How did you successfully taper off of 0.5 lorazepam (Ativan)?

I was taking 0.5 mg. twice daily and started on Peroxitine for depression, the side effects were profound and totally intolerable, after about six weeks my doctor weened me off them too fast and I had serotonin withdrawal which is just easing a little, my Ativan was increased by .05 mg. to help me cope. I remained on.5 mg. 3 times a day for a while and then I noticed that my last dose at bedtime was making me feel sick, it just felt too strong and worried me, I was advised to reduce it by.25 mg. and after a week it started getting better, I hope to reduce the other .25 mg. but I’m still not ready. It’s very frustrating and scary when your meds aren’t working the same as before and can cause a lot of anxiety.

I had been on Ativan for about a year and a half- .5mg, often less at the beginning. So at first, I just took it when I felt I needed it which was maybe every couple days. Then after a while – this was during the pandemic – I ended up taking it every single morning. And for many months that was OK and it was when in the late afternoon, I could tell I was in need of something for anxiety, I realized that I had developed a tolerance finally. After a few more months of twice a day dosing, I decided it was time to try to wean off of it. And I did it what many people would consider agonizingly, ridiculously slowly. I started with spacing out the doses to eliminate the evening dose, like I would wait till 10 PM when I had been taking it at five or 6 PM, if I could. Meantime, breaking the pills, slightly smaller each time. And if I had a bad day, I would take a little more. It probably took me about a month to a month and a half to eliminate the evening dose, and then I just started taking smaller and smaller pieces until at the end I would skip days or take them every day and a half instead of every day. And the whole process took about three months and it was fairly painless for me. I understand it’s not the same for everybody for sure.
But anybody who has a doctor advising them, or they’re feeling internal pressure to go fast, I say why? There’s no point in suffering, why not just take as long as it takes?
And I definitely agree with those who are saying, best not to mess with other meds that you’re on and their dosages unless it’s absolutely necessary to try. Otherwise, you don’t know what’s causing what!
I hope this helps someone,

I tried could not do it.Had to go over to Valium Im going to go my sleep no matter how fast the psychiatrist wants to do the ativan in 3 days thats nonsense to me