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Is this anxiety or Ativan withdrawal?

Posted , 4 users are following.

emilia47047
emilia47047

Hello, 

sometimes I have this symptom that really scares me and I don' t know what's really causing it, neither can I put it to words but I will try my best here because I want to hear if you guys experiance or have experianced something like this. 

First let me start by saying I take .25mg of ativan twice a day (12pm and 6pm) this is half to  what I was prescribed last december because the doctors advised me to cut it down slowly and for about 3 months now I am stuck at .5mg daily with no success of getting it lower (but thats a different story). 

This symptom I'm getting occurs about an hour before it's time to take my .25mg and will last until after I take it and rest a bit. Sometimes I start to feel really shaky like a bad drug addiction. But what I'm most concerded about is a sensation on my muscles that feels really jumpy/jittery. It's almost like I won't be able to control my own muscles and they will twitch or something. This sensation also gets worse if I stay hours in front of the computer screen with no break. It starts with the arms and if I don't rest it will carry on to the rest of the body and it is really scary. It somewhat feels like my brain is effected too because my thoughts get really out of control and all over the place! 

Can this really be Ativan withdrawal? I feel like I can remember having similar symptoms prior to starting my Ativan but this keeps crossing my mind. I do still take ativan daily but maybe my body is asking for a larger dose? Maybe this dosage isn't effective anymore?  It scares me to death thinking it's some sort of seizure or something really devestating. sad 

 

0 likes, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • lizz977
    lizz977 emilia47047

    Posted

    Hey okay look I have had the exact same problem. I whoop myself down to .25 mg so I have 1mg split it into 4 pieces and take just one of them at night. But as I was taken myself down I almost felt like I was getting more anxity/ panic attacks. What I found it to be was just my own thinking. Like "what if this dose is not gonna work, am I really haveing withdrawals? And my mind would race my muscles would tightin tingling hands arms feet, cold hot until I took the other half of the pill makeing it 1/2 mg. look I promise you it is not withdraw don't think that or just try not to plz. It makes it worse. I know it was all in my head because as soon as I took the other part of the pill I would automatically feel better but I know it had not kicked in yet. You understand? That lasted only a short amount of time like a few days before I could tell myself and actually believe that it's not a attack it's just my messed up thinking. Does this help you at all? I hope so
    • emilia47047
      emilia47047 lizz977

      Posted

      Hi lizz, thank you for your comment. It really does help me. Today I got the same symptoms right off the morning because I started to think about "how long until i take my .25mg" Do you think it's possible to have the symptoms I am getting from this anxiety though? 
    • lizz977
      lizz977 emilia47047

      Posted

      Oh god yes! Our anxiety is a tricky thing I promise you! I have had it all even from not being able to eat not cause I didn want to but because it made me sick. It may sound weird but our minds are so powerful it knows what we fear or what may trigger us and it activates just that. When I first got my anxiety I got so sick for like 5 days straight I mean sick! Than I started thinking what if it's withdraw and I just started my ativan was on it for only 2 weeks. As I was taken myself off of it or I should say lowering my dose I got so use to a low dose that I got anxiety attacks thinking about take any more than .25mg it freaked me out. I'm telling you babe our anxiety and our minds play horrible, horrible tricks on us. I know you will get better, just believe that okay. You will! 
    • emilia47047
      emilia47047 lizz977

      Posted

      I had a similar thing from not being able to eat, it didn't make me feel sick but it made me breathless which was really just in my head. I didn't eat for a full day becuase of this and that's why my doctor started me on ativan, she said it would be good to diagnose if its anxiety or a more serious problem. After taking my ativan (I took 1/4th of a .5mg pill!!) I ate a full plate, haha. I was surprised so little effected me so much. And since then, last december, I've been on it. sad When I first got my anxiety too I was really sick, I had to go to the ER twice bc I thought I couldn't breathe just to come home knowing I'm having a panic attack. Thank you for your nice words. I have been a lot worse with my anxiety so I will keep smiling until it fully fades. smile 
  • vijay50750
    vijay50750 emilia47047

    Posted

    Dear Emilia,

    IT looks like you are having quite a bit of Anxiety related to your drugs,

    Remember that with anxiety, this happens.... You will be anxious about everything....Try to make a schedule where, you ensure that your day has fun filled activities as well.

    Since your dose keeps you from thinking about anything else, Try to create a schedule, where your worry of meds can be balanced with having an enjoyable life, I'm not asking you to be reckless, but rather Focused.

    Try to input some"YOU" time in your daily calender.

    Maybe a walk in the park with someone.

    Maybe a Movie on the Telly

    a game of sports?

    Don't worry cause with anxiety.... Worry is like picking on an old wound.... Look forward to doing something special this weekend ok.

    • emilia47047
      emilia47047 vijay50750

      Posted

      Vijay ty for your comment. What you are saying really makes sense but do you think the symptoms I am getting are normal/nothing to worry about? 

      I wish I had time to enjoy the weekend, unfortunately I'm in the middle of exam week for summer school. sad 

  • akincaid1984
    akincaid1984 emilia47047

    Posted

    I was addicted to ativan really bad. I had night sweats, I felt on edge all the time. I could even taste it in my mouth. And I had some of the same symptoms you do. It was horrible. I know exactly how you feel!!!! I hope you feel better soon cause its hard. My addiction happened so fast that before I knew it I was addicted. And I would freak out cause it had to be by my side 24/7! I felt like I would die without it. It took a good 6 months before I could get that taste out of my mouth.
    • emilia47047
      emilia47047 akincaid1984

      Posted

      Akincaid did you also have the weird jittery/twitchy feeling? I really hate this feeling and it is so scary. Is it normal for anxiety?
  • gwen1953
    gwen1953 emilia47047

    Posted

    Perhaps you should consider varying the time you take Ativan a little. Perhaps you should take it first thing in the morning and early evening as you need to keep it topped up in your bloodstream.  You should also consider cutting back on the amount of time you are spending on the computer as this won't help your situation.

    Please consider returning to your GP and explaining the situation. It may be that you need to return to a higher dose but split throughout the day or alternatively a change of medication altogether. I wish you well.

    • emilia47047
      emilia47047 gwen1953

      Posted

      Hi Gwen ty for your reply. I will book an appointment with my psychiatrist asap and see what he has to say about it, I have been feeling a little better with this however. 

      As far as cutting back on the computer time that is hard for me. I go to university and am a Computer Science major, so it's going to be what  I do for a living for the rest of my life, which means 8hrs of straight computer time daily. But how is spending time on the computer effecting my anxiety? This really doesn't make sense to me. 

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