Ativan withdrawal

Posted by gmamrj @gmamrj, Dec 4, 2023

I am 81 years old. Have been taking Ativan for 5 years for PTSD after open heart surgery. Started off with 1mg a day and have reduced it to .5 mg per day for about 4 years now.
I am now feeling anxious, jittery and dealing with insomnia. Do not want to increase dosage. I want off Ativan My
PCP prescribed Lexapro (small dosage) to take along with Ativan to start withdrawal. That was the worse 2weeks of my life. Insomnia, climbing the wall. Quit the lexapro. Still on .5 mg of Ativan.
Feel terrible. Any help would be appreciated.

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frouke | @frouke | Dec 4, 2023

@gmamrj , hi how are you, I just read your comment and I truly appreciate where you are coming from…being dependent on meds is not always easy to live with, I’ve been talking Ativan for over twenty years and I use 1 mg per day, .5 in the morning and.5 at bedtime…I did get off them twice but somehow with the help of my doctor, I ended up back on them again. I think the worst part was that later when I got cancer it made things worse, my anxiety was off the charts and that’s when my started putting all this pressure on me to stop them, he would even reduce my dose without talking to me about it. I did try many antidepressants but I too got sick from them, between the cancer and the doctor I started to have a meltdown. I truly believe you will do just fine, you’re on a very low dose and you said it has been five years that you have taken them. I did get off Ativan with Paxil and it worked out for me but I had not been on Ativan very long. With help from your doctor you can perhaps find another antidepressant to help you do so and then eventually cut your dosage in half, a 1 mg Ativan can easily be divided into four pieces. I wish you good luck with your journey, you must be doing something right to be 81 years young, good for you 👍😊