Connect
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!
.
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Depression & Anxiety Support Group.
Connect
@berekann Thanks very much, nice to hear from you, hope all is well, and I understand re the Ativan not working as well and needing to get off of it. I cut to .625mg , have been there for 4 days and think I'll go to .50mg in the next day or two. Afraid about going to .25mg after that because it's a 50% reduction, but I think you said it was ok? Also, I started taking Trazadone two nights, got 3 hrs the first night and 4 hrs last night, which is what I used to get with no meds. I started at a very low dose so can increase but pine for my no med life, which was not that long ago and I lived that way for most of my life. Still, grateful for the Trazadone if it continues to keep me from zero, or extremely little sleep nights. Hope the Ambien keeps working for you if you decide to stay on it, and good luck also if you decide to cut back. 🙂
@happytoseeyou hey, there, glad you’re doing okay on .625mg - and cutting to .5mg was okay for me. Then I was going to cut to half of that - don’t ask me what that would be! But my doctor told me to just go to .25 mg and I did and after about a week or so didn’t really need it anymore to get to sleep, but then I did have some sleepless nights & tried doxepin that left me really sleepy during the day so back to Ambien, but that’s leaving me too groggy, especially if I take a little bit more after 2am. Starting to taper now. Like you, I’d rather not use anything and really when I was done with the Ativan I didn’t feel that bad even without much sleep. Trazodone didn’t work well for me either but my doctor said take it with 5 mg of melatonin which seems like too much. And I think you said it didn’t work that well for you Hang in there!
@berekann Thanks so much and still at .625mg, tonight will be the fifth night and have been having withdrawl, increased anxiety, but managing.. Have not cut to .50mg, because not sure if it's best to wait at least a week or should it be two, before cutting further? Also , when you got to .25mg, how long did you stay on that and did you cut further, to .125mg before stopping completely? I've heard that the end of a taper is real important and also that withdrawl can be bad after stopping the medication completely after taper is done. I see NP tomorrow and am worried that she may not refill prescription so that I can continue to taper slowly, and don't know what to do if that happens. Hope all is well.
@happytoseeyou you’re probably like me and anxious about the tapering! Certainly you can stay on it for two weeks before your next . And I did not do the .125 mg. I’d been planning to, but didn’t need itAnd I think your NP will be happy to renew it
@berekann and since you’ve been on such a low-dose for a short time, I don’t think it will be as difficult as for people who have been on higher doses for two or three years once I got to .25 it was really easy cause I was using also melatonin and sometimes Benadryl as the doctor said and hardly missed it
Is there anyone dealing with nausea daily? I was diagnosed with GAD general anxiety disorder 2 yrs ago. Started off on Ativan 3 times a day. Didn’t really help, I was nauseous every single day, still am by the way. Then I tried cymbalta. That didn’t help, seem to make worse. Then tried Prozac. That didn’t work. Then finally tried Loreev Xr. It’s the long acting version of Ativan. Hasn’t been out in the market long, fairly new drug. Been on it for about year and 6 months. I’m now doing a slow taper because although it has helped some, I’m still nauseous every single day. My therapist, psychiatric PN or me can’t seem to figure out why I’m still nauseous everyday. It’s gotten worse since the tampering started. Before the out of the blue GAD popped up, I never had this problem. Any one experiencing this?