get off of them. the anxiety is not worth it. i know there is variability, but i unwittingly took 2-4mg per day for about 20 days. it was on average 3mg of lorazepam. i have been quiting for the past three days now, and i can't sleep!! have you ever seen the christian bale movie the "machinist"? well, that is how i feel.
my symptoms, fyi:
--diarrhea (gross i know), gas, have to pee all the time
--shaky hands
--anxious thoughts
--flat affect; little emotion, no small talk.
--no diet
--dry throat, phlegm, coughing a little
--and almost no sleep. last night i slept maybe 3 hours, four hours, and i had taken two 3mg pills of melatonin, which should put you to sleep. your body naturally produces about .5mg when you sleep, just so you get an idea. the night before last, i had taken 4 sleeping pills around midnight, and then in the morning i took 3mg of melatonin and 2 sleeping pills.
i'm not saying that this will happen to you, but it might!
I have only been on them about a month. I took valium and xanax on and off b4 that. I sometimes try to skip a night. I am having major anxiet right now tho.
i was on 4 to 6 mgs a night of lorazepam for about 8 months. it definitely is physically and mentally addicting and the withdrawals from benzos are horrendous. they are absolutely brutal and can be deadly. they are no joke and nothing to mess with. the dose you are on is not too high and it really depends on how long you have been on it. 1mg of lorazepam is equivalent to 10 mgs of diazepam(valium). so if you have been on it for more than four months you need to slowly lower your dose and you shouldnt experience any withdrawals or general discomfort done correctly. if you find youre not lowering youre dose of lorazepam well, then tell your doctor or go to a doctor and ask to be put on a equivalent dose of diazepam depending where youre at at your dosage. its a longer lasting benzo and is easier to come off of and taper off.
lorazepam is the brand name for ativan so you could find lots of information if you do a search on ativan. 1-2 mg a day is equal to about 0.5-1.0 mg aprozolam a day. It's not so so high, but it can still be very habit-forming.