Looking for help to taper off Ativan (lorazepam)

Hello everyone.

Long story short I've been on Ativan for 1 year, with 0.5 morning and evening. I tapered the morning dose 2 times in the past year. It's been a week since i finished my 2nd taper for the morning dose. I've noticed an increase in anxiety in the past week so obviously I'm scared of stating the evening taper.

I'm doing all of this under the direction of my doctor. And she does a taper that is once 1 day off several times, then every 2,3,4 days over the course of 2 months or so.

To be honest idk why i made this post. Maybe just wanted to put my fear of withdrawals, seizures somewhere.

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Thank you for this. I am happy to hear a positive story about Buspar. My doctor is prescribing it along with the Ativan taper. Do you have any idea how much her dosage of Buspar was? I think the dosage is the key?

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Hello everyone.

Long story short I've been on Ativan for 1 year, with 0.5 morning and evening. I tapered the morning dose 2 times in the past year. It's been a week since i finished my 2nd taper for the morning dose. I've noticed an increase in anxiety in the past week so obviously I'm scared of stating the evening taper.

I'm doing all of this under the direction of my doctor. And she does a taper that is once 1 day off several times, then every 2,3,4 days over the course of 2 months or so.

To be honest idk why i made this post. Maybe just wanted to put my fear of withdrawals, seizures somewhere.

Jump to this post

Hello everyone.

Long story short I've been on Ativan for 1 year, with 0.5 morning and evening. I tapered the morning dose 2 times in the past year. It's been a week since i finished my 2nd taper for the morning dose. I've noticed an increase in anxiety in the past week so obviously I'm scared of stating the evening taper.

I'm doing all of this under the direction of my doctor. And she does a taper that is once 1 day off several times, then every 2,3,4 days over the course of 2 months or so.

To be honest idk why i made this post. Maybe just wanted to put my fear of withdrawals, seizures somewhere.

Jump to this post

This drug is terrible......I have taken it for about a year now and find that .5 is hardly making a diffference any longer. I was taking .5 in the morning and .5 in the late afternoon but recently had to go up to .5 three times a day. I want to taper off and get this out of my system but it is so hard. Everything just starts to feel like it is shaking inside. Has anyone tried Buspar as an alternative? My psych doc is suggesting it.

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I'm sorry to say that I do not know how much her dosage of the Xanax was. She did say that she could not drink coffee while she took the Buspar because it conflicted with the effects of the Xanax.

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I tried Buspar while in the hospital and Reba. I didn’t find it helpful. It’s not an Atavan weaning med.
For me Buspar was worse than Adavan. Thinking
it was the answer to my twice a day doses of .5 in the morning and another at 2 pm. Still made me a zombie. Adavan was too strong for me anyway and at one point after 14 days (the recommended dose time). I was cut off suddenly with no weaning off (in other words, cold turkey). Was a nightmare. I was in rehab and had to beg for another one in the morning and at 2pm.

When I finally came home I called my psychiatrist and he switched me to Clonazapan (Klonopin) and it was half the dose of Adavan and it worked. After a couple to three days I stopped taking it completely after and Klonopin took over but it wasn’t as bad as Adavan. Klonopin was a bit less addictive and fairly easy to take. Not as strong as Adavan but just enough to take the edge off.

Some people can’t take Klonopin but it was better than the zombie causing Adavan.
No way was I able to quit Adavan cold turkey. I am however no longer sleeping all day after I got rid of the Adavan. There is a path to free yourself from Adavan it just takes a few days. Good Luck

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I'm so sorry about your experience. I did like Klonopin very much when I was weaning off of Xanax. I've heard both, positive and negative thoughts about Buspar. I do hope that medical research will find a way to help people wean without addictive drugs. It would certainly speed up the process of getting well. Ahhh, wouldn't it be nice...

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I read somewhere that if you develop an addiction to a drug your doctor prescribed for you, the onus falls on you and the doctor. I mentioned this once to my php and he said no because I was in my forties at the time I started on them. I’m now in my seventies so what’s his point and to further add insult to injury, he is definitely pushing me away. I can still have phone appointments and he basically does whatever he can do for me without an office visit. I feel so sad that I’m being treated this way, I’ve been with him for 23 years and I don’t know how to deal with this at this time.. I’m also a cancer survivor twice in two years and in the past 3 years I’ve been in the php’s office twice to remove my stitches from cancer surgery. I realize I need to find another doctor but it’s difficult here due to a shortage of doctors and nurses, so I truly feel trapped and worried as to what will become of me. I’ve fought my share of battles over the years and I will try to find a solution because I can’t do it his way anymore.

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Yes it would be nice. I guess we have to let the mental health scientists figure it out.

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