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Has anybody successfully tapered off of lorazepam (Ativan)?
Has anybody successfully managed to successfully wean off of Lorazepam?
If so how was it done?
And if it was by way of switching to other drugs, were you then able to taper off of those entirely under a doctor's guidance?
My husband has been on Lorazepam for 16 years
He did well for 14 years, but dragged his feet about trying to withdraw while he was feeling better.
In May he had a relapse of anxiety, and insomnia, with brain fog, heart palpitations, and more.
Currently he's doing better, thinking better, but still feels like crap a large part of the time, can't sleep without the drug, can't nap.and still struggles with anxiety.
At this point, I believe it's the drug that is actually causing the problem. Currently he's doing 1 mg at bedtime and 3/4 mg when he wakes up at 2:30 am.
I know it takes 2 years for the brains GABA receptors to normalize after taking Benzodiazepines.
Also know it's really hard to withdraw, has to be done extremely slowly, and the side effects are exactly the same as the symptoms it is meant to help.
My goal is to eventually wean him off of all drugs as functional health tests show they block his nutritional absorption and may be damaging his intestinal lining. I would like to be able to repair his health using nutrition, supplements, and neurotransmitter amino acids.
All feedback is welcomed!
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Hi I recently started weaning off med by .25 mg every two weeks. It helped when dr called in different dose pills that could easily be split. 1/4 I can do. Never tried 1/8.
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1 ReactionGet a nice heavy duty mortar and pestle, and a digital scale for weighing meds. Crush and weigh the pill. Remove the percentage you want to taper.
For example, if your pill weighs 100 mg and you want to reduce by 5%, remove 5 mg, take the remaining 95. The next time you reduce the dose, take 5% away from 95 - 4.75 round up to 5), remove 5 mg again and take 90. And so on.
You can also do a liquid taper, I'm not as familiar but same concept, you can reduce by very small amounts. See Ashton Manual
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2 ReactionsI weaned from .5 mg of lorazepam very slowly. It took six months and below is the schedule I followed. I didn’t want to try the Ashton method because it seemed too complicated. I used a pill cutter and did the best I could.
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3 ReactionsThank you 🙂 I will try this.
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1 ReactionI will be finished with my Ativan taper on April 8. I started in February of 2023 at 1.5 mg per day. I have been seeing a doctor that was willing to prescribe liquid suspension Ativan. No guessing with the cutting although it does require math skills (that the pharmacist should be able to help you with). I have decreased 10 percent every two weeks. A slow process but I am down to 0.25 and next 0.125 and I will be finished. With such small dose reductions I am not feeling any side effects. She also prescribed a low dose of Mirtazapine to help with my sleep. Smallest dose is 7.5mg but I am only on 2 mg that I get at a compounding pharmacy made in liquid. It is not easy but slow and steady is the answer. Best of luck to you.
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3 ReactionsWeening off Ativan , how long did it take till the tinnitus stopped buzzing
If you want to go down to .5, do a slow taper to get there. Based on how I tapered off of .5 (took me about six months,) I’d recommend the following based on how my sleep medicine doctor told me to wean off it:
Do every two to three weeks:
1) 1mg, 1, .75, 1, 1, .75….
2) 1, .75, 1, .75, 1, .75…
3) 1, .75, .75, 1, .75, .75…
4) .75 every day
5) .75, .75, .5….
6) .75, .5….
7) .75, .5, .5…
8) .5 every day
Please note: I’m not a doctor but this is similar to the slow taper that worked for me.
For what it’s worth!
kawanhee,
Do you take all of #1 in one day? That quantity would be 6 times a day,
and take that for 2 - 3 weeks?
Then do #2 amount every day for 2 - 3 weeks?
I think I'm confused.
Also, I take Ativan 200mg daily as well as Lorazipam 1mg 4 x a day.
I am nauseus every day.
omg that is a tremendous amount of benzo. You need a doctor to help you taper off. Be careful and safe.
I’m sorry if it’s confusing.
1) 1 mg first day, 1mg second day, .75 third day, then repeat. Do this for two to three weeks.
2) 1 mg first day. .75 mg second day etc.
Hope that explains it