taper from extremely short term use of lorazepam?

ok, well this might sound silly to some of you, i have read your stories and you people are incredibly strong for putting down some massive benzo habits. Love it! Anyway, I was prescribed lorazepam 1mg to help with "extreme anxiety" and insomnia i was experiencing after taking too much of an amino acid supplement. I should add that i have recently gotten clean from a list of opiates, and i know anxiety goes with the territory of PAWS. I was taking the lorazepam 1mg every night for about a week, with one dose in the middle of this week at .5 mg. The last two nights i have been taking .5 mg of the lorazepam. My question is this: should i taper from such a short term use of the lorazepam? Like I said 7-8 days at 1mg, a day break, then the last two nights at .5mg.    My doctor told me to just cold turkey it, which i tried last night but got some fairly severe anxiety and a number of weird physical symptoms, plus insomnia. any advice is much appreciated, i just dont want to take this lorazepam any more! i can feel how addictive it is and its scary. Thanks to anyone who reads this and bless you.

Well it got ahold of me hard in 3 weeks. I was taking 2 or 3 mgs a day though. Couldn't hurt to taper just to make it easier on your system. If you cold turkeyed and felt symptoms. I'm sure they would only last a day or two. but they might suck. If you tappered they would almoste certanly be minimized.

It will probably be uncomfortable no matter which way you go, but benzo withdrawal is said to be worse than opiate withdrawal. IMO if it's only been a few days, I would agree with the doctor and jump. The longer you're on, the longer the poison has time to get you! And it will get you! I would say get as far away from the pills as possible, and tough it out for a few days or weeks. It may suck, but it's better than running the risk of getting sucked in further.

 

 

Not even two weeks ?

 

Probably best to just stop. The phrase 'cold turkey' doesn't even seem to apply.

 

If you were to taper, how would you taper ? A one week taper seems hard anyway, and the longer you are on the stuff the harder it gets.

 

If you need a little medical help there is some stuff your doctor can prescribe.

You just have to be careful not to switch one addiction for another !

The anxiety probably can't be avoided. Sedating antihistamines often help with insomnia and probably won't cause problems if you take them for only a week or so. Talk to your doc if you need some help.

I suppose beta blockers might help with both the anxiety and insomnia but it's probably overkill.

 

Some discomfort is inevitable.

thank you both very much for your replies! i went from friday taking one mg to nothing saturday night ( after 1 mg a day for about a week) i slept saturday night off and on but woke up with insane nightmares (some fbi agent was about to shoot me, so i ran full speed at him and tackled him into a river :/) woke up from that heart pounding. spent sunday feeling sick and anxious and just weird all over. as sunday night approached just kept feeling weirder, depersonalization, headache, muscle pain. so took .5 lorazepam and went to sleep. is this par for the course? had weird twitches and muscle spasms last night again before taking .5 one more time.

thanks liberty for the reply,, i have no money or health insurance so another doctor visit probably isnt happening. i will take yours and others advice and stop. i was prescribed hydroxizine but it seemed to make me more anxious, are there other otc sleep aids that can be recommended? much love for all of your help!

Hi want,  for 7 or 8 day use i personally, knowing what I know now would get off asap and stay off.

 

Ativan is a beast,  it's fast acting and seems to get a hold pretty quick.

 

If you feel you need to take it again,  take .25, but really as I said, if it were me,  I would get off and be done with it quick and try to work through any withdrawal as quickly as possible.

 

You have a pretty sensitive system due to other withdrawals and the amino acids.

 

You beat opiates,  you can beat this too.  Keep us posted. 

 

much love to you zoe

thank you offandrunning, so much. you and everyone else that has replied has given me something i havent had in a while, hope. im an optimistic guy usually and this nonsense is bringing me down. much love to YOU. my girlfriend would thank you too, im pretty sure im driving her insane. i will do this.

thanks liberty for the reply,, i have no money or health insurance so another doctor visit probably isnt happening. i will take yours and others advice and stop. i was prescribed hydroxizine but it seemed to make me more anxious, are there other otc sleep aids that can be recommended? much love for all of your help!

 

The most important thing is to stop taking it, and to do that consistently.

 

Sleep aids tend to be problematic. Many are cross tolerant with benzodiazepines.

Some other sedating antihistamines are promethazine, doxylamine and diphenhydramine/Benadryl.

Benadryl causes adverse reactions to some in benzo w/d but you've taken the drug for only a few days so maybe it will work. I'm not sure which ones are prescription only, and they may cause adverse side effects anyway.

 

I can't think of anything that is OTC. Even stuff like valerian, l-theanine is cross tolerant.

thank you offandrunning, so much. you and everyone else that has replied has given me something i havent had in a while, hope. im an optimistic guy usually and this nonsense is bringing me down. much love to YOU. my girlfriend would thank you too, im pretty sure im driving her insane. i will do this.

 

Hold on to the hope and let go of the ativan lol.

 

You have this.  Again keep us posted and take good care.  xo

Dear want2heal,

I echo what others and your doctor have stated about just going ahead and stopping the Ativan. A week of use isn't likely to cause a physical dependence. The Ativan will initially help with anxiety and insomnia, so upon stopping it, you're likely to notice those symptoms more. I read your introduction and noted that you've had a very difficult and courageous battle with opiate addiction, and you also feel like the Ativan could become problematic for you too. I think you should really commend yourself for your awareness that the Ativan could be psychologically addictive for you - that shows incredible strength in your recovery. That would be another reason why I think just getting rid of the Ativan altogether would be the way to go. Messing about with a taper, after being on a pretty low dose for a pretty short amount of time, seems, to me, counterproductive to what you've accomplished so far.

 

You beat opiate addiction and w/d. You will get through this; you are on the right path!

 

Are you getting some support right now to help manage your anxiety, as well as with your sobriety?

 

Wishing you the very best,

CB

I agree....on that low dose for such a short period....just jump. My 30 year old daughter went through 30 1mg pills of Ativan between January and June....taking one on Wednesday and One on Friday for workplace anxiety.....Anyway, she c/t and had one rough week, and then was symptom free. I was in the middle of my taper when she told me what she was on and asked me how to get off. I could not think of a taper that was easier than just jumping giving her short-term low use. She used benedryl and phenergan.

 

If you get hit with anxiety, nausea, or insomnia.......the antihistamines should help. Benedry, unisom, and dramamine are all OTC. They are not cross tolerant with Benzos and they are not physically addicting. The biggest problem is that most of us build tolerance to them quickly and have to give them a rest and save them for when we are really hurting. But if you just need them for a week after a c/t they should work fine. The Hydroxizine (visteral) is a prescription Antihistamine like Phenergan......they also help but benedryl is my favorite. Every one is different. If nausea is big I use phenergan.

[ftp][/ftp]cherry blossom-thank you for the advice and the encouragement, your post made me cry. i have lost a ton of self efficacy from the opiates and its very nice to be reminded that im not a complete screw up. for the anxiety i have my girlfriend and my mom for now. i haven't worried about the support for sobriety yet, although i know i will need it. Do you have suggestions? the doctors tell me NA or AA, do you know of better support? they also recommended a psychiatrist, but no health insurance here.  Klondike-thank you as well, i am about your daughter's age, i'm glad she got through it. Your sleep aid advice is much appreciated! Also what you said about developing tolerance to the visteral explains my situation, i was prescribed that along with the lorazepam and it seemed to work at first and then i took it as i was experiencing the makings of a panic attack and it made the anxiety worse...which really scared me away from it. perhaps i will try it again in the days to come. You all have really helped ease my anxiety over stopping and i am extremely grateful. I know this won't be easy but nothing worth it is. Love to all of you, i have read what you are all going through/ have  been through and admire how incredibly strong each of you are. I am going to "hold on to the hope and let go of the ativan" think i found my new mantra, thanks offandrunning. 

Dear W2H,

Either you're in a different time zone, or you have insomnia right now (like me)! I'm gonna send you a PM. Give me a few minutes to type it up for you ;-)

CB

haha yep insomnia, its late here

More like early! Took me more like an hour to write the PM, but I just sent it. Hope you are getting some sleep. Insomnia sucks!

wanted to update those of you that asked for it, sorry if it shouldn't go here. I'm 34 hours off the lorazepam. As many of you have said it has been hard, this beast is way harder than opiates, including methadone and the withdrawals from that were some straight nonsense.  talking through my anxiety and exercising have been helping. Walks have been my release. Just wanted to thank all of you again and let you know that even though i don't "know" you guys and gals I love you. I hope all of you find peace. Hold on and be strong!

So glad to hear from you want.

 

We are here.  We love you too

 

Please keep us posted zoe xo

thanks offandrunning! 56 hours now since last lorazepam. my mood seems to be improving and i slept 6 hours last night. very excited about that. heart palpitations and blood pressure changes are my biggest complaints, had some crazy palpitations and a panic attack but that went away and i was tired and slept. feel like cigarettes are contributing to the palps. in a more positive mood in general now, and catching glimpses of my old self. 

Nice to hear,  keep the faith.

 

YOu have this!  xoxoxo

Me personally, after taking it for such a short time I would jump off it and it should get out of your system (dont know the exact elimination time) or you could cut it in half and take half a dose a few days, then the other half a few days and stop. Either way you go you might have a few symptoms but you will be off it. I wouldnt think you'd have severe withdrawal after such a short time but its ultimately up to you. Best Wishes!

Hello hope your doing better. Hope you see this message how did it go your taper. Did you cold turkey  after all. I cold turkey  after taking lorazepam for 19 days and im going through hell i stop in December 2015 its been 4 1/2 months and i still like poop im just a little bit better but it seems to come and go like every other day and i feel myself at night. Mornings are the worst shaking, heart palpitations depression weakness tiredness i wake up to early sweating. I would appreciate if you back to me thanks

I am so happy for you that you didn't get sucked in to this hell.

You have done amazing.

Hugs k

ok, well this might sound silly to some of you, i have read your stories and you people are incredibly strong for putting down some massive benzo habits. Love it! Anyway, I was prescribed lorazepam 1mg to help with "extreme anxiety" and insomnia i was experiencing after taking too much of an amino acid supplement. I should add that i have recently gotten clean from a list of opiates, and i know anxiety goes with the territory of PAWS. I was taking the lorazepam 1mg every night for about a week, with one dose in the middle of this week at .5 mg. The last two nights i have been taking .5 mg of the lorazepam. My question is this: should i taper from such a short term use of the lorazepam? Like I said 7-8 days at 1mg, a day break, then the last two nights at .5mg.    My doctor told me to just cold turkey it, which i tried last night but got some fairly severe anxiety and a number of weird physical symptoms, plus insomnia. any advice is much appreciated, i just dont want to take this lorazepam any more! i can feel how addictive it is and its scary. Thanks to anyone who reads this and bless you.

 

Too bad your doc can't help you out with some long acting librium or valium.

 

My guess is your still in Opiate PAWS and where most of your trouble is coming from.  My doc gave me .1 mg Clonidine 3X a day.  It helps.