Posted by Mr. Scott on March 12, 2001, at 22:35:23
In reply to Ativan and withdrawl, Why take me off when I need , posted by Scarlette on March 11, 2001, at 17:05:51
I really sympathize with you.. I took Xanax a drug pretty similar to Ativan for 2 straight years for GAD. And even though I never abused it or raised my dosage above 1.5mg daily (equal to about 3mg Ativan), the withdrawal was TERRIBLE. The question however remained was could/did I benefit from these drugs, I thought yes so a year later I began taking Klonopin for a year. This was a little easier to come off of but not at all pleasant.. Finally years later my doc again prescribed a benzodiazepine called Tranxene. I took it for nearly a year and when I came off it I felt a little uncomfortable but nothing compared to Xanax and much better than Klonopin to withdraw from. Eventually I read a book called "Benzo Blues" by Edward Drummond. While he may not be the authority on the issue and indeed it seems quite complex I made a decision to try and avoid this class of drugs except for occassional usage or situational usage (new job, Flying). Mostly because I began to worry about how legitimate my disease was in light of the controversy surrounding these drugs. I know how you feel right now, but try to hang in there.. The good thing about a short acting drug like Ativan is that while it is INTENSE to come off of it is over quickly in the grand scheme of things.. 3 weeks from the last dose you'll be free of withdrawal symptoms, and every 14 days as I remember was a major improvement. If it is too intense, ASk your doc if he/she is willing to switch you to a longer acting drug like valium or Tranxene and to go slower titrating downwards. I do however believe that an occassional person exists who really can benefit from long term usage. However before you convince yourself you are one of them I would come off it for a while, and aggressively look for alternatives with a doc you trust and respect. Also Ambien might help ease some of the discomfort because a lot of the problem is the compounding loss of sleep on top of the withdrawal.
You'll find your way..
poster:Mr. Scott
thread:56239
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010310/msgs/56340.html