Hospital Detox for Ativan

I have a serious question. Im planning to go into a Lakehaven hospital for inpatient detox, for four days.
Is four days too fast to come off Ativan?
Or should I taper more slowly at home?

I'm having awful panic attacks from ativan, and can't really see me tapering off by myself and staying healthy.

I started ativan at the end of january. A half of a half of 1mg. Now I am taking a whole half. They are causing much stress.

 

What dose are you on and for how long?
Are the panic attacks due to tolerance at the current dose?
What is the 4 day detox plan?

 

I just updated it. thank u
Tolerance at the current dose, I do not believe so. I also made no plans for long term usage.
I have not gotten my plan from hospital yet but when I do may I please IM u for response. Thank you.

 

You can PM me, but posting here will get you more response and perhaps different perspectives.

If you haven't, I would suggest visiting benzobuddies.org. Like here, there are plenty of horror stories, but there are also many people who have experience stopping benzos. You will likely find information about the pros and cons of inpatient rapid detox vs outpatient whether on your own or in a program.

 

From my limited understanding, Ativan (lorazepam) can be a nasty one. I recall it being used sub-lingually as an anti-emetic in low dose so it must have a rapid onset and short half-life. Anyone know?

 

@Nonna how long have you been on Ativan?

 

January 21, 2016

 

Inpatient detox from benzos can be a really problematic thing. Having come off them myself, my advice is to cross over to an equal dose of a slower acting benzo like Valium, and then taper that over 1-2 months (which is still pretty fast, but you've only been on them for a few months to begin with).

The inpatient route works for some people, but I've read some horror stories.

You could have a look at this: http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/

 

Yes to both. Hard to taper directly as a result.

 

I would suggest the hospital if you can afford it but I would think it would take more than 3 days (hopefully I am very wrong!!). I heard some places give Flumazenil. I don't know what they will do to be honest. I did find a clinical study where they used oxcarbazepine over 11 days to detox but I have no idea what dosage they used and am not a doctor and whether hospitals would do that:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18821451

I believe in the Ashton manual they recommend going to Valium but it is a slow withdrawal.
I really wish you the best and hope things come out okay. Hopefully it won't be that bad since you started taking it in January. I think I am in some benzo tolerance/withdrawal thing myself. I could have come off of it too except for this stupid tinnitus. Maybe later on down the road I can.

 

Hey Nonna, how did the detox program go? Were you able to get off Ativan?

 

4 days is WAY TOO SOON...... your body will crave it and detoxing off ativan that quick is not, what i would do. I speak from experience, i was on 4 MG (because a stupid DR mis-diagnosed me and said i could be on it forever). I knew ativan was bad for me and cut 2mg overnight (not smart) and then tapered 2 mg in 9 months. Your body will not enjoy rapid detox, it can be hell and not something you want to go through.

I would taper the ativan and gradually get off it, the withdrawls are PURE hell. Lack of sleep or no sleep, muscle spasms, and more junk can come your way. I say this because, I do not want you to go through the hell i went through..

Be well.....

 

That is why I made post. I read Flumenzanil resets gaba and it will be like the ativan was never there. I read hospital detox is much more comfortable. I quit ativan cold turkey in Nov2011, after five years of taking 1mg. Over nite no side effects whatsoever. That won't happen this time I'm afraid. And I really am afraid of even doing a taper alone. I really want hospital help.

 

This is incorrect and potentially hazardous.
Flumazenil is used to prevent benzodiazepine overdose and to bring surgery patients out of benzo-induced anesthesia.
It will certainly not make it like the ativan was never there.

Under a VERY supervised environment, it could be used as a treatment for benzo dependance.

 

to bring surgery patients out of benzo-induced anesthesia.
I[/QUOTE]
Scary. Thank you

 

4 days is too short, your body will not feel comfortable. Tapering is not easy, but it is the right thing to do. 4 days detox is almost as bad as cold turkey. Those detox places, are in it for the money more than the patients. Tapering takes lots of discipline. It can be done and I hope the best for you.

 

The withdrawals for me and I think this is normal and one of the WORST things about getting off benzos is the non-linear withdrawal. You could be fine for a few days and then all of a sudden you have symptoms of withdrawal, then later on no symptoms (or less symptoms) and then symptoms again. It played with my mind really bad. I couldn't tell if it was the drug withdrawal or just me. Have tried to come off it several times with no success. I think if I did not have T, I would have been able to come off of it. I was able to sleep using melatonin. My worst symptoms were extreme depression, and DP/DR a few times but I think that was a combo of withdrawal and tinnitus anxiety. Had some apathy episodes too. The main reason I wanted off was that it wasn't lowering my T anymore (in fact I believe it increased it - I had to get hearing aids) and put me in a tranquilized state. I was content just to lay in bed and watch TV or get on the internet. I knew something was wrong. On many days I had no ambition due to tranquilization and wasted so much of my life. In addition I could still suffer usually 1 week of depression each month. I knew something was wrong. I reduced it some, tried a med for depression, and later I had an episode where I was slammed back into reality so hard it was unnerving at times. Later, I got extremely angry and had to take it again. Its possible I may try again but I believe it has to be very slowly. Maybe even a liquid titration. Fortunately, due to the drug for depression, I am able to at least get up every day and do something even if I don't feel good.

 

Have you had any experience with Flumazenil and can it "reset" gaba receptors?

 

Certainly not. There is no reason to use it unless you are in some sort of benzo overload mode.
And I believe it's an IV only drug, so it must be administered at a hospital or something, has a very short half life so you need to re-dose every 3-4 hours or it is metabolized and gone (contrary to some benzos which might stay in your system for as long as 60 hours).

I believe member @1MW has used it, maybe he can chip in.

 

Flumazenil is iv only also has very short half life.
Because it is difficult to take it and has side effects i suggest to you stay away from this stuff.

 

Hey did you ever have flumazenil injected? If so, what happened?