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Anxiety Community
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HELP READY TO TRY AGAIN GETTING OFF AMBIAN/LORAZEPAM
by mbaez1953, Apr 21, 2007 12:00AM
I HAVE BEEN ON BOTH THESE MEDS FOR AROUND 2YRS AND NEED TO GET OFF, lATELT i HAVE HAD PANIC ATTACKS AND HAVE FELT VERY DIZZY.
I WANT TO GET OFF OFF AMBIAN FIRST, ALSO LATELY I FEEL VERY NERVOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY,FEEL LIKE IM IN ANOTHER WORLD
NOT MY SELF, SOMEONE TOLD ME LORAZEPAM HAS A SHORT HALF LIFE
AND I MAY BE NEEDING MORE, I TAKE 1MG AT NIGHT SHOULD I BREAK IT IN HALF HALF AT NIGHT HALF DURING THE DAY? PLASE SOMEONE ADVICE ME A THINK I AM GOING NUTS,I WANT MY OLD SELF BACK. THANKS YOU.
I WANT TO GET OFF OFF AMBIAN FIRST, ALSO LATELY I FEEL VERY NERVOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY,FEEL LIKE IM IN ANOTHER WORLD
NOT MY SELF, SOMEONE TOLD ME LORAZEPAM HAS A SHORT HALF LIFE
AND I MAY BE NEEDING MORE, I TAKE 1MG AT NIGHT SHOULD I BREAK IT IN HALF HALF AT NIGHT HALF DURING THE DAY? PLASE SOMEONE ADVICE ME A THINK I AM GOING NUTS,I WANT MY OLD SELF BACK. THANKS YOU.
Lorazepam may be tapered from directly (very slowly), or another drug in the Benzodiazepine class (with a longer half-life) may be implemented to assist you in the withdrawal. Such a determination can only be made by a qualified physician.
Generally speaking, eliminating 0.25 mg of Lorazepam from your daily routine every two weeks will safely remove the drug from your system. It will not necessarily be a "pleasant" experience. This may be done using 1 mg tablets, by cutting them in quarters. Tapering directly from Lorazepam, you will experience withdrawal (but it can be done *safely*).
A transition to Diazepam would minimize most of the withdrawal phenomenon. 1 mg of Lorazepam = 10 mg of Diazepam. Once the transition is made, 1 mg of Diazepam would then be removed every two weeks. This is a very slow method of tapering off of Benzodiazepines. The Diazepam also has sedative qualities, and you should be able to remove the Ambien more easily.
You should not take it upon yourself to alter your drug dosages, as serious effects may result. Dosages should only be altered by a physician.
-Ryan
latelt I do not feel normal or relaxed could my body be telling me it needs more
of these meds? I want to clear my head but it scares me to stop meds and feel anxiety/panic. will rehab do better and will insurance pay for this kind of service. thank you again.
I'm not sure if your insurance would pay for Rehab (my guess is no), but it will surely pay for a visit to a physician.
Is your body telling you that you "need more of the drug"?
You can look at this two ways:
Yes: The effects of Ativan wear off quickly when taken every day, and larger doses are required to produce the same effect as the starting dose after a period of time (which is individualized)
No: You have built up a tolerance to the prescribed dose, and are back to square one (the Ativan lost its efficacy). Removing the drug would result in a modest decline in your original condition (in other words, the anxiety will be slightly worse than it was *before* you started taking Ativan), an after effect of ALL Benzodiazepines, unfortunately.
Time to taper off these drugs, IMHO, and take a "drug holiday". I wouldn't increase the dose of either drug, as you'd have one hell of a time getting off of them in the future.
-Ryan
I took all my meds to show the doctor. He said this would not be a good time to try and get off these meds, That I am having panic attacks and anxiety,He had an ekg done. His conclusion was that I am being under medicated and I should continue the meds as I have been and he added CLONAZEPAM 0.5MG HE WANTS ME TO HAVE BLOOD WORK DONE.
wow this is new. then he says we will try and find a way to get off these meds gradually. right now he wants to get me feeling better. does any of this sound good to you at all, or am I missing something could it be lorazapam just was not getting the job done anymore I take it with ambiam at night right now I just do not feel right..thanks morgan
It sounds to me like this doctor doesn't want the responsibility of weaning you off of these two drugs. In fact, he may not know how to. Clonazepam in combination is not the answer, and will only "add fuel to the fire", making it even harder to get off these drugs in the future. The doctor should choose only one Benzodiazepine type drug. He should not mix Lorazepam with Clonazepam as a daily routine. Mixing the two is just plain incompetent.
If I understand you correctly, your goal is to discontinue the use of both Lorazepam and Ambien, correct? If that is true, adding Clonazepam to your routine is a bad idea.
A better approach would be to remove the Ativan completely, and replace it with Clonazepam, 0.5 mg BID (twice daily, one in the morning, and one at night). Used in this manner, the Clonazepam will reach a steady-state level in your blood within one week. Once you are stabilized on Clonazepam, it can be tapered from directly in 0.125 mg incriments every two to four weeks (until completely removed).
Another thought is that you do indeed have a chronic anxiety disorder that requires treatment. If that is the case, Clonazepam 0.5 mg BID would be a better maintenance drug than the Lorazepam. Lorazepam is indicated for short-term use only (4 months), and on a "as needed" basis.
Making the transition from Lorazepam to Clonazepam may not be easy, as Lorazepam has a quick onset of action. When making the transition, it may take a week or more for the Clonazepam to reach full effect. It has a slower onset of action, but a much longer half-life (making it the ideal maintenance drug). It is two-times stronger than Lorazepam.
I would go back to this doctor and request Clonazepam at a dosage of 0.5 mg BID (twice daily), as this will effectively replace the Lorazepam that you are currently taking. Ask him to remove the Lorazepam completely, as it won't be required at the Clonazepam dose specified. Clonazepam also has a better profile that targets "panic" in specific.
Before any attempt can be made to discontinue multiple drugs, you must be stabilized on ONE drug only. Otherwise, the failure rate is very high.
How was the Clonazepam 0.5 mg prescribed? Once a day? At night? In the morning? What does it say on the prescription?
-Ryan
this new doctor feels lorazapam was just not working anymore hence he think I was being under medicated becourse other meds were not strong anymore
so he said to take this cloazapam 0.5 mg twice a day and to continue taken other meds. after blood test come back he said we can work on tappering off these meds. He just thought it would be a risk to start this now as I was feeling very nervouse and I don't know where that was coming from pulse was 136 ekg normal blood presure borderline. Do you think if I take this new meds
I can get off lorazapam and not get any withdrawal symtems, last night I did cut off about a quarter of my ambian. My goal is to get off ambian then off all the other stuff, I hope you are wrong and I do not have an under lying anxiety problem, I never did prior to all this. thanks morgan
Please post your e-mail address on this forum. I will contact you shortly after. I will ask you a brief series of questions to get a better understanding of the situation.
Don't take any Clonazepam until you read my reply back. Tonight, take the Lorazepam and Ambien as prescribed (no Clonazepam).
-Ryan
I'm working on the reply now.
Best,
Ryan
Then as time went on, I felt like I "needed" it more often. I started having morning anxiety.(I am also on 100 mg Zoloft and 200 mg Wellbutrin-to hopefully spice up labido which it is not really working, but the combo seems to have helped greatly with my depression.
Anyhow...I have gone up to taking 1 mg lorazepam at night and 1 mg in the morning. I have been on this regimen for a few months(psychiatrist said it was fine, which from my reading IS NOT FINE) Well...one day I didn't pick up my prescription(not knowing better and not being told to be cautious of withdrawl) and I felt AWFUL. I cried all day, felt suicidal, was irritated by bright lights, felt anxoius and like I was losing my mind. I thought oh, God I have slipped back into a bad place. Anyhow...I realized it was the lorazepam after I felt better when I finally got my prescription. I told my psychiatrist how upset I was and she nonchalantly gave me a taper plan.
It sounds reasonable(1/4 cut back alternating night dose and morning dose each week) but I am feeling really icky.
Clonazepam makes me very tired but I am wondering if this would be better than what I am going through, or should I just grin and bear it?? I don't want to have to come off of clonazepam. I am asking on here because I don't think my psyciatrist is taking my withdrawl seriously. help!!