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Lorazepam withdrawal

I was taking lorazepam for severe anxiety - I took 1mg a day for 4 months. Over the last month I have reduced to 0.5 down to 0.25 and then nothing for the last 16 days. I was doing quite well or so I thought and then over the last 5 days I have developed joint pains, tremors, weakness and worst of all increasing anxiety which has got to such a bad point today that I have had to resort to taking 1mg. Is it normal to have delayed withdrawal symptoms like this and how long will they last? It was so bad I had to take one and now I feel like I have taken a huge step backwards. Any advice would be appreciated
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Avatar universal
Hi. I wrote you a comment below but I think it started a different thread....
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Avatar universal
Hi guys. I've been on Lorazepam 1 mg starting 5 years ago. For the first few years 2 refills would last an entire year. This past winter I have almost always taken 2 daily. I of course run out after two weeks. Then I just come to a sudden stop. Twice now, after that's happened, I have laid in bed the entire night, then I just have a meltdown.
I also have severe asthma and I think now that i have confused the symptoms sometimes.
Does this make any sense?
Have any of you ever gone to the ER for an anxiety attack?
Does this sound like withdrawal?
What should I do?
I'm afraid to tell my Dr. Bc what if she just takes them away all of a sudden?
How long do withdrawal symptoms last?
It only occurred to me recently that maybe the chest pain, and shortness of breath are not asthma.
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Avatar universal
hi thanks for the info you provided regarding lorazepam...I'd like to talk to you more. I'm going nuts!!!
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370181 tn?1595629445
Hi Hon,
I promise this will be very short! Although I owe quite a bit to Ms.Ashton, I also questioned the valium "crossover" and didn't go that route either, but I think her theory holds a great deal of water, it makes a great deal of sense and I gave it a great deal of thought before I chose to just do a "straight Xanax taper." There are many other really excellent "plans" out there, written by people who truly understand the nature of these meds. I just can't stress how important I believe it is to fit the plan to YOUR needs, YOUR body and YOUR mind. It IS all about YOU! Good luck on your next attempt. And while I know it's possible to do this on your own, I still thinks it's a bit wiser to get some back up and support from your doc in case you run into any "snags" on this journey to a drug free life-style. Let me know if there's anything else you want to talk about and you can always send me a PM!
Peace
Greenlydia
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Avatar universal
Wow, fantastic search Green, Im bookmarking that one! :0)

*Bows with deep apprication*
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Avatar universal
thank you so much for your email - it was so helpful you have no idea. I have een told by every doctor and nurse that I have spoken to that it cant possibly be lorazepam withdrawal as I had been off it for 16 days but I knew it was as I had the physical symptoms getting worse by the day and anxiety worse by the day until it became unbearable at the weekend and I knew it was the lorazepam cos I had actually been in a very positive place thinking I had kicked it!

I have read the Ashton manual and I now need to work out a much slower taper. I understand that I probably need to stabilise on 1mg maybe for a week or 2 before I commence and I may take the route of the valium crossover if that is necessary although I have heard varying reports on this.

When I see how you did it and shaving off dust - I realise I did it so quick but I just thought I was doing so well as I felt okay and no one told me there could be a delayed withdrawal and still no doctor believes me - but I have now read that it stays in your fat cells for 2-3 weeks which would tie in exactly.

Thanks again for your info it was so helpful as I have been so confused with all these doctors telling me I was imagining it!!

I will let you know how I get on

Caroline
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370181 tn?1595629445
Hi kernol and welcome to the forum! (What I often refer to as "My OTHER families leaky canoe!")

As one who has tapered off Xanax more times than I care to think about, I can relate to your queary very well and with compassion. To put it bluntly, and as many of us on this forum know from first hand experience, is that getting off benzos is a *****! But it can be done, so don't give up hope.
Are you being followed by a doc while you withdraw? The first couple of times I went off the Xanax, I tried doing it myself. Big mistake, that.
I have had the exact same reactions you did on one of my self-prescribed tapers. I cut myself down at what I THOUGHT was a nice slow rate and then just stopped. Like you, I did quite well for a couple weeks but then all sorts of weird and not nice things began to happen to my mind/body. My anxiety level shot through the roof and I found myself racing to the drug locker for what I knew would be almost instant relief. Like you, I began to have tremors and weakness, a weird feeling in my head which I still cannot articulate, my joint pain increased tenfold ( I also have severe arthritis, so I'm not sure that I can speak to YOUR joint pain, but muscle weakness is a definite side effect of lorazepam withdrawl) and I had a daily headache that was with me 24/7. I woke up with it and went ot bed with it. And, like I said, my anxiety level just kept creeping up and up.
Before this turns into one of my epic tomes, in my humble opinion, I believe what you went through, (or are still going through) is really normal for a too fast taper. Lorazepam, like many of the benzos, including Xanax, is intended for short term use only. They (ahh, that mysterious consortium of "THEY!) have deemed that four months of Lorazepam is the max. Which is how long you were on it. Long enough for you to develope a dependancy. I have since learned, not only from trial and error, the doctors and my favorite guru, Ms.Ashton, that one needs a plan to follow and one in which YOU are allowed to make personal decisions regarding the speed at which you move down the dosage ladder. My first really successful withdraw was an extremely long process, and I think if your looking to get off this stuff FAST, you need to do more research. It can't be done outside of a rehap unit, which I can't stress strongly enough to avoid! What I was given, as a plan, was to step down by very minute increments and stay at those new levels, sometimes for weeks! You MUST give your body/mind a chance to sort of regenerate itself and get accustomed to the lower dose gradually. When I felt my anxiety was stabilized on the new dose, I would step it down a fraction more. Again waiting for my body to accept this new dosage. And sometimes, during this process, I would have to stay at a new level for much longer than the last step-down. But I hung in there and eventually the symptoms and odd panic breakthrough would subside. When I felt comfortable and ready, I would take another step down the ladder and hold there for as long as I needed. Then another and another until my dosage was being "measured" not in mgs. but by micrograms of Xanax "dust" I was shaving off with a razor blade! I'm pretty sure, at this point, I was operating on the placebo effect, but whatever, it worked for me. I was free at last, free at last! And I was free for quite a long period of time. Well, it was nearly a year, which for me WAS a long time! How long did this withdrawl take? Eight MONTHS! I was taking 6mg daily of Xanax. That's a lot of Xanax. But be it 1mg. of lorazepam or 6 of Xanax, the key words here are slow and steady or stop and hold at a level where YOU feel stabalized until YOUR body/mind is ready for the next step. I don't anticipate your withdrawl taking as long as mine, as we are all different in our tolerences for these meds. I just want you to know that because you went back on the med, you have NOT taken a step backwards! You have learned much about your body/mind connection and when you are ready to attempt another withdrawl, you will be more prepared to deal with each level of your own step down process. To address your question if it's normal to have delayed reactions to these meds, I would answer yes. (Bear in mind I am NOT a doctor or pharmacist!!!!) Even tho their half-life may vary, you still carry some of this med in your system. You made it for it 16 days before your body said "HEY!" Personally I find this encouraging for you. What I, in my humble opinion suggest, is that you consult your doc or therapist to help you create a taper plan that is not rigid and allows you to control the rate at which you decompress form this med. You need to be very proactive during this conversation and let them know that you felt the last taper was too fast. They are most likely reading from some medical cookbook about the time the average Joe SHOULD be able to taper. As usual, they aren't looking at YOU! If they won't "bend," then I think you need to find another doc or therapist who is well versed in benzos and DO check out their bookshelves for "Betty Crockers Quick and Easy Benzo Withdrawl." If they own it, run away!
I've had way too much coffee, I'm sure I have shamelessly repeated myself and no doubt confused you beyond belief. Since I get the feeling this is your first attempt to get off the benzo, I would highly recommend you see your doc/therapist. But, before you see them, arm youself with some knowledge. There are many folks here who will recommend books that have helped them and hopefully they will weigh in with those thoughts, in the meanwhile, Google "Ashton/Xanax" and read her monograph on benzo withdrawl. I promise it will open your eyes and your mind.
Sorry for the length of this epic tome..........way more than you bargained for I'm sure. You'll be fine. You just gotta find what's right for YOU!
Keep posting. We're always here and we care. Spend some time browsing around the site. You can type in "Lorazepam" in one of the boxes around her somewhere and find many threads from folks dealing with this particular drug. And please consider joining so you can PM folks. And fill out your profile so you're not just a name but part of our little family here!
Good luck.
Peace
Greenlydia  
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1 Comments
I am trying to get off 1 mg lorezopam ..taken over a year. I am at .5 mg. I took a bit less yesterday and had a dreadful experience when i woke at 5 am... i went back to .5 mg today.
Avatar universal
Seems like you reduced the meds too fast.  They say to taper at a rate of 10 to 20% every 2 weeks at the most.  You could check out the website Benzobuddies to get an idea.  Most people seem to go slower than that.
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