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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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@berekann
Thanks so much for the encouragement! Glad your taper went well, hoping for same and happy to say last night I started taper and it was smooth sailing. So grateful for that but I'm still scared about the whole thing, but less so with your input. Ambien didn't work for me; hope it's helping you get good zzzz's.
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2 Reactions@laughlin1947
I did, but Ambien didn't work for me. So funny about docs going nuts when your wife lets them know Trazadone and Temazepam work well together and fantastic that she's been able to get good results with that combo for 20 years!
@happytoseeyou Ambien worked for me for 10 years and then it suddenly stopped. After being on the lorazepam for nine months, ambien is working again thank goodness.
@happytoseeyou and I’m glad your taper went well last night; you might have a rough night or two, but it will be worth it in the end. And maybe your doctor can find something else that helps. Doxepin is not addicting and might work for you.
@happytoseeyou I'm pretty sure that the doctors get paranoid about patients who take strong meds for sleep at night have a big risk in stopping breathing if the medication load is too high. The doctors never know if the patient exceeds the recommended dose, or whatever the case may be such that the patient is provided with more drugs than the doctors expect. None of the doctors want to openly admit they don't want to risk suicide from a patient or just a mere death due to overmedication. I had a surgeon who wouldn't prescribe me more than a handful of Codeine #3 tablets following my fall and subsequent triple fracture of my pelvis. He just wasn't going to risk a death to any patient with strong drugs. I despise him for that since I suffered greatly for several months until the fracture had healed.
@laughlin1947
Right, I can understand that fear, and yes, there are some who take more med than prescribed and things don't turn out well. As for your surgeon, wow, I can understand you feeling as you do and I'm so sorry you suffered greatly for a long time, needlessly. Unbelievable.
@berekann
Wow, that's great!...The part about Ambien working again of course, lol
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1 Reaction@happytoseeyou
The only splitting I do is 10mg Atorvastatin into 5s.
@ashleyharris728
I really appreciate your empathy, support, suggestions, and humor! Tried everything under the sun, (moon? Haha) Exactly!
Never tried Seroquel and have heard it's real effective for many, ...not sure if I had heard about bad side effects and will look into. Love the Genius idea of alternate day, flying blind 1mg,.. .75mg strategy too, but thought that alternating the dose that way could be problematic? Not sure,...cuz I'm new to all of this, meds, tapering, for decades I stayed away and used natural stuff, techniques, lifestyle, exercise, nutrition, etc. At this point though, I need to have meds in my pocket too, as you said. Thanks again, and yes, will continue to advocate for myself and believe we all need to!
And Good luck and best wishes to you to for a good night's sleep and all else!
@bajjerfan
ok, got it. Thanks!