Ativan withdrawal and going on Lunesta

@gunshy my new doctor prescribed Lexapro 5mg to take while decreasing Ativan. It should take about two weeks. Potentially the Lexapro will help me sleep of reduced anxiety, and if it works well enough, I can consider staying on it long-term, many people do. If not, I won’t be on it for very long so it shouldn’t be too difficult to taper off of and move on something else or nothing

@margaretallen .5

Had such side effects from just 5mg Lexapro, that I discussed it with the advice nurse at my health clinic and decided to not take any more. I’m just going through a period of anxiety due to stress. I don’t have GAD and I think my main symptoms are due to having built-up tolerance to lorazepam after just eight months. So I will continue with tapering off the lorazepam, no Lexapro. But a little melatonin before bed and a homeopathic calms forte in the middle of the night if needed. Last night I had one of the best nights sleep. I had in a while. I really don’t wanna take something that messes with my brain chemistry so much.

@berekann
Good for you. lorazepam was a nightmare for me as I kept having break through as I was taking it twice a day daily for GAD -- wrong thing to do. Switched me to clonazepam which helped with sleep and was longer acting, but now I have to taper off of that as I have had a paradoxical response to it. But I was told after my bad reaction of being directly switched from loraz to clona that it was like having a concussion and never should have been done like that. I think most practitioners are not well educated about benzos and we need to research and advocate for ourselves. I worked for months to find a tapering protocol that I was comfortable with.

@gunshy doctors are too quick to prescribe meds, especially those that get patients addicted so they have to get more every month and then maybe switch to something else when that one doesn’t work which is a very hard thing to do

Amen, sister. And it is worse when they don't tell you in order for you to give informed cosent, and then even if you don't become addicted your become dependent which, for me, actually forced to continue taking them at higher does or taper off. I am choosing the later, but to do safely, it will take a long time so I will be tethered to the drug until I am off it and will have to live with what ever withdrawal symptoms I experience and pause the decrease until they abate. I want to get on with my life as I once knew it, and my life will never be the same. Hopefully my experience will be able to give others a heads up so they won't be chained to taking a drug I should have never been put on in the first place,

@gunshy when my doctor prescribed lorazepam he said don’t read about it. Just trust me. Well after I did read about it I didn’t trust him much any longer, but then I “needed” it to calm anxiety & to sleep. Then the rules changed and I had to see him every few months and take a urine test. When I told him I was moving, he wouldn’t do anything about it but left it to my new provider. She’s the one who wanted to put me on Lexapro but we’ve discussed it and I am just tapering off lorazepam. Down from 1.5 mg a night to .5 mg in just two weeks. Plus a little melatonin and some calms forte. Good luck to all who struggle with this

I started taking lorazepam over 25 years ago and it has always worked for me, my previous long term doctor started me on them and never had any issues about it until the last number of years before he retired. I was horrified by his ruthlessness, he wanted me to stop taking lorazepam and wasn’t helpful with making it possible, instead he just reduced my pills without talking to me or trying to get help for me. I even had cancer twice and I was filled with fear but he just didn’t care. I was truly traumatized by this and it really caused me so much anxiety to be treated this way, you trust your doctor and I was his patient for 25 years but I’m still working on recovery from my experience.

@frouke that was very uncaring on his part. I have been on Ativan 40 years and my doctors have been open to my need since I am on such a small dose and it helps me with no side effects.

I have been 1mg Ativan 3times a day for over 20 years. My doctor and i decided I needed a change. She switched me to.5 Xanax 3 times a day. Direct switch. After a bad time with Xanax she switched me back to Ativan after two weeks. I’m having a hard time. Could I be having withdrawal symptoms