Good evening. I would like to introduce myself to everyone. I just joined and not real sure how to go about joining in on some of the discussions. I currently am prescribed lorazepam and have been taking it for over 20 years. Anyone with lengthy experience with it that would like to chat give me a shout.
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New member with lorazepam fears
- Thread starter Kds32005
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ghostandthedarknes
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Welcome to Bluelight
Jabberwocky
Frumious Bandersnatch
Welcome
BlossomsBlooming
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Welcome and hello! I have been taking it nightly for 6 years for insomnia. What’s up?Hi, I have been taking it at night as well. I take 6 mg a night. That’s not the way it’s prescribed but that’s how I take it. I was taking 8 mg a day until I had several other drs make smart ass comments about it. My fear now is that my Dr. just retired and I’m having a problem finding another one that will prescribe it to me.
BlossomsBlooming
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Oh dear, that is quite the dose. In my honest opinion, continuing down this path will certainly lead to problems for you. Potentially life threatening. Dependence is an understatement, and Benzodiazepine withdrawal is a terribly serious situation requiring inpatient detox. Overdose will cause your breathing to become ineffective. Lorazepam doesn’t really have recreational qualities, so I’m wondering why you are taking so much?
You shouldn’t have trouble regarding your next provider prescribing it; it has been prescribed, and if it is working there would be no reason to not continue. That being said, you shouldn’t be able to fill your rx frequently enough to maintain the amount you are taking. Uff da. My intention isn’t to scare you, and we (especially we on this forum!) all take our chances playing with fire in life. Just sharing my honest opinion. I’m glad you are here seeking information!The dosage I am taking has been in effect for over 20 years. It should be 2 mg three times a day. I don’t take them recreationally. I have severe anxiety attacks and hardly ever slept before being prescribed. I fill my prescriptions every month. I take what I am supposed to take, just not the way I am supposed to. I know what happens when I don’t have them. It is terrible withdrawal. There have been times when for one reason or another I have had to go without for a day or two. Five days one time and I was useless. The younger drs don’t like to prescribe it.
BlossomsBlooming
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Let me add, as I re-read my comment, I realized how interesting my reaction is…considering my own use/abuse/ROA history. Knee jerk reaction teetering on hypocrisy? Do as I say, not as I do? I’ve raised a philosophical question for myself to consider.Oh dear, that is quite the dose. In my honest opinion, continuing down this path will certainly lead to problems for you. Potentially life threatening. Dependence is an understatement, and Benzodiazepine withdrawal is a terribly serious situation requiring inpatient detox. Overdose will cause your breathing to become ineffective. Lorazepam doesn’t really have recreational qualities, so I’m wondering why you are taking so much?
You shouldn’t have trouble regarding your next provider prescribing it; it has been prescribed, and if it is working there would be no reason to not continue. That being said, you shouldn’t be able to fill your rx frequently enough to maintain the amount you are taking. Uff da. My intention isn’t to scare you, and we (especially we on this forum!) all take our chances playing with fire in life. Just sharing my honest opinion. I’m glad you are here seeking information!
BlossomsBlooming
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20 years is significant (obvs). I misunderstood or jumped to the conclusion that you were taking that amount in one dose. I feel so relieved lol! I completely understand your frustration and fear. I’m sure you’re terrified actually. Taking away a 20 rx that is effective for someone would be cruel to say the least. What do they recommend you take in its place? Are you seeing specialists? Also, what does your current provider recommend? I would hope they would address your very valid concerns and provide recommendations not only to you, but to whoever assumes care.
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First off welcome to BL. This is not a unique situation. If I were you I would spend time in the Other Drugs forum or Basic Drugs forum and search benzos. Lots of similar stories. And they all anger me at the ineptness of some doctors.
Here I filtered on Benzos. Good luck. Post away and feel better.
BlossomsBlooming
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I could hug you and love BL so much. Thank you for taking the wheel.First off welcome to BL. This is not a unique situation. If I were you I would spend time in the Other Drugs forum or Basic Drugs forum and search benzos. Lots of similar stories. And they all anger me at the ineptness of some doctors.
Here I filtered on Benzos. Good luck. Post away and feel better.
I’m a stim gal and need to sit down. 
mal3volent
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im in pretty much the same situation as you, but I've managed to get down to 3mg a day. And been taking them off and on for around ten years now. I wish I had better answers for you, but I think your best option is to be honest with your doctor who is retiring. Ask them to set you up with another doctor they recommend who will continue the same treatment as it has been working for you this long.
Worst case scenario if you end up with a doctor who is going to cut you off, stay calm and speak reasonably with them. Tell them you are okay with it but you'd like to work with them on a slow taper. If they have an ounce of compassion/logic they will look at your history and work with you. Even if you don't want to stop taking benzos permanently, this will at least buy you more time while you explore other options.
I had a very infuriating experience once with a younger doctor who I didn't know going in was a homeopathic nut job. I followed my own advice I just gave you and he (in a roundabout way) told me to go fuck myself and go to the emergency room if I was worried about withdrawing. After that I reached out to one of my aunts who got me in to see her doctor who runs his own practice. He's old school and not beholden to anyone really. Unfortunately he's old and will also be retiring soon.
So maybe also try reaching out to family/friends etc. If you have a common thread with your doc it helps to break down barriers and establish trust early, I've found. Try to find one who works on his own. Much better than one of those large clinics. Places where you can just walk in and be seen are almost always dead ends where you'll find doctors who don't give a damn about you.My dr has already retired and unable to reach him. He gave me a list of doctors in the same field but warned me that the younger ones will be reluctant to prescribe it. It is all very nerve racking. Coming of them is going to be hell. Let alone the anxiety attacks coming back and not being able to sleep again. The last two years has been really hard on me. I’m not young. I’m 56 and changing not would be devastating I believe. Thanks for all the advice. Any opinion is welcome.
Lucky you being a smart person and not abusing them for 20 years haha I was a 16 year old drug dealer (ALLEGEDLY) selling anything but mostly the green Xanax. Id take anywhere from 5 to 20 Xanax bars a day for about 3-6 months it’s obviously very blurry. Hell I was in a 2 month relationship I don’t even remember well anyway I stopped selling, quit cold turkey not knowing the dangers and began having Severe seizures and my ignorant teenage self nor my parents even knew why they were happening. Had a total of four eight to ten minute seizures and most doctors said I should have died from the withdrawals.
What I’m saying is even if they won’t prescribe it to you they AT LEAST HAVE TO slowly lower your dose so they aren’t held liable to any complications during withdrawals.
mal3volent
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unfortunately, they don't have to do shit.
many doctors now, I would say most actually, simply won't prescribe them. At all. If they do it would only be for short periods.
if you bring up withdrawal they will recommend you go to the hospital or detox. I think it would be extremely difficult to hold any doctor liable for not giving you more benzos. They could make the argument that you need to be under closer medical supervision if you are at risk of withdrawing. And if they suspect you are at all psychologically dependent (they think you might not follow the schedule) , a slow taper might be counterproductive and make things worse.
I would love to agree with you but the thing is, who are they? My Dr. retired. No new Dr. is going to take on that responsibilities. Still looking and calling. Some places won’t even return calls at all.Bonnienclyde773
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Greetings There,
If you have any questions or concerns, I am very knowledgeable when it comes to many psychotropic medication, including, Lorazepam, which is a mild benzodiazapine, generic for Ativan. 0.25mg, 0.5mg, 1mg, and 2mg tablets are available prescriptions for this tranquilizer, and I would have to research if there are time release versions of this older medication. I have been prescribed a similar medication for roughly a little longer than you, and there are serious concerns to contemplate if you are not wanting to be taking this medication anymore. Seizures from withdrawal of benzodiazapine drugs are a very common and can be extremely scary and unhealthy. There are so many other drugs now available, however, I strongly believe it is sad that there are some Doctor's or prescribing Nurse Practitioner's that are extremely leary of prescribing any controlled substance to their patient's, or even patient's whom have been prescribed similar drugs for years at a time. I never would have wanted to be prescribed a benzodiazapine, however, if a small medication can take away the feeling of being pulled over 80% or more of the day, than so be it! Drinking alcohol also affects the brain similar to benzodiazapine drugs and using them synergistically or together can be a potential danger and hazardous, as mixed together, it is more likely that someone may experience a black out.
There are some people who truly need these tranquilizer's to function normally in society and taking them away or not prescribing them is pretty harsh! Yes, there is a risk of physical dependence out there and there are other's whom might do almost anything for the drug. Those types of situations need to be looked at microscopically and not just judged as every person would experience or start to behave in extremely dangerous or strange ways. There a lots of people whom have been prescribed these types of drugs for years and do not even know why, possibly until they are ripped off of the medication by a Doctor who thinks that waiting 6 weeks for an SSRI, such as Prozac, Zoloft, Lexapro, Paxil, Celexa etc.etc. to even start to work with an anxiety disorder and these types of drugs can take 6MONTHS OR LONGER RO REACH THEIR MAXIMUM strength and affect on a person. Who would want to wait that long feeling the feeling of intense doom
, Physically shaking, heart pounding, legs trembling sweating, feeling paranoia to an intense degree, heart palpitations, trouble speaking of expressing oneself with such extreme anxiety, trouble maintaining relationships of all sorts, friendships and sexual relationship's may all be affected among many other areas of one's body and mind. Yes, SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor's are an effective tool in combination with benzodiazapine drugs! However, feel that it can be cruel to not prescribe a benzodiazapine when one or a patient experiences such bouts of anxiety that it can make participating in normal activity, such as driving dangerous, especially, if one may find themselves shaking and trembling at the knees so intensively that an accident could occur just from the anxiety symptoms that one may be having. There are all sorts of anxiety disorders and all sorts of degrees in which anxiety may be experienced. If one may not be so apt to having panic attacks that cause that scary impending feeling of doom mentioned above, one may be better medicated by taking SSRI medication if they are experiencing symptoms of OCD or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, where the obsessions are the thoughts and the compulsions are the actions and this anxiety disorder may steal an hour to multiple hours of a person's day and daily routine, especially if these thoughts or obsessions keep coming to mind and then the compulsions follow, such as, washing of hands to a point in which skin is bleeding from scrubbing or hands or body is so dry from a fear of germs and possibly the likelihood of catching a disease seems imminent at that time, so to stop the thoughts one may start rituals in washing the body or hands, or just start washing them so excessively and aggressively that it becomes an unhealthy action that is usually treated with an SSR, since studies show that lower amounts of the happy chemical, of neurotransmitter serotonin being able to hang out in a special area of the brain is sucked up too fast and this may be one of the anxiety disorders or affects of the Serotonin being sucked up too fast in a part of our brain called a dendrite.
Counting object, not stepping on cracks and having the same routine or ritual every day can be a symptom of this disorder
One may go inside the house or wherever they may be several times just to check and make sure the stove top, water, heater, or locks are intact and locked several times. There could be a special number of times that they may check that helps alleviate the obsessions (thoughts or other fears that have nothing to do with the compulsions / or the actions that one may do on a consistent basis for a consistent amount of time for a Doctor to actually make the OCD DIAGNOSIS. This can be taken either farther where Doctor's may diagnose someone with a Personality Disorder, which are believed to be affecting a person at birth or in the womb, such as OCPD, Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder, which is very rare compared to a normal OCD diagnosis that may need SSRI (ANTIDEPRESSANT TREATMENT) to get to the bottom of the symptoms of this disorder that cause the obsessions to stay or increase, which will in effect cause the compulsions or actions to keep being performed in such a way that many hours of one's day becomes stolen and it is hard for a person suffering with OVD to even function and complete normal every day activities
.. There usually is an underlying fear and anxiety about things that a person may suppress or shove down and these types of anxiety disorders may be present at certain times in a patient's life, never have occurred before a huge change, death, divorce, or move etc. etc. They may have experienced symptoms of this disorder their whole lives, however, never have needed or thought of seeking treatment for it until it starts affecting their life and the life of those around the person may also start to become affected and then that may be what causes the person to even seek treatment for the disorder. There may be times in one's life that these symptoms have never been an issue and one-day they just come festering inside and wreaking havoc on one's life, career, relationship, relationships', and / or life.
I have not meant to just keep running on and on and if you have a specific question l, I would love to answer for you and if I do not have the answer, I will search until I find it for you, give you my best answer, recommend an article for you to read, and / or find the answer from someone whom holds more credentials and/ and or experience than I do...!!!
I will share with you that I am spiritual, too. I have been through some awful experiences and losses and sometimes people have wondered how I have managed to still be here...!!!
I just verified my account and I truly pray that may be a huge blessing and help to this website and many forums. I hope to be a benefactor and also be able to add flavor and knowledge in many personal areas that I have struggled with myself or personally, have seen being struggled, questions that I have being answered and answering other's questions in such a way that they can understand and learn from, as well as learning from each other.
I hope to hear from you again and just sharing this huge reply, I truly hope that I have answered some of your concerns or future concerns and questions and have possibly sparked more questions that if I have the knowledge and ability to answer, I surely will and I wish you the best of luck and ask for blessings galore to come your way!
Somewhere along the line, I would think that a doctor may have observed you experiencing anxiety to prescribe you Lorazepam, and / or 20years ago so e Doctor's were more apt to prescribe benzodiazapine s, such as; Lorazepam / Ativan, Alpraxalam/ Xanax, Klonazalam/ Klonopin (which has the longest half life out of all of the benzodiazapine s, I believe. The half life of a drug is the amount of time that it takes for half of the last dose to leave or get out of your system. Drugs with very short half lives, typically are considered to be more addictive, where as drugs with longer half lives are looked at as less addictive medications, since a half life of 4-6 hours means within 8-12 hours that drug should be completely excreted and put of a person's system, however, it does not always work that way and their are so many different paths that we can go down, go on, and discuss with all of these topics including drugs, prescriptions, prescribing, illegal drugs, effects and affect on a person with a particular drug, herbs and pharmaceutical companies, how natural healing really can change one's life and how a prescription narcotic or schedule drug 2 and higher may have a distinctive healing affect and effect on an individual, where as a drug that is not even controlled or even considered a drug by the FDA, could have the most amazing healing properties in one individual and many individuals if the Government were actually willing to give these natural healing herbs a try and if the, "Almighty Dollar", were not so to say, worshipped as it is in this world
Believe it or not, I have been oblivious to the "Almighty Dollar" in many different subjects and I have actually been having sort of a revelation about the subject this week and a lot lately...!!! Let's just say, that paragraph that I just wrote could be taken in so many directions and I could be called an extremist or a Bipolar 1 person, whom, could be experiencing thoughts of grandeur or losing touch with reality.
I sure am not losing touch with reality and if I ever do I hope that it is in the way in which I have heard someone experience before and if had to do with God, which was awesome...!!!
So many things can be taken in so many different ways. It shall be interesting to see s
how we all can help, learn from, and share with one another on this forum
The Sky is the Limit and I Hope To Be A Part of This Website flying high to the Sky an ultimately huge statistical numerical count of people, friend's and all different r kinds of people that can help each other learn all different kinds of things, as well as grants, donations, and having the ability to speak, or say (type) something in a way that is life changing and theory changing to the core for people l
all AROUND THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD...! THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO NE A PART OF THOS COMMUNITY...!
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It is encouraging the new doctor is smart enough to know that you need these meds. We hear a lot of horror stories, but there are still doctors that can and will help.
Welcome to BL, I am glad I read the story after it has been resolved, I would’ve been stressing along with you all ha ha
