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Has anybody successfully tapered off of lorazepam (Ativan)?

Depression & Anxiety | Last Active: May 7 7:47am | Replies (275)
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@yvonne55

Hi Ashley, so when you began your taper you were taking 1mg, 4 times a day? How did you do your taper?
I ask because unfortunately I'm on the same high dose.
I have scars on my lungs due to pneumonia. So my doctors said anti depressants could make them worse. I'm borderline agoraphobic and I can get through panic attacks but the problem is general anxiety disorder which is (for me) high anxiety all day long since I was 22. I'm now 58. Oh to have 1 day anxiety free!
So that's why my doctor put me on this dose or I'd never see further than my backyard. But its affecting my brain and I want off. I dont want to tell him this yet because the last time I said this he said start by cutting your daily dose in half! I went on some of those benzodiazepines buddy's sites and had the wits scared out of me. Wont go back!

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Replies to "Hi Ashley, so when you began your taper you were taking 1mg, 4 times a day?..."
azashley | @azashley | Jun 28, 2023

Hi Yvonne
I too was diagnosed with GAD and started out on 2mg Loraz 4x day about 16 years ago.
It helped me but think I felt high all the time.
My next doc cut it down to 1mg 4x day, which I am back on again.
However I have been tapering myself down to 1 every 8 hours instead of every 6 hours and am doing fine. I have at times tapered to 1 every 12 hours and that works as long as I can take zolpidem for sleep (it also connects to GABA receptors in our brains.
Right now though I am going through some scary new symptoms after having gone through endometrial cancer and have supposedly been cancer free for over 6 years. So my anxiety is up and I need to sleep so I am taking it one day at a time.
But I do know you can safely taper yourself and see how you feel. Just don’t go cold Turkey because I did once and wound up with no pills and in the ER where they lectured me on drug addiction when I hadn’t slept at all for 3 days.
Think the md who first got me on it ought to have told me about the addiction that goes along with lorazepam and other benzodiazepines
Wishing you the best. Take care of You < 3

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