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Ativan Withdrawal

I was prescribed Ativan for 6 weeks as a sleep aid following a broken ankle. Took 1 mg at night. Reached tolerance and cut to half mg per night for a week.
I am now on day 6 of c/t. The days are ok once I am up and moving - a little nausea and anxiety but bearable.
The nights are not so good with stomach pains, anxiety and terrible insomnia plus pins and needles in arms.
Last night, less anxiety and I managed to sleep for a couple of hours around dawn without a sleep aid.
Anyone know if I am over the worst and have any suggestions re a sleep aid. Such an evil drug!
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Avatar universal
Thanks for the info!
Baths not possible at the moment as have broken ankle - which is where the pills and this whole mess began!
Would never have touched them if I had known.
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Avatar universal
Yeah, I'm with you on the Ativan.  Even with short-term use, the body can suffer withdrawals when cutting back on the drug.  And yes, you are over the worst of it.  Anytime you cut Ativan in an effort to lower dose or get off it, takes about a week to get completely past that awful experience, and then if you cut again, same thing.  

There are plenty of good sleep medicines that can be prescribed to you that will knock you out cold, your doc will know what to give you that is strictly for sleep and not a tranquilizer.  If you're looking for over-the-counter stuff, I will use Tylenol PM to go to sleep, or I'll get a bottle of pills from the health food store called Melatonin.  It is natural, and mimics the nightime cycle in the body, and is quite reliable in knocking you out for sleep.  And to fight any further nighttime withdrawals and make it easier to fall asleep, a hot soakie bath before bed will relax those tightened muscles that happens from withdrawal, as will good stretching out in the daytime, and drinking extra water will help flush toxins out of the body a little faster...just don't drink lots of water before bedtime, of course!
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