What symptoms can my wife expect when weaning off of Ativan?

[chuck10]

She was prescribed for it over a year ago.  Her PCP put her on a new one month dose of 1mg. 3x/day and then after one month start taking her down and off of it completely.

[Paxiled]

People don't respond the same.  She could suffer no problems, moderate problems, or severe withdrawals.  They can last a day, a month, or years.  For most people, brains are pretty supple and learn to operate again without the drug eventually or right away, depending on the person.  The important thing is to play it safe, meaning a slow taper off the drug that takes as long as it takes.  Don't let the doctor bully her into stopping before she's comfortable, and make sure he knows how to react if it is a bad withdrawal -- you go back on the drug and taper off more slowly.  Most general docs aren't very experienced or good at this, so keep on top of it.  If you don't feel the doctor, who sounds like he's on top of this so far, is doing the right thing, find a good psychopharmacologist who does this more often.  And your wife is the boss, not the doctor, so if she needs to slow down the taper, it's her call, not the doctor's.  Most likely, it will go smoothly over time -- don't let her expect a horrible result, just make sure she's aware of how to best avoid having one in case the doctor doesn't.  Peace.

[chuck10]

Thank you