ativan and xanax.....

[suzipen]

I am now alittle over 3 weeks off tramadol, and still battling with w/d somewhat. My question, however, is about ativan.
I took xanax about 15 years ago for anxiety until it turned on me and my panic attacks actually became more frequent.  My dr. then switched me to ativan. I have taken it ever since, and now that I am off tram, I am thinking about going off that as well. I am scared to because I am afraid of the panic getting worse. I will say that ativan has helped me personally thru the tram nightmare. I was already on it, and didnt want to stop them both at the same time. Of course, my dr. says it is perfectly safe to keep taking (just like tram-ha ha). I was diagnosed 17 years ago with generalized panic and anxiety disorder, and have tried lots of meds to control it.  Ativan seems to be the one that works for me. My question is- I know the harsh reality of xanax (horrible w/d, etc.), but is it the same for ativan?
I never hear anyone talk about it on here, so I have no idea what I am up against. I take 3-4 mgs. a day. Mainly early evening and then to help with sleep.  Or, should I stay on it since it is working?  Thanks for any advice!

[LadySwords]

Hi, I hope I can provide some answers for people looking to detox from benzos at home after many years addicted to a high Rx dosage from a doctor…

I began by getting prescribed 2mgs of Klonopin nightly at nine years old for critical insomnia that was starting to prevent me from being able to attend school in the morning prior to noon or 1PM. By 32 years old I was taking 4mgs of Xanax throughout the day to manage severe episodes of panic and anxiety and another 4mgs of Xanax at bedtime every night totaling 8mgs of Xanax everyday by prescription. I would come to discover that most of these symptoms (minus the insomnia which I still suffer from) were being caused by tolerance to the medication as well as rapidly developing withdrawal as a consequence of such great tolerance. One day about 3-4 years ago I lost my bottle of medication. I was never able to find it ever again and I had already had to request a replacement refill from my doctor twice in the past six months. I did not want to ask for more again for fear it would look like I was making up stories in order to get extra and so I chose to just detox entirely on my own. I chose to take an old prescription of Gabapentin 300mg twice a day to ease the symptoms and protect myself from having seizures and an old Rx of .01mgs Clonidine to keep from developing high and dangerous levels of hypertension. I highly suggest you obtain these from your physician before doing a home quitting plan and you should not have difficulty obtaining them from most physicians if you tell them you are determined to stop taking the medication on your own at home. They might instruct you to do a taper first. This is up to you and highly recommend but I didn’t have that option because I was suddenly entirely out of medication. I was sick in bed for 23 days. On day 23 I suddenly became, “well,” just as suddenly as I had become sick. I was able to begin resuming life normally after this and stopped taking the Gabapentin and Clonidine. I found myself smiling for the first time in ages and full of energy and feeling better than I had felt in a long long time. It’s been several years now and I’ve had to resume taking 2mgs of Xanax several nights a week but I won’t take it anymore than 3-4 times a week and no higher than 2mgs because I don’t ever want to get addicted again. I have to sleep though at least a couple times a week though or I can’t function and I just plain don’t sleep at all without it and just experience fits of narcoleptic microsleeps otherwise. My life is so much better though now. Pertaining to the withdrawal, it consisted of nausea, diarrhea, bad bad rolling panic attacks, sweaty hot to ice cold freezing chills and gooseflesh, inability to sleep or get comfortable interspersed with periods of hours of a seeming loss of consciousness, periods of delirium, nightmares. It was really awful and I would never want to do it again but to think it’s not doable or not survivable and that you’re stuck on the medication for the rest of your life, like I did for so many years, it turned out was complete and total hogwash. You can and will normalize completely after several months and you’ll stop feeling sick by one month’s time. You will not die or suffer beyond what you can tolerate if you’re truly motivated to stop and have the proper medications on hand to prevent seizures. There’s no reason why anyone who wants to be off benzodiazepines cannot quit whether they do it inpatient or on their own at home so long as they prepare adequately in advance and have support from family members or roommates, whoever will be living in the same place with them as they may need some attendance as well as tolerance to their being sick for a month initially. If I could do it, anyone can because I didn’t believe it was physically possible for many years prior…

[timmaht]

Hello, I hope I can answer your question. I used to battle EXTREME anxiety. It was so bad I was told only a small percentage of anxiety sufferers have those particular symptoms. (I'm not going to go into details, let's just say it was/is horrific)
I eventually beat it with diet and exercise. I slowly tapered off lorazepam and eventually found I no longer needed it. (though I keep a few around just in case... I have a bout of anxiety about once a year...sometimes I can now fight it off with a warm bath)
Also get your bloodwork done and ensure your vitamin and hormone levels are normal. I found when I was taking too much Vitamin B it affected me negatively.

[mombojombo]

That's amazing you were able to self treat your anxiety.  Anxiety disorder is such a beast for so many and feels SO bad.  There are other options than benzo's though.  Today's medications are better, easier to tolerate.  But still. They are meds. Not all work for everyone and they come with a down side to them. Did you ever do therapy as well?

[suzipen]

thank you guys. I have been checking here so much for any answers. This helps a lot.
I do want to taper off, or at least down for now.  My depression is at an all time low, but I think part of it is physical synptoms I am still having from tram.w/d.
Maybe ativan is making it worse. I also take a low dose of zoloft.  Boy, I would love to go off all of it.
Thanks again, suzipen

[christos24]

ativan(lorazepam) is very similar benzodiazepine in chemical structure and in its effects to alprazolam(xanax) and also shares the same abuse, dependence, and addiction liability. i was taking originally 6mgs a night for insomnia and panic attacks starting at the early evening and taking it up to going to bed. i gradually tapered down from 6mgs to 1mgs over three months, and then my psychiatrist switched me over to hydroxyzine(atarax), which is an old anti-histamine that actually has muscle relaxant, anti-anxiety, euphoric effects..it also is used commonly(i used to too) abused for potentiating opiates(vicodin,oxycontin,percocet,tramadol,heroin, etc.).it can actually potentiate an opiate by almost 50%, although on its own it creates relaxation and a mild euphoria it is generally accepted as having no abuse potential or addiction potential and is currently unscheduled, but that really doesnt say too much seeing as tramadol isnt schedule either...i also took tramadol when i tried detoxing on my own from a nasty addiction to Oxycontin/Heroin, i was actually able to stay clean for 2 and half months, but eventually relapse.i didnt experience any wd's from the tramadol when i didnt take it, and i still felt a good majority of the wd's from the oxys and H even after taking tramadol...i was also given lorazepam when i finally asked for professional help and went to a hospital for detox off of opiates, it was given at .5mgs every 1/2 hr., but while heavily addicted to OC's and Heroin I was also abusing very frequently xanax, valium, and klonopins, and any other benzo i could snort or take to enhance effects or help during wd's, so my tolerance was sky high..but they had to follow protocol(ugh)....tramadol is fairly new and is about as potent and has the addictive potential equal to codeine, whcih is fairly low..but the difference between the two is that tramadol also acts as a rapidly short acting SSRI(a type of Anti-depressant), so if taken for a long time and in large doses it can cause seizures and/or convulsions, along with some other mild opioid/anti-depressant withdrawal effects..
in your situation if you want to get off of lorazepam i would talk to your doctor and start a taper plan, your at 4 so over the course of 2-4 mths whatever your body feels comfortable with taper down .5 every week/every other week, dont put yourself into any discomfort, take it slow and go at the pace your body can handle it..you should be fine if u take it slow..if you start having problems in the low dose area like at 1mg-.5mgs, talk to your doc and try and switch to a long acting benzo like valium or librium, where 1mg of ativan is equal to 10mgs of valium, since valium/librium is long acting theya re easier to taper off of, you shouldnt have to switch to a long acting benzo but if you do those are the easiest to come off of and with ease youll be off all benzos all together within 4 mths and without causing major anxiety and panic attacks

[emergee]

my two cents is try tapering ,  using other aids, like amino acids ,  calms , etc.  melatonin for sleep.   my brother who is mentally disabled was given both of these drugs.  he was an angry ,  irritable person.  he was taken off of them and he is a new person altogether.  so there may be something to look forward to.  perhaps it is like tram in that it causes problems that you then feel must be fixed by the drug.

[steveo30]

if it's working for you,do't fix whats not broke.you have a legetiment reason for staying on the ativan.good job with the tramadol that can be tough.ativan will be much better in my opinion than xanax.