best taper plan with benzos I have

[mr. red]

i have been taking 1-2mg/day of xanax/ativan for around eight months. I have never gone more than a few days without benzos, but would like to get off the daily routine of taking one or two.

a couple of questions: will I go through withdrawals with the amount that I'm taking? I am planning on going to one/day, then splitting in half ect.

I have around 20 1 mg xanax, 20 1 mg ativan, and 4.5 10 mg valium. how do I use what I have to be totally benzo free?

Thanks

 

[kokaino]

I really don't know what to tell you. The best thing to do is go to a doctor and tell him/her your situation. It's very difficult to taper with short-acting agents, such as lorazepam and alprazolam, and it's even more difficult that they are high potency.

 

[debaser]

Stick with whatever Xanax and Ativan you have left, at your 1mg a day regimen, then use the Valium at the end of your taper, 45mg Valium over one week.

 

[K'd-OUT-in-AZ]

Go to a doctor and get some Diazepam to taper off the potent short acting benzodiazepines like lorazepam and alprazolam. Talk to him and he will properly taper you. But request diazepam if you can. Deny Librium unless that is all he will give you. The Valium taper is much easier than you think. Just do it slowly.

 

[Tommyboy]

We have a tapering megathread in OD here

 

[Mugz]

I used to be on a massive dose (for me) of lorazepam a day 7.5mg and I did have a picture of my tapering chart in the gallery before the gallery was destroyed 8)

Basically though I would suggest going straight to your doc and asking to be switched to a long acting benzo like diazepam, and use the equivalency charts to find out what dose of diazepam you should start tapering down from.

During my ongoing taper, I have gone from 50mg Diazepam a day to 10mg currently, dropped 5mg every fortnight for a while until it got too low doses and 5mg drops were too much so then we switched to 1mg drops every fortnight.

Go and see you doctor and discuss the whole thing with them and they will really be able to help you come up with a suitable plan for you, depending on how long you have been addicted and what doses you are currently taking.

It is not easy tapering off and actualy is the hardest at the end, so beware it will be a long road, but once you are off them you will feel so much better not having to rely on a drug to make you feel normal again.

 

[K'd-OUT-in-AZ]

I did a very slow taper. I tapered 10mg every 4 weeks. I was switched onto 40mg from 2mg clonazepam (after tapering from 8mg) and every 4 weeks I'd taper another 10mg until I got to 10mg I switched onto 2mg. I had been using benzos for 11 years so figured I needed an incredibly slow taper. I had tried it once before and obviously failed.

 

[mr. red]

I have been taking .5 mg lorazepam every other day and have had no ill-effects. I will probably lower it to .5 every third day for a week, then go cold turkey from there. I am glad the dose I was on wasn't enough to cause much of an issue.

 

[Jager336]

Thankfully I never did like tranqs too much, but I've had my days.

Given the 4mg +/- alprazolam and 4mg +/- lorazepam daily you're used to, I wouldn't expect anything too noticeable as far as withdrawal effects. They have a fairly short therapeutic lifespan and are low-potency benzodiazepine-class tranquilizers. Tapering down on them is a good idea if you can, but only to make it more bearable for you, it's not a big deal if you just decrease the dose, so long as you discuss it with your doctor. Try letting them know how you feel about the medicine and go from there.

While mg equivilancy for the same therapeutic effect would be far unbalanced, switching to diazepam (your Valium) may offer better relief of symptoms for the trade of a higher chemical mg content. Again, you're best off talking to your doctor as they know your situation far better than I do, but decreasing the dose to 1mg/day of alprazolam and 1mg/day of lorazepam, beginning as soon as you feel like it, preferably before seeing your physician, would help both of you better assess the real-world need of the medicine and what dose is required to maintain therapeutic benefit. Benzodiazepines aren't known to treat causes of anxiety, just cover them up, much like opioid pain medications, so it's up to you as to whether or not it's worth the increase in symptoms to be taking half the tablets daily, but you won't be able to find out until you attempt the decrease. Given the lifespan you will most likely feel the same benefit on 1mg/day as you did taking 2mg/day, just for approximately half of the time.

 

[mr. red]

Given the 4mg +/- alprazolam and 4mg +/- lorazepam daily you're used to, I wouldn't expect anything too noticeable as far as withdrawal effects. .

Sorry, my first post was somewhat unclear. I was only taking 2 mg total, usually 1 mg ativan, 1 mg xanax. That was only within the last three months when I was traveling in Asia and had unlimited access to Benzos. I am prescribed 1 mg Ativan nightly for sleep. Now that I'm back to the regulated world, I am trying to control my intake because I know they're not good for me and I shouldn't let those pills affect my life.

 

[phatass]

tough to say... valium is he best to taper coz of its long ass halflife

as for the xanax or ativan, they both have very very short half lives, if i were you crush the 1mg xannies or ativan... make 4 piles, and wen you feel the withralw take one of the four piles ou've mades...

DANGER, do not try to cold turkey off the benzos, you've been taking for too long... risk is an epilepptic fit, which can be dangerous