Addicted to Ativan...Help!

[kathryn55555]

My Dr. prescribed 3mg for sleep about 1 1/2 years ago. The past few months I have been feeling badly everyday from about 3pm on: heart racing, anxiety, trouble breathing etc. Just last week we figured out is was from Ativan withdrawal from the evening before. He said it needs to constantly be in my system and swithed to 1mg every four hours. The problem is I get those symptoms again before I'm allowed to take the next pill and then it takes a while to ease the withdrawal symptoms. I can't live like this- on constant withdrawal. He gave me temazepam for sleeping but I can't even tell if it is working because I wake up at least 2x needing my 4 hour ativan. So my day ends up tired but so much anxiety I can't sleep.

Now I have an additional med(temazepam) besides the lamictal and lexapro. If I could guess I think I should be off Ativan and maybe have a regular non-addictive sleep med. How do I get off this Ativan? I am so scared I can barely function.

[tabby99]

kathryn, i've been taking valium for the last 4 years. Not only do I take valium, I also drink.
I took the valium for anxiety to start with and now i'm just having rebound anxiety. I can't help you with how to get off of the ativan, but i sure know how you feel. There's alot of good people on here. I've been reading most of the day. I'm sure someone will chime in and help us both.
Tabby

[j2006]

Tell your doctor you want off the Ativan. Maybe you could go to something that stays in your system longer like klonopin. And then , very slowly come off the klonopin.

Why were you not able to sleep. Is it because of the Lexapro?

[Stitcher317]

I was on 1 mg of Ativan for 18 mos and started having withdrawal symptoms just like you are having.

I can't mention the site here but if you search for Dr. Heather Ashton you will find information on benzos and how to get off of them. There are support groups available for this. Ativan is very short acting and you need to take it more frequently. You are probably in tolerance withdrawal. Your body gets used to what you are taking and you develop a tolerance for it and thus need more to reduce your symptoms.

Some people cross over to Valium and then taper off. I tapered off directly from Ativan doing a water taper. It took me 18 mos to get off 1 mg and I have been off now for 1 year.

It would be a good idea to speak with your Dr and see if he will devise a plan for withdrwal. My suggestion would be to do it VERY slowly. 3mgs of Ativan equals 30 mg of Valium....Take your time... The slower and longer your taper the less you'll feel the withdrawal effects.

I started taking Ativan because of an inner ear virus that lingered for 3 years. Ativan calms the vestibular system. I was able to do so much while on it. It took away my residual dizziness completely. I felt great on it. But along with that, I started to get depressed and apathetic. My memory was horrible and I started getting weird visual symptoms. Felt like I had a tight band around my head. I knew then that I had to stop taking it. During the 18 mos I withdrew I had many various symptoms that came and went. Increased anxiety being one of them but you learn to cope knowing that every day your body is riding itself of the drug. It doesn't happen overnight.

Be strong and good luck. Keep us posted.

[reachout]

Hello

I tapered off Xanax recently and did it very slowly over a period of sixteen weeks or so. My only suggestion would be to taper even slower than I did... much slower. When I officially started the taper, I was on a steady dose of three .5 tabs of Xanax a day spread out morning, noon and evening.

At first I was being a hero and cutting by 1/4 to a half every ten days or so. Horrendous. Then I made myself slow down to a 1/8 tab cut every 6 to ten days, depending on how much I thought I could bear. I would now, in hindsight, done 1/8 tab cuts all thr way through. I put myself through a pretty intense struggle because I was embarrassed in front of my family that it was so darn difficult and knew they could not understand. I broke the tabs in half, then half again and then crumbled them finally and wet my finger to pick up the crumbs to get my dose. Towards the end, I wobbled bit... on one day, off two; one one day, off three and then finally just stopped. Even coming off that tiny bit at the end, I still suffer some residue anxiety and have some difficulty with sleep at times, although I have always had periods of difficulty sleeping in my adult life (over-crowded head syndrome Smiles).

Please, please. do your research, talk with a doctor skilled in banzo taper. It is quite different in many ways from an opiate taper.

Wishing you all well
reach