Stress Center Peer Support

ive been taking ativan for little over a year now. well my insurance expired and im in the middle of trying to renew it but theres no appointmnts available till july. iv been taking .5 mg 3x a day for awhile now and i only hve 4 pills left so tday im goin from 1.5 mg to .75. feel kinda nervous cuz i read how bad it is for some to get off them and i cant really ween off them slowly cuz i only hve 4 left. im not a addictive person but jst worried if im going to be in for some bad days ahead.

Ativan is one of the meds that is very hard to stop and you cannot stop it "cold turkey". I would suggest you talk with your doctor. But if you can't, I came across an article written by a nurse and I will cut and paste the link here:

http://answers.yahoo.com/quest...0080620114535AAwxTKy

Good luck, but it takes many weeks to safely wean off Ativan, no matter how you do it.

i had sudh a bad sleep last night. i was tired but id keep waking up to a cold sweat and my chest felt all tight. real worried about how im going to get through this

jdog499,

Hi, if your doctor is responsible, they will not expect you to quit cold turkey. Even if they have to call in enough med for you to get by until your appt. I have been on a benzo for 10 years and I am on a very low dose but I know that when I am ready to get off of it, my doctor and I will work together to do it very slowly. It just gives your brain time to adjust to the change and start making GABA again which is what the benzos do to calm you down. CALL the doctor and tell them your situation. If they won't help, find a doctor that will! Take care.