m. and another 0.25mg in the early afternoon when I can't stand the interdose symptoms any longer.  I started a taper last week where I take the .25mg at 9:00 a.m. then shave off a little bit off my p.m.dose making it about .18 to .20mg.  Is this the right approach to take and how long should I hold at .45mg each day before I make another cut ?  I feel for all of you out there who are dealing with the same hell I'm going through.  I'm scared to death about my situation and any words of encouragement would certainly be welcome and hope you Folks can assist me with my taper.  I've ordered a scale to help out with my taper but would greatly appreciate suggestions from others who are working on their Ativan tapers. One question I have is:  How important is it to take your doses at a pre-scheduled time each day ?  Thank you in advance to all who choose to reply to my post.  God Bless....

 

Hi lost:

 

I did a direct taper off ativan and jumped from 0.02mg. you'll be fine, just need to bite the bullet on the way down. Yes, take your doses at exactly the same time each day, or as close as you can get. I did a compounded liquid ativan taper, very easy dosing, but 0.5mg tablets should allow you to get down pretty low. Being scared is what this drug does to us. I'm living proff that all of that horrid stuff passes, I'm doing quite well. This weekend, I did a mondo-mountain biking trip at 200% effort followed by a day of surfing. So in essence, normal life does return post-taper AND post-jump recovery. Just stick with your plan, updose as little as possible, and hold on TIGHT.

 

good luck.

 

laser

Hello all,

 

OK.... as suggested by judi66 in a recent post on March 16, 2015 I have changed my daily 0.50mg Ativan dose from (2) .25mg doses to (4) .125 doses, spreading them out at equal intervals during the day.  As She stated, any dose splitting will likely feel like a cut and after only two days at (4) doses/day I can feel a difference in the WD symptoms.  I'm coping, but it's still difficult.

 

Responding to my posting, both judi66 and Laserjet3051 have suggested that I go to a Compounded Liquid Solution of Ativan at a ratio of 0.5mg/ml.  By trimming down my morning dose (the first of four ) to approx. 0.8mg I'm now going to hold for a week at approx. 0.45mg/day.  I have an uninformed question...will my Liquid Solution ratio still be 0.5mg/ml or will it be 0.45mg/ml ?  Sorry for my ignorance, but I really don't know and need advice from those of you that have already done your homework... Thanks !

 

As previously mentioned I've ordered a Scale but I'm skeptical that it will allow me to trim down the tiny 0.125mg pieces of my pill to any degree of accuracy.  Please chime in if you've tried a Scale and had success.  If so, how small can I expect to trim down those little tiny pieces of Ativan before the scale becomes useless?

 

I've located a Compounding Pharmacy not too far from where I work and they said they could prepare the solution for me if I bring in a script.  Thing is, my Primary Care Dr. won't prescribe the liquid because, I'm told, that it is "stronger" than the tablet...  does that make sense to anyone ?

 

I don't see my Pshyc Dr. till the end of this month and have no idea whether he will work with me on getting the Liquid Solution.  He's got me on Lyrica 75mg 1x/day and some Herbal Extracts to help me wean off the Ativan with only marginal improvement at best so far. (1 month)  I'm also on Buspar 15mg 3x/day and Remeron 45mg and Lyrica 150mg at bedtime.  I'm sleeping good.

 

Both of the aforemetioned Buddies stated their Ativan Withdrawal "Log" and I'm seeing that cuts as small as 0.02mg were being made by using a 1ml Syringe, etc.  I'm really uninformed with regard to this Liquid Solution Method, and, because my Brain Function right now is so diminished from all the Meds I'm on including the WD symptoms I can't seem to wrap my head around doing the math to figure out how to make small incremental cuts with a syringe.

 

Example:  If I want to cut from 0.45mg/day to 0.42mg/ day....  how many (ml) is that cut ?  I can't even figure out what percentage of a cut that is.  Crap.  I don't even know what Volume a ml of solution takes up.

 

Is there anyone out there who would be willing to respond to this request or perhaps exchange a few PM's to help me understand all this, or can I expect the Pharmacist to do so ?

 

I just don't understand all the Math.  Help?  Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

I use a compounded liquid too.

 

My doctor calls in the script to the compounding pharmacy.

 

I get a 1ml syringe at the vet's office just because it is the best one for me, in terms of large black lines on the syringe.

 

The syringe is like a plunger, and you shake the refrigerated liquid before inserting the syringe.  I have an insert for the bottle with a hole in the middle.  As I turn the bottle upside down, I put the syringe in the hole and suck up the liquid to the desired amount.

 

On my syringe the gradations are 1ml. (at the top), .9ml, .8ml. and so on down to .1ml. 

 

There are also 4 black lines to the tip of the syringe past the .1ml marker, essentially to 0ml

 

There are 4 clear small lines between each numeral marker, i.e....... 1ml is marked with a black line, then there are 4 black lines and .9ml is marked on the next black line, etc.

 

Is this the information you are looking for?

 

The pharmacist should definitely be able to explain it to you.  And hopefully have a good clear syringe for you.

 

There is enough space on mine between each of those 4 black line between the dosage markers to get the liquid right where I want it.

 

Example  ------- .9ml

                  ----

                  ----    (5% drop)

                  ----

                  ----

              ---------.8ml  (10% drop)

 

I don't know if that is clear?  Hope it is and it helps

 

It took me a while to get the hang of the math, and I had to remember the 2 to 1 relationship of milligrams to millliters

 

You can look at my reductions below .

 

I have either dumbed this down or overcomplicated it, I'm sure. 

 

Others please correct my errors!

 

 

Hello all,

 

OK.... as suggested by judi66 in a recent post on March 16, 2015 I have changed my daily 0.50mg Ativan dose from (2) .25mg doses to (4) .125 doses, spreading them out at equal intervals during the day.  As She stated, any dose splitting will likely feel like a cut and after only two days at (4) doses/day I can feel a difference in the WD symptoms.  I'm coping, but it's still difficult.

 

Responding to my posting, both judi66 and Laserjet3051 have suggested that I go to a Compounded Liquid Solution of Ativan at a ratio of 0.5mg/ml.  By trimming down my morning dose (the first of four ) to approx. 0.8mg I'm now going to hold for a week at approx. 0.45mg/day.  I have an uninformed question...will my Liquid Solution ratio still be 0.5mg/ml or will it be 0.45mg/ml ?  Sorry for my ignorance, but I really don't know and need advice from those of you that have already done your homework... Thanks !

 

As previously mentioned I've ordered a Scale but I'm skeptical that it will allow me to trim down the tiny 0.125mg pieces of my pill to any degree of accuracy.  Please chime in if you've tried a Scale and had success.  If so, how small can I expect to trim down those little tiny pieces of Ativan before the scale becomes useless?

 

I've located a Compounding Pharmacy not too far from where I work and they said they could prepare the solution for me if I bring in a script.  Thing is, my Primary Care Dr. won't prescribe the liquid because, I'm told, that it is "stronger" than the tablet...  does that make sense to anyone ?

 

I don't see my Pshyc Dr. till the end of this month and have no idea whether he will work with me on getting the Liquid Solution.  He's got me on Lyrica 75mg 1x/day and some Herbal Extracts to help me wean off the Ativan with only marginal improvement at best so far. (1 month)  I'm also on Buspar 15mg 3x/day and Remeron 45mg and Lyrica 150mg at bedtime.  I'm sleeping good.

 

Both of the aforemetioned Buddies stated their Ativan Withdrawal "Log" and I'm seeing that cuts as small as 0.02mg were being made by using a 1ml Syringe, etc.  I'm really uninformed with regard to this Liquid Solution Method, and, because my Brain Function right now is so diminished from all the Meds I'm on including the WD symptoms I can't seem to wrap my head around doing the math to figure out how to make small incremental cuts with a syringe.

 

Example:  If I want to cut from 0.45mg/day to 0.42mg/ day....  how many (ml) is that cut ?  I can't even figure out what percentage of a cut that is.  Crap.  I don't even know what Volume a ml of solution takes up.

 

Is there anyone out there who would be willing to respond to this request or perhaps exchange a few PM's to help me understand all this, or can I expect the Pharmacist to do so ?

 

I just don't understand all the Math.  Help?  Thanks

 

Your doctors statement that he wont prescribe the liquid because it is stronger almost certainly refers to the liquid SOLUTION prepared by the manufacturer, which I believe comes at 2 mg/ml. Doctor is not referring to the compounded SUSPENSION, which is prepared by the pharmacist on site at ANY concentration that the doctor prescribes. Sounds like a miscommunication.

 

You can even ask for a super super weak/dilute compounded suspension if he is worried about it being "too strong." Some folks have it preapred at 0.1 mg/ml. This concentration will work, but you will need a larger syringe depending on your current dose.

 

By definition, a 1 mg/ml suspension (or solution) will have 1 mg in 1 ml. Thus if you measure out 1 ml, there will be 1 mg of drug in it. Scale up or down as appropriate from this.

 

For example, in my 0.5 mg/ml suspension, a 0.02 mg cut equated to 0.04 ml. So each time I cut 0.02 mg, I would reduce my volume (daily dose) by 0.04 ml. The syringe barrel has gradations (lines) on the side for measuring, much like for a measuring cup, but metric.

 

laser

Is anyone having luck with something for sleep while tapering lorazepam ?

 

It's hard to fall asleep, and I tend to wake up after sleeping only a few hours.

 

I've had the hardest time sleeping when I was on 2.5mg lorazepam (in tolerance wd). Adding some valium and dropping lorazepam has helped with sleep, although my sleeping hours are strange (from 4:00 until 9:00 am). Before valium, my GP has given me a sample of silenor 3mg tablets (doxepin), and it did help me sleep, although I felt I bit revved up from it. But, we all react differently.

 

I feel your pain, there were nights in early Feb, when I didn't sleep at all. Lorazepam is kind of hard to taper because of its short half-life.

Just saying hi

A question to you folks:

 

How long till the sedative effects of lorazepam wore off ?

 

In the beginning lorazepam was easier to tolerate because it had hypnotic and sedative effects.

Just saw my Pdoc and asked if there was any way to change up the timing and doses to my current meds to help eliminate the onset of adrenalin/anxiety rushes I'm experiencing during my ongoing Ativan taper.

 

My Signature decribes what I'm currently taking.

 

He said he wanted to add "Prazosin" generic for "Minipress" which is a Blood Pressure Med..... and is classified as a "Statin" drug. 

 

Some of my friends who know meds are telling me NOT to take this because of unhealthy and dangerous side effects to my Brian.

 

Has anyone taken Prazosin as an aid for Benzo withdrawal and what are your opinion(s) about it ?

 

Thanks to anyone responding to this post...

Maybe this has been answered before but has anyone noticed a difference in the lorazepam pills  depending on the maker? I hate the bigger 1mg pills that say Watson on them. It seems like all they give me now. I use to get tiny little 1mg pills. I don't know the maker but they seemed like they meshed with my chemistry better. When I first started on the ones marked Watson I started having nightmares. I actually threw out a bottle of them as I thought there was something wrong with them. Any one else notice this?

Oldgrey: I think you're right. I used to get the Watson kind and the tiny ones do seem to work better!

Hiya

Just wanring to join the group if I may..

 

38 years on ativan and its time to stop . I'm claiming my life back ..

My goodness its difficult... I think I've reached my tolerance level and  the sleeping ( lack of) is the worst thing....the sensativity to noise, and sounds, the balance thing, the vertigo, but the dam sleepless nights is the worst...

Also itching.. Anyone else get the itching?

My tapering is in my signiture..

Thanks for reading .. One step at a time now...

Hi everyone - WOW! A lot of new buddies joining the thread. Welcome Bozobertie, Lilywhite, Oldgreymare, LostinMi and Liberty. I'm sorry you all have found yourself needing to be here.

 

I'm sorry I haven't been around much lately, I've been really busy. I wish I could say it's because I'm symtpom free and off loving life, but that would be a lie 

 

Bertie - it looks like you are doing really well on your taper. Way to go!! Based on your signature there are two other support groups that you may find helpful. One is for people who work during their taper/recovery and the other is for long time benzo users (20+ years).

 

Here are the links:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=66302.msg1747355#new

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=128028.msg1746163#new

 

 

Hope everyone manages to find a little peace today 

 

 

 

 

OMG! Yes on the itching! I get welts anywhere I've itched. I will itch till I bleed which is easy as my skin seems to have thinned for some reason 

Hi all......

 

just writing out of boredom here on my Lunch hour at work....  another rainy cold day here in Michigan.

 

Not doing so well with my Ativan Taper...been holding at .402mg/day split into (4) .102mg doses.  8 , 11 , 2 , 5 o'clock.  Dry cutting my .5mg pills with a Scale.

 

Tried a couple times in the last two weeks to drop to .375/day... my CNS seems to pick up on the cut in short order and I bump back up to .402mg.....  Severe brain fog, blurred vision and nervousness all day long....  can't seem to get motivated to do ANYTHING once I get home from work.  Can't even throw the ball for my dog or clean house.  Seems hopeless that I'll ever get down to a low dose where I can try jumping.  My Pdoc told me last week I'm on such a "baby dose" of A that I should be able to go C/T and sweat it out for a night, then be okay.  I'm quite scared to try it.

 

Any BB comments regarding .402mg of Ativan being a "baby dose" ??  Should I try jumping off ?  My Pdoc says going C/T off that dose won't kill me....

 

Does anyone else have motivation issues which I presume are directly related to the Ativan wd ?  I suppose it could be the Lyrica I'm also taking for anxiety.....

 

Any suggestions on how I can get my dose down lower without literally losing my mind....?

 

Wishing you all a safe and agreeable afternoon....

 

lostinMI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi all......

 

just writing out of boredom here on my Lunch hour at work....  another rainy cold day here in Michigan.

 

Not doing so well with my Ativan Taper...been holding at .402mg/day split into (4) .102mg doses.  8 , 11 , 2 , 5 o'clock.  Dry cutting my .5mg pills with a Scale.

 

Tried a couple times in the last two weeks to drop to .375/day... my CNS seems to pick up on the cut in short order and I bump back up to .402mg.....  Severe brain fog, blurred vision and nervousness all day long....  can't seem to get motivated to do ANYTHING once I get home from work.  Can't even throw the ball for my dog or clean house.  Seems hopeless that I'll ever get down to a low dose where I can try jumping.  My Pdoc told me last week I'm on such a "baby dose" of A that I should be able to go C/T and sweat it out for a night, then be okay.  I'm quite scared to try it.

 

Any BB comments regarding .402mg of Ativan being a "baby dose" ??  Should I try jumping off ?  My Pdoc says going C/T off that dose won't kill me....

 

Does anyone else have motivation issues which I presume are directly related to the Ativan wd ?  I suppose it could be the Lyrica I'm also taking for anxiety.....

 

Any suggestions on how I can get my dose down lower without literally losing my mind....?

 

Wishing you all a safe and agreeable afternoon....

 

lostinMI

 

Like many docs, yours simply doesn't know how powerful A is and how hard it can be to remove.  You already know what happens when you cut to .375mg.  Imagine what a CT would be like.  And how long it would last.

 

Why remove so much at once?  You have .5mg pills and a scale, so you are able to make very small reductions, and that is what I would do.  Make the smallest cut you can and see what happens.  Then make another.  They will add up.

Lost - I'm sorry your doc doesn't "get it". Your signature states that you tried dropping .50mg before with bad results.....jumping from .402 will be just as bad, IMO. In addition, when you cut .50mg you were still on the other .50mg of Ativan and that didn't buffer your symptoms. I think you would be setting yourself up for a world of hurt. SG is right, if you're feeling these small cuts, what makes you think a larger, drastic cut/CT, would be easier?

 

This is very difficult. I will tell you the your symptoms are 100% "normal" for withdrawal. On a daily basis I have heavy cog fog, disequilibrium, muscle spasms, headaches, very blurry vision and I'm highly emotional and unmotivated. This, unfortunately, is par for the course. I know it's scary and frustrating and unbelievable....I've been doing this for 16 months and I'm still shocked. If you look at my full taper link in my signature you'll see I hit my biggest wall right around where you are (.38mg) It was awful. But I took it slow and have been much better since then.

 

How fast are you tapering? Are you holding minimum 7 days between cuts? I started taking .01mg off every 4 days about 6 weeks ago and it's made a world of difference even at my low dose. I have really bad days, but overall functioning at a higher baseline.

 

You can do this 

Hi all......

 

just writing out of boredom here on my Lunch hour at work....  another rainy cold day here in Michigan.

 

Not doing so well with my Ativan Taper...been holding at .402mg/day split into (4) .102mg doses.  8 , 11 , 2 , 5 o'clock.  Dry cutting my .5mg pills with a Scale.

 

Tried a couple times in the last two weeks to drop to .375/day... my CNS seems to pick up on the cut in short order and I bump back up to .402mg.....  Severe brain fog, blurred vision and nervousness all day long....  can't seem to get motivated to do ANYTHING once I get home from work.  Can't even throw the ball for my dog or clean house.  Seems hopeless that I'll ever get down to a low dose where I can try jumping.  My Pdoc told me last week I'm on such a "baby dose" of A that I should be able to go C/T and sweat it out for a night, then be okay.  I'm quite scared to try it.

 

Any BB comments regarding .402mg of Ativan being a "baby dose" ??  Should I try jumping off ?  My Pdoc says going C/T off that dose won't kill me....

 

Does anyone else have motivation issues which I presume are directly related to the Ativan wd ?  I suppose it could be the Lyrica I'm also taking for anxiety.....

 

Any suggestions on how I can get my dose down lower without literally losing my mind....?

 

Wishing you all a safe and agreeable afternoon....

 

lostinMI

 

One problem I have with splitting pills is that I lose some every time I split. How much, who knows? But if you're cutting a .375mg pill twice, you're not going to get a total of .375mg unless you somehow include the dust.

 

Solution? Cut less at first to account for the loss.

Hello all...

 

I've been trying larger cuts because I want and desperately need to get off this Crap asap.

 

I feel as though my Life, my livelihood, my Home I worked very hard for, for 45 years saving up to build, everything I own, my very Soul and Spirit....everything... is slipping away like a horrific mudslide.

 

What's really hard is the very intense feeling of Loneliness that the WD brings on.... no one understands what we are all dealing with.  No one has the slightest clue whatsoever.

 

Can't talk any more tonight.  The S word is haunting me and I need to go out and get some fresh air....

 

Love and Peace to all....

Hello all...

 

I've been trying larger cuts because I want and desperately need to get off this Crap asap.

 

I feel as though my Life, my livelihood, my Home I worked very hard for, for 45 years saving up to build, everything I own, my very Soul and Spirit....everything... is slipping away like a horrific mudslide.

 

What's really hard is the very intense feeling of Loneliness that the WD brings on.... no one understands what we are all dealing with.  No one has the slightest clue whatsoever.

 

Can't talk any more tonight.  The S word is haunting me and I need to go out and get some fresh air....

 

Love and Peace to all....

 

I tried larger cuts in the beginning of my taper. They brought me to my knees but those deep cuts shortened my time to get off dramatically. I ended up slowing my taper down a lot, because going full speed all the way down was not going to work. But I am glad I did what I did and not drag it out too long. I also had to work every day so cutting big had to stop. I know the feeling like everything we worked so hard for is slipping away. But if you get off this drug and recover, you can have your life back. I am here to evidence just that prediction.

 

laser

As much as I don't like it, I might have to keep taking some low-dose beta blockers to get that ativan to 1.5 mg slowly. It's like my body won't concede to go below 2mg. The chest pain and insomnia become absolutely horrible. I was practically bed-ridden yesterday. How does one do a microtaper? Maybe cut 0.01 or something like that per day. Hard to do with a gram scale, though.

 

 

Has anyone else experienced this: during the taper, at smaller doses (twice a day), time seems to progress very slowly at times (no pun intended) ?

I am finding my scale to be very erratic..kind of like withdrawing from this drug!!  I will way a little chunk and it says .014..and then the next time it will say .018 or .008...I have no idea how to do this when a person gets down so low and is dry cutting!!  I am kind of eye balling now but seriously thinking about jumping real soon!!  Uffda this is quite the ride!!

I have thought about switching to valium as i have horrendous pain in my mouth now for a year and I am broken...

 

I have lost 14kilos this year as i cant eat much for the pain.

 

I am on 1.9 mg

 

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.4

Spread even in 6 hour doses...

 

 

 

 

I have already crossed to a suspension which was horrendous, but i don't know how else to get off this shit if i don't make my own liquid. I have ordered vodka to try it....I don't know if its sxs or withdrawals thats causing the pain my mouth which is also being caused by clenching...