Has anybody successfully tapered off of lorazepam (Ativan)?

@nanagizer I was on .5 for at least two years. See photo for my schedule

@daveshaw

@kawanhee
So it took you 10 weeks to get off Klonopin?
When I get my next prescription should I get .5 mg tablets and then cut them in half? It looked like the first week was 5mg twice and .25 mg twice and slowly go down from there. Is that right.
Did this avoid any withdrawal symptoms? How much were you taking and for how long?
Let me know.
Thanks.

@daveshaw you’re misreading. Each change was two to three weeks. So about 6 months.
And I was on Ativan, another benzo like klonopin

@kawanhee Thanks for clarifying. How painful was it over the six months?
How long were you on Ativan? I would assume it was for anxiety. What have you replaced it with?
I appreciate you being so open with me.

@daveshaw I was originally prescribed .5 mg of Ativan when I was diagnosed with a disease. I then began relying on it for sleep, but it eventually stopped working.
Because I weaned myself very slowly, it was not painful at all.

Apparently, the higher your dose and longer you have been on it, the more difficult and slow the taper. It took me almost a full year to taper off 1.5mg once a day for 20 years. The first .5 was easy to omit because I was taking it only for sleep and that .5 just a few nights a week. Then I went to .75 for a month, then .5 for several months, .375 for several months, .25 for several months ( and this got very hard) - anxiety, social phobias, blood pressure issues, worsening dysphonia. Severe insomnia. Dr prescribed vistoril for sleep, which did not help. Discharged me with 2 months prescription for .125mg dissolvable tablets, which did nothing. For me, the withdrawal symptoms were very bad during this time. My PCP prescribed Remeron but that didn’t help. Finally got into a sleep doctor who prescribed Lunesta, which works well for sleep and I’ve felt my nervous system slowly recovering. Sleep is essential for me and when I sleep, I am more calm and social. I’ve been off klonopin for almost 2 years. I’m glad I did it.

@daveshaw, hi, I’m always reading about people who have withdrawn from benzodiazepines and found success in doing so, fortunately there’s lots more help available because this problem with benzodiazepines is so prevalent everywhere. In Canada where I live these drugs are labeled controlled substances, it’s not as severe as in the USA but there’s more pressure from the older doctors who want to retire with a clear record. I take Ativan and have been for over 20 years, I take 1 mg. daily and I managed for about 4 months to reduce it by half by using CBD/THC, unfortunately I relapsed due to health issues. It’s a different journey for everyone and you really can’t compare to other people and how they felt, so much is involved like your age, how long you’ve been taking them and your general health. Also, there’s so many success stories about recovering from life without these drugs, I wish you good luck and hope that your recovery goes smoothly.

@kawanhee saw my doctor today and i’m going to taper off the lorazepam. Tonight .5 mg, tomorrow none and so on for the next week and then two nights in between doses. I have some Calms Forte that I plan to use if needed. I’ve been taking .5 or 1mg for 6 weeks with a 5 day break of Ambien in between - which just doesn’t work for me anymore.
Next, I will try THC Gummies

@berekann that plan was too fast for me. Attached is how I weaned.