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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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@frouke it was encouraging to speak with the people at the store; they all said they had no negative reports, of either anxiety or tachycardia, and that it was a very good ratio to support sleep.
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2 ReactionsI was on 2mg Lore. since September 2022. Started my taper journey 7 days ago 11-17-25 at 1 1/2mg. When do I reduce amount again and by how much? Should I taper in 1 and a half week or two? How much 25% of 1 1/2mg or 25% original 2mg? I am confused but determined.
@misswooki I suggest a very slow taper of this drug. I changed amount every two to three weeks, cutting by a half each previous time. See below; I was on .5 mg.
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1 Reaction@frankaventura the book ‘Remember’ by Lisa Genova will give you some reassurance.
Hi!
It has been many years ago but I found that if I kept cutting the lorazepam in half repeatedly, I was effectively able to get off it. I would do it a week at a time and then 3 to 4 days and then less and less until it was just a drop. I noticed that I was wanting to take more and more then realized it was addictive so I just weaned myself off.
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2 Reactions@sibritious congrats! An insidious drug for many of us!
A very helpful one for some people, the negativity surrounding this drug is a type of propaganda by Pharmaceutical Industry, my guess is that they have something new to replace benzodiazepines, perhaps less addictive but let’s be clear here that most medications come with a downside to cope with, when you read about how many people have lots of problems with all types of drugs. I don’t want to promote any drugs and in a perfect world we wouldn’t need to take them, just my thoughts.
Call your Pharmacist! I was on Oxy, 10 mg 6 times a day for 1.5 years and I started to feel the effects of addiction ! It scared me and so I called mine and she gave me a schedule that was very fast and I had ZERO side effects!
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1 ReactionI was on 1mg 3x daily, I'm now taking.5mg 1x daily and want to quit. Is it possible to taper off by one day and off one day?
Thanks
Debbi
Im very tired on my last 2 week tapper