Advice

I feel lost right now. I don't want to suffer withdraws from it. Idk if I'm still to high of a dose to come off. Dr said I can just stop it, if I want, but now I'm worried. Were you on a benzo? I'm trying to ask without looking for reassurance. I know deep down I'll be ok either way. I'm I guess looking for someone that can relate and give me information how to do this properly.

@proudmommy Hi I am currently on Ativan. I’ve taken it for years. When I was pregnant with my daughter I had to stop taking it (for obvious reasons). I was okay. I was on the same dosage you are on. You’ll be okay ❤️

@proudmommy I only take it as needed right now. It’s a low enough dosage to where you shouldn’t have any type of negative consequences tapering off.

@Ashhh91 I scheduled an emergency appointment tomorrow with my phyche and ERP therapist. My anxiety is really bad just thinking about the withdraws 😔

@proudmommy I understand. Everyone is different. I’m glad you are talking to your doctor about it. Here for you if you need to talk

@Ashhh91 Thank you so much! I just cut my 0.25 in half tonight. Saved the little piece just in case ❤️ did you taper or just stop it?

@proudmommy When I found out I was pregnant I had to just completely stop cold turkey. I was on .50 mg. It’s definitely doable 😊also try and stay off of the internet! I worried myself sick looking and reading what others went thru. Not every other human suffers from ocd like we do. Your mind can play tricks on you and make you feel physically ill. You got this ❤️

@Ashhh91 I hear that. I have made myself so miserable with body aches, headache, etc from all the stress I've created from reading everything 🤦‍♀️ my therapist is going to give me a hard time tomorrow for this. My biggest issue is going to be when I completely stop. I have to have something else unfortunately until I can manage night anxiety better. Do you have any tips for managing it at night?

@proudmommy I also should say: the reason I had to stop cold turkey was due to my pregnancy. Benzos are dangerous for the fetus. Assuming you aren’t pregnant your doctor would probably advise you to slowly taper off of it. I do remember having some anxiety when I stopped but if you are tapering off hopefully it won’t be as bad :)

@proudmommy I get it. I really do. It sucks. Making yourself worried sick until your body starts showing the symptoms. It’s the worst. Do you take any natural supplements? I am a firm believer in those! I would recommend taking the supplements at night versus day because some of the side effects can make you sleepy

@Ashhh91 I would take natural supplements also once off medication to sleep for sure! That’s my plan and what I really should have done years ago. It would’ve worked better for me :)

@Ashhh91 Supposedly taking supplements while tapering a benzo makes withdraw worse 🤦‍♀️ I need to stay off fb. Any suggestions for night time when I stop taking this? I heard magnesium helps?

@Amber3993 I agree. We wouldn't be in this mess had we known better.

@proudmommy Yes!! The magnesium supplement CALM is amazing! I would recommend that :)

@Ashhh91 I'll get that later when I go to store. Thank you!!!

How long were you on it and what dosage? I feel like a lot of people I've spoken to have been on it longer than me. The exact reason I was prescribed is exactly what I'll experience coming off. I had a lot of hospital visits, ambulance calls, and Phychciatrist emergency calls, and tried to baker act myself 3 times. That's what led me to getting prescribed this 😔

I don't think we have a compound pharmacy near by. I hd to break my Zoloft by hand when I was tapering off that. Took for 3 months. Last month I tapered myself down. How long does it take to have withdraws? From 0.5 to 0.25 I had anxious energy, but was ok after about 2 weeks. Been holding at 0.25 for about 2 months. Just cut pill to 0.125ish (breaking and hoping they're about that miligram) for tonight. Did save the little piece just in case. I'll hold it here for a week or 2 before I drop more or stop it.

@proudmommy You’ll know based on symptoms in your body. You have the advantage of not having been on the medication for long to taper at a different rate. You sound like you tolerate tapering well and know a round about time when symptoms abate and when you feel better. :)

@Amber3993 To be honest I'm not sure if the anxious energy was from tapering. Was just thinking.. same time my Dr increased my Buspirone and I dropped Ativan dose pretty much same time. 2 weeks in I lowered buspar and it stopped. I'm not certain of which caused it though. When I lower Ativan again I guess I'll find out.

My Dr said I can just stop taking it because it's low. When I said I wanted to taper she said ok. She also told me I can just stay on it. I broke the 0.5 in half and was going to break that in half starting tonight, but reading so many comments on different sites I got myself really scared.

@proudmommy I would always recommend a taper… I have also been told by drs who didn’t really know much about withdrawal that I’d be fine stopping at a “low” dose and I wasn’t. Cold turkey at any dosage isn’t a good idea nor safe. I have been on psych meds for anxiety, ocd, and depression for 7 years. However I was overmedicated for many years then cold turkeyed off six meds including klonopin. Don’t recommend it. Benzo and alcohol withdrawal are the most dangerous. It’s best to go slow. And err on the side of going slow than going fast and experiencing bad symptoms that can be unbearable. That being said it’s good you haven’t been on it very long so it in theory should be much easier than someone who’s been on it for 7 years long term. My medications actually made me sicker over the years… that’s why I haven’t liked being on them as they don’t help me. That’s my reason for coming off… and not being able to function on them. I could function prior to getting on meds. And they put thoughts of harm to myself in my mind for many years. Overall, they’re not good for me. I prefer taking care of my body and going to therapy over medication. Everyone’s different. Go slow, but know it’ll be over soon. You shouldn’t feel severe withdrawal. Some people do the water taper thing. There’s also a taper strip site that is legal to use and I think your dr can use that instead and it’s shipped to you. Just an option :)

@proudmommy Drs don’t really learn about deprescribing but it is a big deal. More drs are trying to get patients off Benzos… I would just say again go slow. And you know your body better than anyone else. You are the authority over your body and what feels right or doesn’t. Advocate for you. If you don’t want to jump off then don’t. You can wait until .1mg if you wanted under the drs care and then jump… some people wait. It truly just depends. It’s good that she’s letting you choose though. Drs shouldn’t ever stop someone cold turkey even on what they consider low doses. You’ll be ok!!

@proudmommy I would look up a hyperbolic taper. The problem with a 50% reduction is the lower you are on a dose the harder it can be to come off. So toward the end it’s so much better to go at a gradual reduction. 50% is very high. Her thinking is that you haven’t been on it long and that makes sense but there’s no way to know until you do it. Again this isn’t medical advice, just what has worked and not worked for me. Just stay in contact with her on how you feel and I would probably stay off forums for right now. It can make it scarier than it is already… ❤️

@Amber3993 In going to ask Dr today. Thank you for all the helpful information ❤️ I hope you get better soon.

@Amber3993 Dropped dose last night to 0.125 I was able to fall asleep like normal about an hour later. Is the medicine really that strong, or mind over matter at this point? Dr gave me 10 pills to taper as I want to feel more confident in stopping. What miligram did you jump from? Withdraw time line? Googling answers gets me nowhere, but scared and stressed. Every article is about someone that has taken it for years and their withdraws. Only symptom I'm extremely fearful of is hallucinations, but again I've only been on for now 3 months and a couple of days. Having ocd sucks! If I didn't have this I probably wouldn't be so stressed about stopping meds in general 😔

@proudmommy How did it go

@Ashes2evil It was rough but I did it 🤗

@proudmommy I was taking around average 2.5mg ativan in January and March im at about 1.5mg. I wasn't actively tapering but I want off the ativan. I assume, like you, I went looking online for reassurance and ended up reading horror stories and I've literally been crying and scared all day.

@Ashes2evil Best piece of advice that looking back through this thread I created, stop looking for others experiences. Everyone is different. I did rapid taper at end because I was dealing with withdrawal during day when I wasn't taking it. You've come down quite a bit. That's a huge accomplishment! I'm tapering off another med now and was consumed with reading peoples experiences with that as well until recently. Keeping our mind busy and not "scanning" for withdraw symptoms helps tremendously as well. We can always hold if necessary. We don't need to rush. You know your body best no one else. I'm kinda giving you reassurance lol. If you're tapering slow, what's the worse that can happen? Panic attack? If you have OCD you've been there, done that. Just don't do a rapid taper, but that's with every medication. You got this!!

@proudmommy You are right, it's hard when I'm home alone and things get stuck in my head.

@Ashes2evil That's when it's the hardest. Ocd in general. Thoughts get louder when your solo. Are you in erp therapy? That helps. I'm guessing anxiety is what the Ativan is for? Erp made my anxiety bearable.

@proudmommy Yea im in ERP. Just started a couple weeks ago. I have bad anxiety 😕 im just really scared that I'll have bad withdrawals or something 😔

@Ashes2evil It helps soooo much!!! As long as you do a slow taper you should be fine!