Ativan Has Turned from Helpful to a Disaster

Well the fun has turned to turmoil.

The reason this all started was I developed loud and very intrusive tinnitus causing me to panic,insomnia and to just about lose control.

I turned to an old friend ativan for help and things changed instantly. I started sleeping therefore my T went down to the point where I could tune it out and push it to the back of the head. Life was on the upswing, I could work, I could focus, I could even help people deal with their T.

Now the ativan isn't working anymore, in fact it has the opposite affect. My T is loud, my insomnia is back and my anxiety is worse. I have no choice but to get off this poison and to put up the fight of my life and destroy this demon.

I've seen a psychologist who can help me deal with the struggles, I've seen a psychiatrist who tried to increase my dose of ativan to double and put me on another benzo as well as an SSRI so I got up and told him he is not the right doctor for me.

Tomorrow (today in like 3 hours) is my last hope when I see my family doctor. I need her to support me, to help get me off these drugs and to support the ashton manual method that I wan to use. Well I know you guys dont have the answer and only I can figure this out but I am looking for the suggestions.

Has anyone here tapered off of ativan?

 

I still take a very low dosage at night and have been for several years since getting tinnitus. I can't say that its had an opposite effect on me but I know that it doesn't have the positive effect (of lowing my tinnitus) that it once had. I knew this going into it but I still think it helps me sleep so I have no present plan of tampering off of it. I'm sure your family doctor will tell you to do it slowly. Good luck!

 

Unless you can tap yourself into the placebo effect (which really is a thing), then benzos will always accumulate and saturate, demanding ever higher doses for the same result. One possibility would be to switch to Valium or some other B.

 

I hope it doesnt affect you in any way. We are all different. My doctor has had a patient whos taken it for 40 years and stayed at the same dose with no issues.

 

@PaulBe The mind is a powerful thing, I'm sure it can be convinced into anything including being dependant on a med or that the med has no hold over you

 

@ChrisfromCanada How are you positive it's the benzo? Aside from the increased are you experiencing other symptoms of tolerance? How long have you been on it?

 

@Cal18 no guarantees it is the benzo I guess. My doctor is 100% going to support me on my taper but she isnt convinced its from the benzo. She thinks it could be psychosomatic but agrees its never a good think to be on meds for sleeping. My doctor is an unusual and great doctor who doesn't believe meds are always the way to treat symptoms

 

Sometimes the Ashton is considered too fast and it might be even better to start slower at a 5% reduction. How long have you been on them?

 

I took it on and off when needed for two weeks and have used 1mg steady for 1.5 months now. I tried just stopping a few weeks ago and that didnt go well. I also tried taking .5 a week ago, that didnt go well. Then I did some research and had no clue it could happen this fast.

 

I would consider switching to a longer acting benzo and then withdrawing from that. It is likely to be a less rough ride. I would also suggest incorporating orally disolvable tablets if possible. This allows liquid titration which can do very small percentage cuts. Good that you have a doctor who will help.

 

Diazepam is often used for tapering from Lorazepam. Aaron is right.

 

Which is of course marketed as Valium.

 

Thanks all, starting my taper tomorrow. I'm gonna stick to the devil I know and stay with ativan, if it gets too hard I will switch to diazepam. I appreciate all the advice

 

I was given Lorazepam ( Ativan ) over twenty years ago. It was given out like sweets for back and neck pain back in 1997...! When my back felt better I just stopped after taking it for about Three months. Then BOOM. I basically had whats now called a 'rebound' that includes a massive heightening of all the things it had suppressed - heart rate went through the roof, Pain went to max and along with it came some new friends - unchecked anxiety and crushing depression.
Apparently some people stop and don't even sneeze !! Seems the type of 'ride' you get varies from person to person.
You seem to have it pretty much sorted, but make sure those medics help and support you as you may ( or may not ) need it.
It does end though and peace does return.
Wishing you a safe Lorazepam landing @ChrisfromCanada
Incidentally...my Lorazepam experience in 1997, made me a complete drug phobic !
Wishing you a peaceful day friend.

 

I faced this battle in 08-09, when a moron doctor gave me it and 4mg, was on it for 3 months and it was the fight of my life getting off it. It took me over 1 year to taper off it and it was the toughest challenge i ever faced....way way harder than tinnitus. Wish you the best of luck....

 

It was such a difficult battle, i asked god to save me each day and help me make it. I managed to eventually get off these demon pills and my nervous system was a mess quite awhile. After beating the benzos, I visited a forum and supported other folks that needed help for 2 years.....

 

gree with PaulBe...benzos are a bad long term solution and I always keep a supply of Ativan...the only med I have in my medicine cabinet. I take no medication for anything.
But..if your anxiety is pegged and you can't sleep, I believe changing your lifestyle is big. For example if you exercise to exhaustion....I competitively ride bicycles with racers and I am much older than most here...then you will naturally sleep unless your T is just raging and all you can focus upon. Even when my T is moderately loud, I pay it little attention other than...oh, its a bit loud right now...and I sleep naturally as I did pre-T.

If living with chronic anxiety or depression I believe you need to move out of the benzo family and pursue anti depressant meds if you can't affect the changes you need by lifestyle. For example if you jumped out of airplanes 8 hours a day and cliff dived for another 3 hours, you likely wouldn't be much concerned about your T and you would be so exhausted each night you would likely sleep effectively. So lifestyle IMO matters a lot relative to tinnitus. Ativan works wonderfully for episodic anxiety which many btw in modern society contract because in our culture we do too many things we don't want to which creates anxiety and incidentally more focus on tinnitus. You need to find a therapist who understands about tinnitus...rare...and meds that won't promote it. This is one of the most discussed topics on this forum. Perform a search for a list of AD meds that will not heighten tinnitus. Benzos long term are generally perceived as bad for tinnitus.
Change your lifestyle. You need to shift your focus away from tinnitus by doing things you love that become more important.
Good luck.

 

@Kelvin Thanks for the positive words and support. I know it will be very challenging at times but I think I am ready for it. Hard to say I'm ready because I dont know what to expect but I will take it one day at a time.

 

@fishbone yikes this scary. I've been taking 1 mg for 3 months and am willing to take as long as it takes to taper. I'm sorry u suffered so much.

 

For me it was weird...by all accounts the drug will clear your system in a few weeks at most. The psychologcal effects for some people can last much longer. The anxiety and depression ( I didn't have before taking ! ) lasted about a year and were the hardest things to get rid of. But HEY it all goes and life returns. Hang in there and all will be cool...! The body and mind are amazing things and can re-adjust given time. Hang in there buddy !

 

@stophiss thank you. As of right now my tinnitus is mostly a non issue. It rarely bothers me but I don't know if that's the ativan keeping me calm or if thats the state of mind I am in right now. In the beginning tinnitus was hell, I couldn't sleep, it controlled every aspect of my life. Since then I've been eating very well, doing yoga and praying. I have major back issues so exercising is a challenge. Eating well and taking some supplements has gotten me off of nexium for gerd, I have lost 15 lbs in three months so I believe I am doing a lot of things right. I am busy all day and stay distracted so I dont have time for tinnitus except for at night when I lay down and thats when I take my ativan. I will lay in bed, put on a funny movie on the tv, put on some white noise, take my ativan and I am out cold in 5 mins for a good 6-8 hours. There has been nights I struggle to stay awake without taking the ativan but I take it to stick with the program. I think I have a good chance to kick this habit but time will tell

 

Thanks friend. I cant say I'm looking forward to this but it needs to be done