lorazepam withdrawel

[heritage]

I have been taking 1mg. lorazepam at night for one year to help me sleep. It recently quit being effective and I decided to quit taking it. The dr. prescrobed trazadone in its place. I really didn't want to take the trazadone. I decided on my own (not very smart of me) to just wean myself off the lorazepam, I have had the worst few days. I shake, can't sleep, and feel like my brain is on fire, I also feel like my heart is pounding. The dr.was suprised to hear this. How do I get off this drug, can anyone tell me how long this withdrawel will last, the things are read are scary.

[FLaddict]

Do not feel isolated. You are not alone in your struggle to get off of meds that a doctor gave you. Most of us here on this site are people getting off legally prescribed narcotics.  I got off pain pills 52 days ago. Its a on going struggle and you will need support.

[road2recovery]

i would agree very slowly..i detoxed from klonopin and it was the worst 2 weeks of my life..I did not tell my doctor that i got off, and i didn 't call him when i was going through this..This was 3 yrs ago..i don't know how i didn't have a seizure..My whole body would shake then i couldn't swallow...my throat was so tight, to drink water was hard..i was on a very high dosage and had no idea , because it just made me feel normal ..Then when i got on lexapro in a few days everything was at lest 80% better....i could not go around anyone because it made it worst..no sleep..w/d's from benzo's are very different then opiates, but i really don't know which is worst..The only thing the same is no sleep..good luck and take it slow.
R2R

[FLaddict]

You have to do it very slowly.. and if your doc is not a believer then find a new doc to taper you off of this. It can be very dangerous to come off of lorazepam, and even induce sezures.. So be very careful.  Most people only taper down a quarter of a pill every two weeks is what I read..

[heritage]

Thank you so much for answering me. I plan to get in touch with another dr. first thing in the morning, but being the weekend I am just trying to tough it out. I have been taking a .5 mg for the past 10 days, hopefully  I can cut that in half in a few days. It just helps to know that I have shared that information with another human. I feel isolated by all of this.