Is it safe to take Trazadone, Benadryl or Unisom while taking Ativan?

@happytoseeyou I am sorry that your doctor is not more understanding. My client actually shaves her pills, allowing her to decrease extremely slowly. I do not believe that either she or her doctor would be interested in communicating here, sorry about that. I just want to encourage you, again, to trust your own judgement and body.

@gphunt Thanks very much and wondering if your client was on the medication for a longer time period, ( several months or a year or years?) than I was before I started tapering, which was 5 weeks. I've heard of shaving pills and am interested in anything that minimizes withdrawl, but NP not familiar with that nor is Primary Dr, who said I should be off of this in 2 weeks. Scary how little most providers know about this. Thanks again, and any more details re how she shaves the pills would be greatly appreciated, I think it involves a scale also.

I’m not certain that taking Ativan alone is safe much less in tandem with other medications (otc or prescribed). Have you checked with your pharmacist, or an APRN? People often hesitate to talk to a nurse but APRNs have extensive training in pharmacology, often are more up-to-date than established doctors. Best wishes.

@westwoman3698 Thanks very much and my NP prescribed Trazadone, which I've been taking for a week now and it is helping me get some sleep. I'd rather not be taking either of them and am tapering off of the ativan, and also checked with the pharmacist and they also said it's safe. Not feeling well on any of this; best wishes to you as well.

I’m taking Ativan for over 25 years, I have yet to find anything else that works better for me, believe me when I say that I really tried. The last time was six months ago when I started taking an antidepressant and I became very sick from it, the doctor told me after a month of hell to taper off it but it was too fast, six months later I still suffer from the side effects of this medication. This isn’t the first time I’ve gone through this but I did learn that not everyone can take these drugs. I would be very desperate if I was forced to stop taking Ativan, it’s the only medication that I take other than an inhaler for COPD and Asthma. I stay on the same dose, 1 mg. daily and pray that it doesn’t stop working or that I’m forced to stop taking them, I have read some truly terrible stories about people who use them responsibly were forced to stop, it’s just cruel to say the least.

@frouke So sorry about the antidepressant and the problems it caused and glad the Ativan has been the long term solution for you. It was the only thing that worked for me for sleep, 1mg, but am tapering off of it as my NP and PCP said it's not safe to use long term, although many docs prescribe it long term and it helps many people as it does you and there are some who say I should stay on it, and I thought about it but am afraid to, but am also very very afraid of tapering as I am finding it very difficult and now am taking Trazadone which is considered safer and am getting some sleep but not feeling well. Hoping it improves and yes I agree it is cruel to say the least to force people that use responsibly to stop. Hope it keeps working for you and you never have to stop.