Coming off Lorazepam, anxiety through the roof!

[formidible]

My Psychiatrist, who didn't even see me (my GP referred me) , passed a recommendation back to my GP the meds. One of them was to increase my Diazepam but stop taking Lorazepam which I have also been self medicating for several months. I have servere depression with anxiety right now. I can't see any way out. I stopped taking the Lorazepam two days ago but now, despite the increased Diazepam, I'm having bad withdrawal symptoms and my anxiety is through the roof! I know the only thing that well calm me down is another 1mg Lorazepam. I've never felt so bad. Can anyone else relate with this. What should I do?

[Hidden]

Hello

This would be quite common when suddenly stopping a med , I would have thought if anything they would have wanted you to take less Diazepam

But of course I am not a Doctor and somewhere they might be able to explain why they think this is best but if it were me I would be on that phone telling the Doctor how I feel and you are not happy and worse with this change and if you felt better with what you were taking before ask if you can go back on that

Good Luck , let us know how you get on

Take Care x

[Hidden]

Hi , yes call you're you're doc as soon as you can tell them how you are feeling 👍

[formidible in reply to Hidden]

Well I talked to someone this morning and have taken 1mg Lorazepam because I just couldn't stand the withdrawal symptoms anymore. They are supposed to give you a slow tapering plan instead of saying just stop straight away and go to Diazepam instead. I've been taking Lorazepam for several months which is partly why I wanted a proper psychiatrist appointment. Going cold turkey is potentially dangerous. I was advised to see how the weekend goes then call the surgery on Monday morning to get an emergency appointment. I think that was good advice. Taking the Lorazepam has, as expected, calmed be down. I'm going through a very difficult period right now. I really appreciate your support. Thanks.

[Hidden in reply to formidible]

Hey I'm glad you called the docs how are you now?

[formidible in reply to formidible]

I have to wait until Monday to do that Loki, but I will be. I will update later. I'm so grateful for everyone's support on here. It means such a lot.

[Agora1]

Hi formidable, I somehow missed your post til now. My experience with

benzos was that I was on Xanax 0.25mg 1x a day but for 30 years. Then switched

to Ativan (in hospital) where the dosage was upped and upped to see if I could get

the any relief. Nothing... When I got out I went to a psychiatrist who deals with

Benzo weaning. He uses the Dr. Heather Ashton method of slowly and safely coming

off any benzos.

Because of the length of time I was on these meds it took 2 years to come down slowly.

First in reducing Ativan by a small amount every 2 weeks (never going back up) Eventually,

Valium is interspersed in small amounts until the Ativan is gone and then it goes to only Valium carrying me through. Again...small cuts every 2 weeks (never going back up)

This gives the brain a chance to adjust slowly and yet there were withdrawal effects.

The brain wants what it's been getting for years and balks at the reduced dosage.

Knowing that I was going forward on the weaning, made me better accept the side effects.

Again because of the length of time I was on these benzos, it took that long.

After the last minute piece of Valium, it still took another year to get completely over the

little side effects of tingling, brain zaps etc. But I knew I was going forward.

That was 7 years ago, Benzo free and feel great. Hope my journey helps you some. xx

Good Luck my friend

[formidible in reply to Agora1]

Thanks Agora. The problems I have at the moment are:-

1. Actually getting a proper psychiatrist appointment. I am being pushed from pillar to post at the moment. My GP was only prepared to increase the Diazepam temporarily if I stopped taking the Lorazepam. So I understood that to be saying go cold turkey on the Lorazepam. That's not good and so yesterday I was forced to take another Lorazepam tablet as my anxiety was so high. I also increased the Mirtazapine to maximum dose (45mg) 3 nights ago. Yesterday I felt like a zombie and in the evening I was tachicardic - meaning a heart rate constantly over 100bpm for hours. Last night I cut back the Mirtazapine to 30mg roughly and just took the usual amount of Diazepam early. Fortunately this morning I feel better, having gotten some sleep, but still not that good. I will be conveying my thoughts to a GP in an urgent appointment on Monday, assuming I can actually get that emergency appointment.

2. I hate the place where I live so much I don't think I can really even start a formal reduction plan yet, though part of me wants to. So you see I need a full holistic care plan and support with how I'm feeling.

I am very grateful for your story Loki and I certainly intend to gradually reduce and stop the benzo's when I feel I am in the right space to do so. It's good to know what to expect. Even now I am happy to just try and change over to the Diazepam if I can.

[Agora1 in reply to formidible]

formidible, you are doing this the right way in staying safe while coming down

off your meds. Good Luck Monday with your GP appointment. Keep us updated xx