1. < Depression & Anxiety

Looking for help to taper off Ativan (lorazepam)

Posted by pamee @pamee, Jan 8, 2023

Hi my name is pamee. I need help as I have a rare disorder from Ativan. It's horrific excruciating pain 24/7 with minimal sleep so I'm also sleep deprived. The pain is killing me at times I want to die. I take 2 mg 4x a day fir 13-14 yrs and recently been having blackouts. I'm scared. Can anyone please give me suggestions whether I taper one dose at a time or should I taper all 4 doses in a day at about 1/4 of the pill. Thank you for any help you can give. Kind regards, pamee

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Depression & Anxiety Support Group.

nanagizer | @nanagizer | Feb 28, 2023
In reply to @andytheman "I tried Buspar while in the hospital and Reba. I didn’t find it helpful. It’s not..." + (show)
@andytheman

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

Jump to this post

Thank you for your reply. Were you able to get off the klonipin easily?

REPLY
andytheman | @andytheman | Feb 28, 2023
In reply to @grumpypants "Hello everyone. Long story short I've been on Ativan for 1 year, with 0.5 morning and..." + (show)
@grumpypants

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

The word “ Reba” is a spellcheck error that I failed to notice during my proofreading and the word is “Rehab”. I found it easy to quit klonopin but I was placed on Seroquel as I have GAD and I need to sleep at night and it makes a big difference when you sleep as I get 100 mg at bedtime instead of klonopin.
Is it the same thing as klonopin? I don’t know but all I know is I get a good nights sleep. Very important for us to sleep and stay asleep all night.
Was I abandoned by my psychiatrist? I don’t think so because he is a phone call away whenever I need him.
He’s not just medicating me and flying off to the Bahamas.
I can reach him anytime.

REPLY
1 reply
reese1 | @reese1 | Mar 1, 2023
In reply to @andytheman "The word “ Reba” is a spellcheck error that I failed to notice during my proofreading..." + (show)
@andytheman

The word “ Reba” is a spellcheck error that I failed to notice during my proofreading and the word is “Rehab”. I found it easy to quit klonopin but I was placed on Seroquel as I have GAD and I need to sleep at night and it makes a big difference when you sleep as I get 100 mg at bedtime instead of klonopin.
Is it the same thing as klonopin? I don’t know but all I know is I get a good nights sleep. Very important for us to sleep and stay asleep all night.
Was I abandoned by my psychiatrist? I don’t think so because he is a phone call away whenever I need him.
He’s not just medicating me and flying off to the Bahamas.
I can reach him anytime.

Jump to this post

Thanks for clearing that up. I thought "Reba" was an acronym or nickname for some other medication or medical marijuana. I recently read that people are using the medical marijuana for withdrawals. So many experimental avenues out there that it can make a person's head swim, after a while.

REPLY
ljob | @ljob | Aug 7, 2023
In reply to @grumpypants "Hello everyone. Long story short I've been on Ativan for 1 year, with 0.5 morning and..." + (show)
@grumpypants

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 is a request for simply encouragement from others who are going or have gone through this. I have taken Lorazepam for a little over a year, and am now on my third attempt at tapering off. In both cases, I had a 'stressful event' occur toward the end of the taper, and my Dr. upped the dose right back up to 1.5mg daily the first time, then 2.5mg the second time. I wish I never would have allowed that, but one can't go back in time. I'm seeing a really good neurologist now, who immediately dropped the 2.5 back to 1.5 because it wasn't doing anything other than making me sick. And to say the last 6 weeks have been hard would be an understatement (I've had almost every withdrawal symptom listed). I'm holding at 1.5 for another week, then will drop in much smaller increments, next is .25mg off the current morning dose of .5. And we will go much slower going forward. I'm just feeling pretty low (I feel like this drug has made my life miserable for the last 9 months), and would appreciate hearing a few 'you can do this' and 'it's so worth it' from a few who are also much more sensitive to this drug and a painful withdrawal. Thanks in advance.

REPLY
3 replies
kawanhee | @kawanhee | Aug 8, 2023
In reply to @ljob "This is a request for simply encouragement from others who are going or have gone through..." + (show)
@ljob

This is a request for simply encouragement from others who are going or have gone through this. I have taken Lorazepam for a little over a year, and am now on my third attempt at tapering off. In both cases, I had a 'stressful event' occur toward the end of the taper, and my Dr. upped the dose right back up to 1.5mg daily the first time, then 2.5mg the second time. I wish I never would have allowed that, but one can't go back in time. I'm seeing a really good neurologist now, who immediately dropped the 2.5 back to 1.5 because it wasn't doing anything other than making me sick. And to say the last 6 weeks have been hard would be an understatement (I've had almost every withdrawal symptom listed). I'm holding at 1.5 for another week, then will drop in much smaller increments, next is .25mg off the current morning dose of .5. And we will go much slower going forward. I'm just feeling pretty low (I feel like this drug has made my life miserable for the last 9 months), and would appreciate hearing a few 'you can do this' and 'it's so worth it' from a few who are also much more sensitive to this drug and a painful withdrawal. Thanks in advance.

Jump to this post

You can do this! I posted my taper from being on .5 mg Ativan for over two years. I did a VERY slow taper, (posted on another thread here) slower than doctor recommended and am happy to say I’ve been free since early June.
Best wishes!!

REPLY
4 replies
karlarocha | @karlarocha | Aug 8, 2023
In reply to @kawanhee "You can do this! I posted my taper from being on .5 mg Ativan for over..." + (show)
@kawanhee

You can do this! I posted my taper from being on .5 mg Ativan for over two years. I did a VERY slow taper, (posted on another thread here) slower than doctor recommended and am happy to say I’ve been free since early June.
Best wishes!!

Jump to this post

I am on .5 mg and taking it three times a day. It has really helped me. May I ask why you are tapering off the medicine?

REPLY
2 replies
pkraft12 | @pkraft12 | Aug 9, 2023
In reply to @kawanhee "You can do this! I posted my taper from being on .5 mg Ativan for over..." + (show)
@kawanhee

You can do this! I posted my taper from being on .5 mg Ativan for over two years. I did a VERY slow taper, (posted on another thread here) slower than doctor recommended and am happy to say I’ve been free since early June.
Best wishes!!

Jump to this post

What was your taper? I have been on 2 mg only at bedtime since we lost our only child to fentanyl for a year. I am down to 1 mg now but want to get off. Would love to hear how you came all the way off:

REPLY
benzossuck | @benzossuck | Aug 9, 2023
In reply to @kawanhee "You can do this! I posted my taper from being on .5 mg Ativan for over..." + (show)
@kawanhee

You can do this! I posted my taper from being on .5 mg Ativan for over two years. I did a VERY slow taper, (posted on another thread here) slower than doctor recommended and am happy to say I’ve been free since early June.
Best wishes!!

Jump to this post

Congratulations where do we find your taper on the other thread? Thanks

REPLY
1 reply
kawanhee | @kawanhee | Aug 9, 2023
In reply to @karlarocha "I am on .5 mg and taking it three times a day. It has really helped..." + (show)
@karlarocha

I am on .5 mg and taking it three times a day. It has really helped me. May I ask why you are tapering off the medicine?

Jump to this post

I was originally prescribed it for anxiety due to a health threat. I then began relying on it for sleep and both my gp and sleep Dr recommended getting off it. Benzodiazepines wreak havoc with your brain long term. I wanted to be off it.
I now take a very low dose of mirtazapine which has addressed my sleeping issues.

REPLY
kawanhee | @kawanhee | Aug 9, 2023
In reply to @benzossuck "Congratulations where do we find your taper on the other thread? Thanks" + (show)
@benzossuck

Congratulations where do we find your taper on the other thread? Thanks

Jump to this post

There are several threads on Ativan/lorazepam and I can’t remember! It may be the one about weaning from .5 mg.
If you can’t find it, let me know and I’ll repost here.
Full disclosure that I am NOT a medical professional and that the weaning schedule I used worked for me

REPLY
View MoreView Less
Please sign in or register to post a reply.