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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
I so appreciate your reassurance and suggestions! I was thinking about Benadryl, and used it here and there decades ago and sometimes it helped and others it didn't and actually made things worse. I tried Calm's Forte years ago too and sometimes helped and love that it's homeopathic , thanks again. If you don't mind me asking, and I think you mentioned it in an earlier message, how long did you take Ativan, and what dose and did you stay a week or longer each time you cut .25mg and how long did the whole taper take? If that's too much to go into, no problem and I appreciate your encouragement!
@happytoseeyou I was on Ativan for nine months and it wasn’t working as well after about three months, so my doctor upped my dose and then he upped it again so I was taking 1.5 mg and I cut it back about 2 weeks each taper. Then I moved from Arizona to California and had to find a new Doctor who was not very helpful, But I got through it pretty much on my own. My nephew is a nurse and he even said that 1.5 mg is a low-dose. I really wish I had started when I was at .5 mg cause it would’ve been much easier. Good luck!
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1 Reaction@happytoseeyou and the whole taper probably took a little over a month. And at the higher doses, I think it was only a week for each reduction. And I went from .75 mg to .625 mg approximately and Then to .5mg. Sometimes at those lower doses, I went a few days more than two weeks. No hard and fast rule just when I felt ready
@berekann Ok, so you went from .75mg to .625mg, and then to .5mg,.. which I would like to do and am terrified of going from .75mg to .5mg, or do you think I'll be ok? How did you do it, since the tablets only come in 1mg and .5mg? I'm splitting the .5mg tab and taking it with another .5mg tab to get .75mg. I asked my Nurse Pract about splitting the half of the half of the .5mg tab so I can do .625mg, and she said really not viable and it's standard procedure to go from .75mg to .5mg. Ok and you stayed at the lower doses for more than two weeks, so the whole taper was maybe longer than a month? And I agree about no hard and fast rule, just when you're ready!
@berekann Ok, got it and glad you have your nephew that is a nurse and I agree that it would've been much easier starting at .5mg! Thanks again and All the Best!
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1 Reaction@happytoseeyou I didn’t keep an accurate calendar, so maybe it was a little longer than a month. I didn’t stick to the whole two weeks sometimes and sometimes I went a couple days longer.. no .625 mg is not very accurate and I didn’t do that for more than a few days. I really think you’re overthinking this.. and my doctor said it was OK to go from .75 to .5 and then to .25 and then be done. I think I went through three days of four hours of sleep, but then it got better from there and I actually felt better on the smaller amount of sleep with less Ativan.
@happytoseeyou you’ve been on such a low amount for a short time. It shouldn’t be too difficult. Your mind is playing games with you perhaps- you’re really thinking too hard about this. Some people just quit entirely and some have the need for a very long taper and if that is you then so be it. If you’ve been on a higher dose for a couple years, then it would be much more difficult.
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2 Reactions@happytoseeyou I take a small dose of Mirtazapine for sleep every night for the past few months and sleep uninterrupted for 7 to 8 hrs. Also I no longer need the Xanax I used to take as I found a natural remedy called F'Anxiety. Just want you to know that once you get off the benzos, there is at least this one natural solution made up of herbs and amino acids that has completely solved my anxiety issues. Take your time getting off the benzos.
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2 Reactions@hopefulme3 OK, the answer is yes to the liquid, but someone has to compound it for you. So I made a great deal of these for patients when I worked at a hospital the liquids that is. The tablets need to be ground up by a pharmacist. And then they are suspended in a liquid. Yes it can be made. You would have to get someone reputable and local to your area to make it and it definitely can be made. As to the answer of tapering off yes. People can be tapered off. It can be done in a differing manner, depending on who the doctor is. Some doctors will do it by decreasing the dose and then checking on the patient. If the patient is doing OK, They taper the patient off more and then recheck every month. If they’re not doing well, some doctors will hold for another month or however, long it takes. It can take a long time, but it can be worth it for a lot of people. You would want to talk to your doctor about the options of how to do this. Some doctors are comfortable doing this and some are not. I wish you all the best. I have seen patients come off of lorazepam. The ones that are harder for them to come off are morphine, oxycodone, and methadone. I’ve seen real success with patients getting off benzodiazepine. I wish you all the best in the world and I hope you feel better. I understand how hard this can be and I’m so sorry that you’re going through this.
@david707 Thanks so much for the natural solution and so glad it solved your anxiety issues and that the Mirtazapine works for you too!