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Positive withdrawal stories please

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Cleora3
Cleora3

I have been taking lorazepam 1-3mg for 3-4 months and am now tapering off. The land of Google is a terrifying place for info on this subject. Please could anyone share any positive experiences coming off of this drug. Please no negative ones I've seen too many.

3 likes, 49 replies

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  • Chernobyl
    Chernobyl Cleora3

    Posted

    You may not get any replies because you only want good experiences. What I can say that's positive is you have only been taking them for a few months, the longer you take benzos the worse things get. So thats a positive if you get off now and dont try to wait to hear positive experiences. Just taper slowly (if you have that luxury) and you have only a couple months that you've been taking them. Wishing you the best of luck! BTW wish I was able to give you the answer you desire.
  • la12
    la12 Cleora3

    Posted

    i just logged in after a month or two away and saw this.

    dont worry if you can get to 1 its relatively painless to go to ½. get the little blue pills that can b broken in half, ask the dr for some diazepam 2 mg and substitute the ½ for 1 mg diazepam (½ a pill) gradualy over a few 2-3 weeks.

    do it at your own pace, 1 mg is a very low almost subclinical dose so once your on half your almost there. a lot of the "withdrawel" is psychological because you have been relying on the lorazepam as a pick me up to get  you through the day

    dont let the dr put you under any pressure and ration the prescription so you are short, just go at your own pace. i  found just having them in the draw and knowing they are there a great comfort and sometimes  that was enough to not take them so i now keep a dozen in the draw for occasional use when i realy need 1 or ½

    good luck and best wishes lionel

    • Cleora3
      Cleora3 la12

      Posted

      Thank you, I am down to 1.5 a day starting on 1 tomorrow. It's the end game I'm scared of I was on diazepam for quite some time and found it does not suit me at all. So was hoping to do it without using them but if I need to I need to
    • la12
      la12 Cleora3

      Posted

      thats fine if your happier not trying the diazepam taper, trust your own insticts and feelings. if youve been on any more than 5-10 mg diazepam its probably best to not take them again. just gradually reduce the lorazepam at your own pace, and dont be worried if you have to take an extra ½ if you feel youve reduced too soon. eventually youll just be on 3-5 ½ mg a week and you can taper off to zero.
    • Cleora3
      Cleora3 la12

      Posted

      I'm going for 0.5 twice tomorrow and will see how that goes. The horror stories have so fuelled my anxieties that it's definitely the psychological part I'll struggle with. Thank you for your support
  • la12
    la12 Cleora3

    Posted

    i just logged in after a month or two away and saw this.

    dont worry if you can get to 1 its relatively painless to go to ½. get the little blue pills that can b broken in half, ask the dr for some diazepam 2 mg and substitute the ½ for 1 mg diazepam (½ a pill) gradualy over a few 2-3 weeks. the reason for substituting wiyh diazepam is it has a much weaker effect and the half life is longer so it stays in your body and gradually  dissipates over a few days so you dont get the rebound that lorazepam can give you.

    do it at your own pace, 1 mg is a very low almost subclinical dose so once your on half your almost there. a lot of the "withdrawel" is psychological because you have been relying on the lorazepam as a pick me up to get  you through the day

    dont let the dr put you under any pressure and ration the prescription so you are short, just go at your own pace. i  found just having them in the draw and knowing they are there a great comfort and sometimes  that was enough to not take them so i now keep a dozen in the draw for occasional use when i realy need 1 or ½

    good luck and best wishes lionel

    • Cleora3
      Cleora3 la12

      Posted

      Hi Lionel,

      My plan was to decrease do half in the morning and half at night but I failed badly my anxiety hit the roof after halving morning dose. Any tips please?

    • la12
      la12 Cleora3

      Posted

      dont worry its largely psychological anxiety,

       stop reading the benzo forums, some of the people on there were on serious amounts of  for years like 4-8 lorazapam a day or 70 mg valium a day and youd probably need a hospital stay for this.

      i'm gonna do this in two stages, diet and taper, so it might take a while to read through.

      diet, vitamins and minerals, take a multivitamin and mineral with food 2-3 times a week ( get these from lloyds chemist 60 bottle their the best ).

      make sure your getting plenty of vitamin c, my dentist told me this after i was having slight gum problems as a result of poor diet for many months. ½ dozen oranges a week if you dont have citrus allergy or pills otherwise. this vitamin is needed in many maintenance and repair functions in the body.

      as well as vitamin pills you can increase the natural intake of these mutrients by the following.

      b vitamins take spoonful of marmite on toast 4-6 days a week or get b complex if you cant take yeast ( 2 a week but not on the same day you take the vitamins + minerals ).

      max your magnesium intake, eat any salad, green veg, beans or peas. there is evidence that this metal is good for anxiety, depression and is involved in brain chemical synthesis.

       

    • la12
      la12 Cleora3

      Posted

      youve only dropped the dose by a 1/3. it might be better to do it more gradually like this

      first week assuming youre starting on a sunday

       1 + ½,  ½ + ½.  1 + ½,  1 + ½,  ½ + ½,  1 + ½,  1 + ½

      second week and third week

       ½ + ½,  1 + ½,  ½ + ½,  1 + ½,  ½ + ½,  1 + ½,  ½ + ½

      fourth week

       ½ + ½,  just a ½,  ½ + ½,  ½ + ½,  just a ½,  1 + ½,  ½ + ½

      fifth week and sixth week

       ½,  ½ + ½,  ½,  ½ + ½,  ½,  ½ + ½,  ½

      seventh week

       ½,  0,  ½,  ½,  0,  ½,  ½

      eigth week and ninth week

       0,  ½,  0,  ½,  0,  ½,  0

      you can take the occasional ½ or stop now

    • la12
      la12 Cleora3

      Posted

      youve only dropped the dose by 1/3. it might be better to do it more gradually like this

      first week assuming youre starting on a sunday

       1 + ½,  ½ + ½.  1 + ½,  1 + ½,  ½ + ½,  1 + ½,  1 + ½

      second week and third week

       ½ + ½,  1 + ½,  ½ + ½,  1 + ½,  ½ + ½,  1 + ½,  ½ + ½

      fourth week

       ½ + ½,  just a ½,  ½ + ½,  ½ + ½,  just a ½,  1 + ½,  ½ + ½

      fifth week and sixth week

       ½,  ½ + ½,  ½,  ½ + ½,  ½,  ½ + ½,  ½

      seventh week

       ½,  0,  ½,  ½,  0,  ½,  ½

      eigth week and ninth week

       0,  ½,  0,  ½,  0,  ½,  0

      you can take the occasional ½ or stop now

    • la12
      la12 Cleora3

      Posted

      take a look at the ashton manual, written by dr heather ashton of the institute of nueroscience at newcastle university. she could be called the authoruty in benzo's. it's a long read but you can look through the contents and dip into the bits that look interesting. http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/
    • la12
      la12 Cleora3

      Posted

      google heather ashton benzodiazepine withdrawal manual
    • la12
      la12 Cleora3

      Posted

      a good read but once again dont be intimidated by it there is lots of positive information in it.
    • Cleora3
      Cleora3 la12

      Posted

      I'm down to a half been dropping half every few days. I can't eat or barely swallow tablets I feel so weak. Just managing to work my partner so unhappy with me as I'm no fun etc it's been really tough on him my being ill. Not sure what to do
    • la12
      la12 Cleora3

      Posted

      i think maybe youve done that a little too quickly although i  can understand if you want to get off them asap, do you mean youve actually cut to just ½ a day?if so dont be afraid to go back up to ½ + ½ and try it a little slower say from week four on the taper i posted, you might find that easier.

      i tried to taper off from 1 a day, ½ + ½ quickly over about 5 days the first time i had the white pills that you can  break up and when i took the last ¼ i had a really hard 3 days. a few weeks later i was back on them and got off with the last few weeks of the taper  but i took 3 mg of diazapam nearly every day which made it much easier. if you do decide to go with the ½ you'll probably have a tough day or two before your body adjusts to the lower dose, once you take the last ½ it takes about 36 hours for the lorazepam to get to an undetectable level in your body, but you you'll feel rough for a day or two longer.

      i know its hard just take it at your own pace and trust your feelings dont feel guilty whatever you do and you must try and eat, it will make you feel better. i misunderstood exactly what you meant , if your working you need to take some days off as well. stay positive once its gone from your body you will begin to feel better.

    • Gillian433545
      Gillian433545 la12

      Posted

      Thank you la12 for your positive help on this forum. I notice this was three years ago and wondering if you are still doing well. I myself am coming off Lorazepam and have dropped from 4mg to 3mg in 8 weeks. Over the next 8 weeks my doctor is dropping me .5 mg off my first 1 mg of the morning. Do you have any positive advice for me.

    • Gillian433545
      Gillian433545 la12

      Posted

      I thank you for your positive help. It is really helping me. Personally I did not find the Heather Ashton Manuel helpful. I found it quite alarming.
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