Sittin here in tears and dont know where to turn

what was your actual ativan dose, people often think they are or should be addicted on very small doses

remember that the best way to recover is thru meds and CBT, much of CBT is being prepared to learn new ways of relaxing and calming yourself

your problem may just be a psychological addiction

hunniebee

Hello sweetie, you say your an addict, were you using the medications as prescribed for the purpose prescribed? Were you worried about losing your supply because it helped your condition or becuase of the feeling you got when using the drug?

Most of all were you taking 2mg or 3mg every day. Not 2-3 but normally what did you take?

Please don't feel I am judging you, I am trying to help.

I took ativan 4 mg every night at bedtime for over a year. Before that I took Tranxene every day in the morning and at bedtime for years and years.

I also was on Vicodin up to 4 of the 5mg tabs for over a year. That was my down fall. That was the drug I came to like to much. I have a herniated disc on a workman's comp and I could easily get them. I liked the feeling and I would take more as much as 5-6 a day.

My Pdoc was afraid they were the cause of my AD's not working and she wanted me off of them so I went on a weaning schedule and was down to 1 per day when I got pneumonia in January. I was so sick I had my husband flush the rest of Vicodin down the toilet and said I am so sick now, I don't care if I get withdrawl, but I did not. I have vowed to never touch one again as I now know my weakness for the high of Vicodin.

At that same time We started to wean the Ativan. No one should go cold turkey on a benzo.

I used this withdrwal info and my pdoc reviewed it before we started and agreed it was a good site.

http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm

I did not consider myself addicted and there was no high for me from ativan, I used it for nightly panic attacks and the Tranxene I used for anxiety.

I am now down to less than 1 mg equivilant of Ativan...............slow process but no withdrawal issues.

Bless you and keep positing.

There are a couple things you can do:

1. Wait. You'll suffer a lot, but eventually it will pass.
2. Go to a decent doctor -- preferably a psychiatrist -- who will most likely put you on a long-acting benzo and let you ween with that.

Option #2 is obviously the best way to go, in my opinion. Also in my opinion, the doctor who cut you off should probably have some disciplinary action taken against him. To cut somebody off from a dose like you were on? Someone convince me that's not malpractice.

hunniebee,
Maybe I missed something, but I feel like I don't have the whole story. Why did your doc cut you off abrubtly from the meds? Why didn't you go to another doc?

Hi hunniebee. I haven't posted in a while, and I usually don't post in this forum. When I was reading through posts, though, I saw yours, and it struck a deep chord in me because I went through a very similar experience.

Undoubtedly, many doctors are very fearful of prescribing the benzos because of the dependency and tolerance issue. In my experience, it seems like doctors are particularly paranoid about Xanax and Ativan. I'm so sorry that you're having to go through your current struggle to get the medication that you need. Your doctor should know that he needs to taper you, but I am at least glad that you are taking steps to prevent withdrawal symptoms.

Your doctor should have tapered you. Did you bring this up when he discontinued your Ativan? Did you express your withdrawal concerns with him? The reason I'm asking is because he needs to be aware that patients cannot be abruptly discontinued from the benzos. He made a huge error with your situation, and I don't want him to do that to someone else down the road. You may be doing him a very big favor by explaining how dangerous it is to stop benzos cold turkey.

I stopped taking Ativan about eight years ago, and without a doubt, I am very grateful that I did. My doctors initially tried to stop me cold turkey, but I had severe withdrawal symptoms - including seizures. Then, I was placed on slow Ativan taper, but my attempts to get off the drug always failed. Finally, the Ativan was replaced with Valium, and I was tapered using the Valium. That proved to be the trick with me. In a month, I was finally off the benzos.

I tried multiple times to taper myself off the Ativan, but it was next to impossible. You may be very successful with your attempts to come off the Ativan on your own, but if you feel that you need help, please don't feel bad asking for it.

I stayed off the benzos for seven years, but when my anxiety level began rising again, my doctor gave me 2.5 mg Valium to take PRN. I use it very sparingly. Valium makes me feel very washed out, which I can't stand, but it does help if I have a major panic attack. Interestingly, Valium and Ativan cause me to feel very differently, even though they're both in the same class of drugs.

I no longer have any desire to take Ativan. I do understand what you mean about the Ativan making you feel normal. That's exactly what it did to me. The problem was that I couldn't cope with the "abnormal" feeling that showed up when I tried to taper it. Ativan was always an interesting drug for me because, much like you, I never got "high" from it. Instead, the Ativan made me feel like I could cope with the world. It wasn't until after I stopped the Ativan that I noticed how much the drug was altering me though.

Ativan is tough to discontinue, but I know that you can do it. You're in my thoughts, and take good care of yourself while you bring down the Ativan dose. Again, think about talking to your doctor about the need to taper the benzos. You may doing all of his patients a huge favor.

Be well