ativan why have i still got protracted withdrawal symptoms

i appear to have mineral abnormalities. high copper cortisol low zinc magnesium and a few others out of whack...iwas told this is probably due to being so worn down for so long and perhaps being super sensitive to ativan. i only ever got the side effects from the drug no benefit what so ever.....its just been so long since my last tab i thought it would be alot better by now...i didnt have any of this prior to going on ativan ...my drs put me on ativan cos they said i have anxiety. it turned out to be my heart .. by then i was addicted to the benzo...

Oh dear. So you have a heart condition? That must be why you feel unwell most of the time?

The specialist doctor I saw told me that you should not be having withdrawal symptoms to lorazepam (ativan) or feeling the way you've described one year after you finished your taper. He recommends that you see your family doctor and have a whole bunch of blood tests, including thyroid function, blood sugar, full blood count. He also commented that what you describe is called derealisation and depersonalisation and that a referral to a pstchiatrist would be beneficial. Some therapy and a tiny dose of anti-psychotic medication for a while clears this up, apparently. He told me that on no account should you be given an anti depressant for this, unless you are actually depressed. Regular doctors often give people anti depressant medication when they can't think of what else to do!!!!!  And it was a doctor who told me this, but do remember that his specialty is addictive drugs, including benzos, so what he says is likely to be completely on the button.  xxxx Tess

apparently my heart condition has nothing to do with it all.i have sinus arrest....and now a pacemaker.. mmm my endocrinologist said it could b the ativan cos i been tried on anti d as well and all give me bad effects..he thinks the stress on me and my body from meds has led to all the imbalances but i still shouldnt be having so many symptoms. have had all those other tests. have seen a psychiatist she says i do not have a mental health issue and am sensitive to all mood changing meds. have also spoke to her about t h e depersonalisation stuff she says no...i seen her for many months while withdrawing .wonder what he means by anti psychotic drug ... no way will she put me on anti depressant. thanking you for asking. spelling rubbish lol its late...yes the drs do hand them out to easy .thats what happened to me.. i was a regular happy functioning ok prior to these meds.

Mineral imbalance can be a lulu to deal with. For awhile I was out of whack. I found three types of mineral "blends"  The best working and most effective are said to be colloiday. Not epensive. Check with your doctor, however minerals are not necessarily something the average doc knows much about. little to no time spent on anything to do with nutrition.

I just had a blood panel done...to include mineral balanced. I am in normal range. I know my body depletes many of them like, magnesium, potassium and calcium, during anxiety spikes. Fortunately, I seem to recover to normal....maybe because of diet, I really don't know. From now on, as long as anxiety still is part of my life, I will have the test every six months.

Where you are, are there certified nutritiohists? Might be the place to take test results for the best advice on what action to take.

Tess has given you more excellent advice that I can. But minerals I do know something about. The key thing is, to do their jobs in the body, all of them need to be in balance. Taking a supplement of one mineral and not the others that are needed to make that mineral work right, can throw the whole panel of minerals out of harmony...lots of side effects when they aren't "singing" together.

As I'm not a psychiatrist myself I don't know why a tiny dose of olanzapine or risperidone would help.........but that's what he said. He's been treating me for several months and I have great confidence in him.

Maybe go and see a different psychiatrist? And I'm glad Cia addressed the issue of mineral imbalances - I really don't know about that.

One thing my doctor did say was that as I didn't know who you were, regarding age and sex and how long you were on ativan, was that it could be tricky to get yourself feeling completely better, if you were on high doses for ages. As the whole point of this forum is anonymity, it's up to you if you want to tell the open forum - you could PM me. One very important thing - please don't tell me your name - doc said he couldn't comment on someone I actually knew as it would be inappropriate and unethical.                                                        love Tess xx

hi i was as high as 3mg a day 6 months slowly tapering..i am 53 and female

Well, tapering is a very good thing. Well done on taking the decision to do it. I'm a little confused now - are you still tapering or did you actually take your last ativan ten months ago? I think you're telling me you were on it for six months? And you tapered slowly, I hope?

I think I have a clue at last. Lorazepam is fast-acting and fairly fast getting out of the body, compared with other benzos. It is possible that your taper was done solely on lorazepam - is that correct? Because the best way to taper off the fast acting benzos is to be prescribed diazepam (valium) as it stays in the body for many more hours than the other benzos. That is the recommendation nowadays, although you often have to consult a specialist to get this done. I've lost count of the number of people on this site who have had very badly managed tapers. And some doctors just stop the prescription immediately, leaving the patient suffering very badly with appalling withdrawal symptoms.

Please can you explain how long your taper lasted - and how it was managed in terms of dropping down doses?

I am sixty and female and it is taking me alongish time to do my own taper, but I'm comfortable with it. I'm sleeping well and feeling much more alert now. You may have tapered too quickly, with the wrong medication.........many doctors, however willing, just don't have the expert knowledge to know how to taper patients correctly.

Can you get back to me? I see that Tootsie has commented that it can take a long time to feel completely well after a taper, and I'm sure she's right, but everyone is different. Cia had no problems. I'm coping well now, but I didn't to start with. I'm hoping that all will be well when I get down to low doses - i'm currently on 20mg diazepam daily, after starting at 30 mg daily. Considering what I was taking prior to deciding to get help, I feel now that I made the right decision. My husband has said that I'm much more 'together' now - but when you're addicted to something you can tell yourself and others that you're 'normal'.

Actually I had a lot of alarming falls before I started the taper. Just tripping up on nothing. I haven't had a fall since last October now, and that was a spectacular one in a dark car park, coming out of a restaurant after dinner. I just went right down and was screaming like crazy because I landed on my arthritic knees and thought I'd broken my arm.

I was fortunate in that a lady in the car park came over, who was a physiotherapist, figured out fairly quickly that I had NOT broken my arm, and sat with me on the ground talking quietly to me. Then she instructed a couple of men who had run up to help exactly how to get me up safely.

Anyway, no more falls since then! So it's all good, really.

Please message me back!               love Tess xx

hi . sorry i confusing you. i was on 3mg for 6 months then took another 6ish months to slowly taper . been completly off for ten months ...i was on valdoxan a anti depressant . no i tapered straight from ativan bit by bit every few weeks .when i gotdown to a quater of tab i couldnt cut them any more. i was also cutting back and spacing them through day.was a nightmare.

Well, you know, that doesn't sound like a good taper, Theg. It shouldn't be a nightmare. It should be a challenge but if done correctly, you should never feel that it was a nightmare - just something that you get on with and get used to. I'm kind of wondering what to suggest now. Are you craving ativan at all? Do you have a sneaking feeling that if you were still on them you'd feel better, or ae you glad they're finished with - and did they help when you WERE on them?

you very lucky... i have had mental health issues looked at .

I am 3 years off my benzo  and still have issues. It can take up to 5 years for some people.

It was a good 18 months for me to see  a difference.

But it does get better

Hi tootsie, you'll be glad to know that I'm on track now and sticking to the prescribed meds.

You helped me a lot in my early days so thanks so much for that.

Hope you're doing well, too.      love Tess xx

I agree with Tess that it should not be a nightmare. Now cold turkey..that's a nightmare. A slow taper should take months, not weeks or days. Coming down a little every few weeks worked for me.

Don't look at when will this be over. Look at, I am doing something good for myself. It will be done when your body is clear and not before. I dropped tiny bits and stayed there until my body was stable and comfortable...then down a little again, etc.  Patience, Theg.

Sounds like Cia is thinking the same as I am, Theg - you came off them too quickly.

I don't want to suggest going back on them but you might like to have a think about it - and if you do, make sure you taper correctly. We can help you with that - it's up to you, hun.                 xx

I don't think I made that very clear................if you go back on to lorazepam, your next taper once you feel stabilised shoul be done very differently. That's what we can help you with, if you decide to go down that route. your other option is just to wait until you feel better, rather than starting the whole business again - as tootsie said, it can take a loooooong time for some people to feel 'normal' after a taper. x

Did you mean to send this to me? Anyway, maybe we need to look at what else she was/is taking. This just doesn't sound right. I react to any drug and its side effects, and its withdrawal effects very strongly.

i was on Lorazepam for three years and tapered in less than four months. The only thing that really affected me was some sleep problems. At that time i was not dealing with anxiety just trying to sleep..was up.to to 2,25mg when i decided that was enough. Perhaps the problem isn't, at least in total, due to the taper, but to the ansiety itself.? I really don't know. What do you think, Tess?

Hi Cia - that second message for for Theg, but that doesn't mean you can't comment lol.

THEG - the point is that people respond very differently to different drugs and if you personally are still having problems, we're still trying to figure out how best to help you. I have tapered easily and fairly quickly from anti depressants but certainly not from benzos.

And Cia is absolutely right when she says the problem  could be the anxiety itself. Also, Cia's comment about other meds you're taking is very pertinent. Can you get back to the forum with your thoughts on that?

love Tess xx