Getting off Ativan...Need some help and suggestions

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47benny

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Hello all:wave:

I have decided that its time to slowly stop taking lorazepam and need some guidance. I have been taking .5mg 3 times a day for the last 4 years. I was prescribed Ativan for a panic attack which turned into a constant worry about my health.

My current doctor gave me a schedule which I felt was extremely to fast, down .25mg every 3 days. I have pretty much lost confidence in her opinion because of this advice and realizing how willing she was to just keep me on it for this length of time even after things improved.

Looking for some opinions on a better schedule and from those who have successfully got off this drug anything that could help me out.

Thanks
J
 
Thanks for all the replies. After doing some research I have a schedule so going to give it a shot, pretty motivated to get off this drug. I really don't experience any health anxiety anymore so hopefully that remains while tapering. Good luck to you as well Bevoir!
 
Thanks, Buddy :)

I'm down to 0.5mg now and should be tapering back to 0.25mg within the next few days. What type of schedule are you on?

Good luck to you too, hun and let us know how you are doing :angel:
 
If I were you I'd do a search on benzo withdrawal and you will find the proper information as to how to withdraw without causing more distress than necessary.

Been there done that and you need help.


Start your search.
 
congrats Bevoir! your almost there. So your only on .25mg a day now?

After reading through the Ashton manual I have a pretty good plan. I went to my Dr. and got a prescription for Valum to start my taper. I'm on 3x(.5) a day of Ativan so going to replace that with 5mg valum in morning and 10mg at night then start my taper of 1mg Valum every week or so. Hopefully someone can answer this..at 1.5mg of Ativan daily would i need to transition to Valum slowly or just make the switch? everything I read in the Ashton manual was referencing a much higher dose.
 
do as Looly suggests

you are correct to be concerned with your doctors knowledge in this area
 
I imagine you can just make the switch. However, you may find yourself feeling more drowsy, as diazepam is more of a hypnotic than ativan at the equivalent dose.
 
Hey Buddy,

Glad to hear you have a taper plan in place :) I wish you all the best, hun.

I had a large hiccup in my taper yesterday. Started to feel pretty bad, lack of sleep etc and after chatting to my doc, I have realized that I was tapering way to quickly and was feeling the pain. So I have done a dose correction and taken it back up to 0.75mg which I will hold for two weeks and then go back down to 0.5mg. I'll be taking my taper a lot slower than I planned on, but it should make it eaiser in the long run as yesterday was pretty bad with the withdrawal symptoms.

You should be just fine with your Aston method though. Good luck and let me know how you're doing.
 
My doctor gave me the same kind of advice, which I didn't like either (I'm on Klonopin.) But two pharmmacists told me to scale back 1 tablet per week, then do 1/2 a tab per week, then 1/2 a tab every two days for one more week..then off, and that should stop any sudden or nasty withdrawl symptoms. But as the other two posts said, check online or with your pharmacist and they should be able to give you a safe and realistic schedule.

Let me know how you are doing as I'll be going through the same thing. Good luck.
 
The Ashton protocol recommenRAB tapering down the lorazepam, and then switching to an equivalent dose of diazepam, which has a longer half life, and gradually tapering off that.
 
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