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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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@jneener I cut my dose From 1.5 mg to 1.25 mg to 1 mg and downward from there, it took me about six weeks if that but I was able to do it fairly quickly for some reason had some rough nights, but I managed OK. I only took it to sleep and as I said, since it stopped working, what was the point?
Im trying to figure out how to do it with my dosage being split through the day. I take it for gastroparesis nausea and anxiety and I am starting interdose withdrawal along with it not working as well. I don't want to increase my dosage and just want to get off of it. The interdose withdrawal has been not good. It is causing for nausea and anxiety. I can't take the normal antinausea meds because they cause me akathisia reactions. I feel like I am so screwed because of tbis disease and now with this.
@aarniek I am sorry to read what you have been through, it sounds like a horror story. Taking 8 mg. a day is a huge dose and being taken off them in 4 weeks sounds profound, I am truly amazed that you have survived such an ordeal and whom ever put you through this suffering should have their medical license revoked!
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1 Reaction@frouke i May be wrong,but my doctor said I had to have an office visit to get a 30 day refill and he was getting the office visit money for doing nothing! I was on that drug for years and i finally told him I wanted to stop it and he said you can taper off in 4 weeks and as he was a doctor ( neurologist) I thought he was right but I later found out that it would take at least a year to taper off! I never recovered my long term memory!
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1 Reaction@aarniek, There’s a lot of information about Ativan tapering, the Ashton Manuals is one of the best ones you can get and it has given many people their lives back. The most important thing is that you have to taper very slowly, even if it takes several years, in your case the dose you were taking was very high, it’s amazing that you survived such a short period of tapering. I hope that given time you’ll have some improvement with your memory, perhaps you can find some resources to help you with your recovery, prayer and strength will help you too, God bless you.
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