ativan question

Hello all,
Just wanted to ask a quick question.  I am back on Zoloft 100MG for anxiety and panic and have benn on100 mg for three days.  My GP Doc gave me Ativan to use.  I know it has a short half life and you should not be on it more than a couple of months but I was taking a total of 1.5mg a day (every 8 hours a .5 mg pill) for about 2 weeks.  I have cut it back to .75mg a day with the same spacing this week.  Is it possible to feel a little anxious from that small of a dosage decrease with just two weeks of use?  I have been doing this for a couple of days now and have actually started to feel a little better now.  I have used Zoloft in the past and realize that I may feel a little anxious for awhile while I have been slowly increasing to 100mg.

In the past, I was on Klonopin and may give my doc a call next week if I decide I need to.  Ultimate goal is to just use a benzo on an as needed basis.  I know the short half life of meds like ativan and xanax can make them addicting but I know .75mg is a small dose so I am not sure if I am going to cause more problems in the long run.  

[amish1979]

Your mileage may vary, but I was taking 2 mg Ativan per day for a month (all of December, 1mg twice daily) and have had no major withdrawls cutting back on it.  At the moment I take .50 mg as needed, which has only been once in the last two weeks.  I did taper it a bit when I went off so that may have made a difference.  But it was only a 10 day taper.

Good luck

[ativan]

I also take ativan Img 4 times daily, could I just ask you what .50mgs is? sorry if I seem daft but Imgs of ativan is like taking 10mgs of valium. I would love to reduce my ativan but I dont nknow how as I have been on it for over 30years, please help if you can.
thanking you janis, from the u.k

[amish1979]

Love the screen name ;)

All I do is cut my 1mg tabs in half, now you have 2 .5mg tabs.  All you have to do to start a taper schedule is cut one of those 4 daily tabs smaller and just go from there.  CONSULT WITH YOUR DOCTOR FIRST!!!!

I believe there is a site called benzobuddies.com where you can find more support for weaning off ativan, and there are people with far better knowledge than me on this forum.  A healthy taper schedule, with your lengthy history of use, would take several months (or more) but will work.