lorazepam hell

[Canbud]

Because of recent heath anxiety my psychiatrist prescribed 1 mg of ativan, to take as needed. I told him I was taking 1 mg every night and he was fine with that.

Last week I felt my day anxiety increase, so I increased my dose to 1 mg during the day, divided dose, and 1 mg at night. My doctor was ok with this increase.

I started to notice that my vision was really blurry so I stopped taking it. Today was day two of not taking it and I was a hot mess of anxiety, which I know was rebound effects from that damn lorazepam. I did a google search and apparently even a month of taking this stuff causes problems when you stop. I ended up taking .25 of a pill this evening because I felt like I was going insane.

I'm so mad at myself (and my doctor) for taking this crap. Now I have rebound anxiety from the drug on top of the anxiety I already had.

Has anyone else experience this?

[Catherine S]

Are they still prescribing Ativan? I'm now 61 yrs old and when I was in my 30's my old doctor gave me these to treat anxiety and for the year of taking them...at highter and higher doses...and then the 18 month crash when I was withdrawing from them made me promise myself that i would never again touch them, and I never have. It took 6 months to reduce the dose gradually from 5mgs daily to zero, then a year of teeth chattering, bone shaking anxiety before the effects finally wore off. This experience made me nervous of taking even a painkiller for a headache because I was so paranoid about any more drugs in my system. In the 1980's there was a big backlash about tranquilizers and the effect they were having with long term use as the GP's in those days would dish them out like sweets. I'm hoping they're more aware of the effects these days.

I take propranolol for anxiety now which is a beta blocker and they suit me fine, especially with my heart palps, and the main thing is they aren't mind-altering drugs so that's always a better option.

I hope you get through the withdrawal ok Canbud. Take care.

ISB x

[Canbud]

They're alive and well, I'm afraid. Cold Turkey was friggin awful. The .25 seems to quell the symptoms. I hope that's all I'll need a day until I can titrate off them. I feel pretty lucky I was only taking 1 mg a day for a month or so--I cannot imagine taking the dose you had for the length of time you had!

I can't believe my doctor didn't warn me about them.

[SADnomore]

Aw, sorry to hear this, hon. If it helps, know that I was on such a benzo for years and years (usually halcion, but they're pretty much interchangeable, as far as the main effects go.) As I've said before on here, what turned out to be the best withdrawal plan for me was to go cold turkey in a detox facility. Clinical setting. Nurse/counselors taking vitals. Education on coping with stress and so forth. In that detox, we went for long walks as a group, attended meetings, and even had yoga. It was amazing to know that my health was being monitored, and nothing bad was going to happen to me. When I needed to talk, even in the middle of the night, there was always understanding and supportive staff around. A couple of weeks later, armed with a meetings list and even a healthy diet, I was able to go back to normal life with extra support.

It really is much harder when the use of these tranquilizers has gone on for a long time, and the dose has naturally gone up (benzodiazapenes cause not only dependence, but also tolerance, the need to use more as time goes on). ISB and I can testify to that! It is so good that you recognized your problem early on. Keep this knowledge at the forefront, never forget it, and you will withdraw successfully and pick up life where you left off. The same frustrations and fears will be there, but with support you will learn how to deal with them differently. I learned a few key things from my support group and counselors that I'd like to share with you. The first is that, like you, I was not responsible for my addiction. But, second and more important is that I am solely responsible for my recovery. Responsibility means that I have to be honest with my doctors about being dependent on benzodiazapenes and do not want to take any medication of that class of drugs again. Period. Thirdly, once having been addicted to benzodiazapenes, I have had to accept that this means that if I ever take them again, I will immediately face the same misery I went through before.

Despite how low and desperate you are feeling right now, please know that you can get past this entirely. As ISB says, the main thing is to stay away from mind-altering drugs. Alcohol is a mind-altering drug. It is not recommended to use it anymore either. Our dependency problem will switch easily from one mind-altering substance to another, even substances which we have never had trouble with before. I am sorry that this experience has led you to this place. But I am very glad that you are nipping this in the bud. As difficult as it may be, you are well-armed to get free of this once and for all. Best of luck, we're here for you! :hugs:

I'm also considering propranolol for anxiety. You can talk to your GP and explain how you need to come off the Ativan now. See if he thinks propranolol is appropriate for you with your particular health. It might be the ticket to help make withdrawal easier for you. ... Thanks for the reminder, ISB! :winks:

Marie

[Canbud]

thanks Marie.

I ended up taking another .25 for a total of .50 last night. Feel somewhat better this morning, although slightly ill.

Cold turkey was just not cutting it. Think I'll titrate down and see how that goes.

Hopefully only being on 1 mg for a month or so will make it easier to get off of them.

[yenool]

So you went from 2mg per day to nothing? Hardly surprising you experienced withdrawal effects, you would get the same from many other drugs for anxiety and depression too.

If you want to stop then you need to taper off, going from 2 to 1.5, 1.0, 0.5 etc. That should minimize withdrawal effects.

It is also worth remembering the reason you were prescribed the medication in the first place (presumably anxiety). So if you stop taking it there is a good chance the anxiety will come back unless you are getting alternative treatment.

[Canbud]

I was on Effexor for years, and knew I had to taper off of those rather than go cold turkey--which I did successfully.

However, I never knew I had to do the same thing with ativan, which I was taking for a temporary situation. I NEVER would have taken them if I knew. Wish my doc warned me about them.

I spoke to two pharmacists today about ativan withdrawal, and you would have thought I was taking aspirin. Neither of them thought that there would be any withdrawal after a few months. Unbelievable.