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Benzos withdrawing from Ativan

B

Baskin

Greenlighter
Joined
Nov 11, 2012
Messages
5
Clonazepam is really the one I like to take, but the doc prescribed Ativan this time, 4 mg a night for sleep. I doubt she will keep me at this high a dose long, but we'll see. I have bipolar disorder and sleep is important.

The thing is, I get a prescription monthly, so 60 2mg pills. I enjoy taking about 10-12 mg, spread out maybe 2 mg every 45 minutes and then stopping when I get to 10 mg. But obviously that means my prescription will run out early.

I don't do this every day. There are days where I need to be a functioning member of society and I'm too afraid they'd be able to tell I'm on a bunch of pills. I've been doing it almost every day though, but I'm still at the beginning. If I don't take them for a day in a week or two, will I have a seizure?

How fast can you safely withdraw from ativan? I was thinking of dropping right down to 5, do 2 days of 5 mg, 2 days of 4 mg, 2 days of 3 mg, 2 days of 2 mg, 4 days of 1 mg, and be done.

That would be 15 of my 2 mg pills. But is it too fast of a taper?
 
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It really depends on how dependent you are. I'll tell you one thing though, your reckless abuse of GABAergic drugs will have consequences. I guarantee you that abusing benzodiazepines in your current style will only aggravate your mental illness. Bipolar and insomnia are both going to be exacerbated by this behavior.

Why do you take 2mg every 45 minutes? What are you hoping to accomplish?
 
I guess all I'm hoping to accomplish is the feeling I usually get, which I like.

I see my psychiatrist on the 22nd and am considering telling her and asking her to taper me off.... but on the other hand, I'm not sure I want to.

But that would mean, every month I'd have a good week at the beginning, and then the rest of the month would be tapering and withdrawal, because after one good week I'd only have enough pills left to taper myself back off of them.

And that would probably mess with my system, cycling through using then tapering over and over.

She's probably not going to keep me on them much longer anyway. I'm trying to get into a substance abuse program because I know once the pills are gone I'll start drinking.
 
^There's no doubt that your benzodiazepine abuse is causing negative effects in your day to day life, you can't abuse that much GABAergic drugs without consequences.

Unfortunately, your not alone, there are many other people do the same thing, blow through their scripts in a week or two and spend the rest of the month playing catch-up. This takes a severe toll on your wellbeing.
 
Is the taper I posted in the first post feasible? ( 2 days of 5 mg, 2 days of 4 mg, 2 days of 3 mg, 2 days of 2 mg, 4 days of 1 mg)

Or could I cut it down even faster, because I'm running out of pills?

I don't know how dependent, it's only been maybe 4 days of this, and not all in a row. (although one of the off nights I drank instead).

I'm hopefully getting some form of substance abuse treatment, I was just discharged from the psych hospital on Friday and I told the people planning my outpatient that I needed some substance abuse treatment.

But my big worry is, am I going to run out of pills, not have enough for an effective taper, and have a seizure?
 
What do you mean, is it 'feasible'? Is it possible to do that and avoid the risk of seizures? In your circumstances, probably, but that doesn't mean it will be comfortable or easy.

Most people who are more dependent on benzodiazepines would definitely not be able to do that short of a taper, but since you're not really that dependent (you dont use everyday, you binge until your script is out and then go without until your refill) it might work for you, it's really hard to say since everyones body chemistry is different.
 
I'm not worried about unpleasant, uncomfortable withdrawal. The last time this happened was with Clonazepam and I had abused them for much longer, mixed with alcohol, and I went cold turkey on the alcohol and tapered really fast on the clonazepam and I survived.

If that schedule will potentially keep me from having a seizure, great. I'll deal with the uncomfortable stuff.

If I could do more than just use until my script is out, I would, but I don't know how to find less legal means, nor do I believe that is allowed to be discussed on the forums.
 
Baskin said:
I'm not worried about unpleasant, uncomfortable withdrawal. The last time this happened was with Clonazepam and I had abused them for much longer, mixed with alcohol, and I went cold turkey on the alcohol and tapered really fast on the clonazepam and I survived.

If that schedule will potentially keep me from having a seizure, great. I'll deal with the uncomfortable stuff.

If I could do more than just use until my script is out, I would, but I don't know how to find less legal means, nor do I believe that is allowed to be discussed on the forums.
Click to expand...

I was not suggesting you find more benzodiazepines. To be quite honest, you probably shouldn't even be prescribed them in the first place, given how you use them, it's apparent that you don't really need them. I'm not sure what condition they're legitimately being prescribed for but I can say with certainty that your not going to benefit from benzodiazepine therapy. The way your taking them, your anxiety/insomnia/bipolar/psychological condition is going to get much worse.

$0.02
 
No problem, I hope that you work things out with your psychiatrist; they should be qualified to help you with a proper taper if you are inclined to go that route, but do you have the self control to follow a taper? or will you just end up abusing those too?

I'd be glad to help with any further questions or support, best of luck with your withdrawals!
 
OP, you aught to be wary that if you continue to abuse your benzodiazepine prescription there will eventually be a point where not even a double-digit dose will be enough to mask withdrawal symptoms.
 
You've been takng them four days but it seems like you're going a bit overboard with ativan. Stop this and take as directed.
It's going to mess with your mind and body. Follow up with getting that appointment so you can get the help you need!
 
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