Lorazepam (Ativan) Forum - Getting off lorazepam

Guest · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am Post subject: Getting off lorazepam

This is my first time to post. I have been on lorazepam for 6 to 8 months, for insomnia. In the past 2 weeks I have slowly got off the medicine. This is my question, I have been off it for 4 days, since then I have stopped sleeping. Can anyone out there tell first how long does it take to get the lorazepam out of your system? Second what are the side effects of stopping the med? Is a person not sleeping one of the side effects? Thanks for any information anyone can give. RK

Guest · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am Post subject:

:rolleyes: please give me some information about weight gain if u r taking lorazepam .....

Guest · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am Post subject:

I would like to know if lorazepam can cause weight gain????? :rolleyes:

Guest · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am Post subject:

Ativan is quite hard to get rid of because its half life is very short and withdrawal symptoms are more likely than with a benzo having a longer half life. To stop altogether I switched to a longer half life drug, diazepam. then slowly reduced this one and came out of it nearly effortlessy. It depends of the different chemical structure and the time it stays in your system. Diazepam weans you off more gently.

Guest · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am Post subject:

Hey, I was on Lorazapam almost 9 months. Last 3 months I suffer from chronic insomnia and depression. I also use paxil for depression and activan, but activan is not good enough for my insomnia. I would also like to get rid of lorazapam .. it makes me sick <IMG title="" alt=[Frown] src="frown.gif" border=0> -------------------- Health related forums - <A href="http://www.steadyhealth.com" target=_blank>SteadyHealth.com</A>

Guest · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am Post subject:

Kim, It took about 3 weeks to get off the meds. I lowered the dosage 1/2 every week. There is a lot of withdrawal side effects. The good news is you will feel much better then you feel now. For the 3 weeks you will feel like garbage. The bad news is I'm still not sleeping. I wasn't sleeping while taking the Lorazepam. While on the meds I felt sluggish, no energy, very down. I'm off the Lorazepam 3 months today. Like I said still not sleeping , only about 2 to 3 hours a night. Was sleeping only 3 to 4 hour with the Lorazepam. Would rather have less sleep then ever go back on medication for insomnia. I suggest you go to a web side about insomnia where the have fourms and you can talk to other people with the same problems as us. <A href="http://www.sleepnet.com." target=_blank>www.sleepnet.com.</A> Let me know how your doing. Good luck.

Guest · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am Post subject:

i currently suffer from headaches and depression. i am on indomethacin for the headaches, paxil for the depression and ativan for insomnia. -------------------- sharon francis

Guest · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am Post subject:

In response to Rk, I have also been on Ativan for 8 months for Insomnia. I was taking .5 mg each night and now it is .75 as the .5 does not put me to sleep anymore. I'd like to get off of this drug completely and sleep unaided. But I have tried with no sucess. I end up having 2 hours sleep. It is an awful feeling! I have a young child at home as well, so it's pretty hard not getting a good night's sleep. Someone recommended Elavil (anti-depressant) to re-instate regular sleep patterns but my Dr. stated that has more side effects. Any thoughts on this? How do you get off this stuff?? Thanks.

Guest · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am Post subject:

I became dependant on Ativan for anxiety and wanted off of it, the panic attacks that occurred when the dose wore off were horrible! My physician told me the only way to effectively get "off" Ativan was by being placed on an effective antidepressant/anti-anxiety agent. I tried all the catagories of drugs, new and old and finally got adjusted to a good "old" tricyclic called Doxepin. Only after that was I able to "withdraw" gradually from Ativan and purge my system of this often abused drug! It was a horrible experience but I was able to do it.

Guest · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am Post subject:

The following site has good information on ativan and valium withdrawl: <A href="http://www.benzo.org.uk/" target=_blank>http://www.benzo.org.uk/</A> I was on ativan for about 5 years, about 6 to 8 mg per day. I don't know how much ativan you were taking, but based on my own experience and in talking with others, I'd say that withdrawl can take a month to a couple of years. The ativan is out of your system within a few weeks I think but it takes your body a while to stop expecting it, plus any time that it is required for you to develop coping mechanisms for whatever you were taking the ativan to avoid in the first place. -------------------- John

san · Guest

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matthew · Guest

I'm wondering about weight gain...

I've weighed about the same thing, around 100 p. my entire adult life. I'm not a big eater. I did 2 things close to the same time :

1 - I started taking lorazepam and I quit smoking.
2 - I gained 20 pounds and had to buy all new clothes (tops and pants!)

I am actually big, which I find shocking after being petite and thin all these yrs. I don't know if the weight gain is from the stopping smoking or the taking of lorazepam. When I gained the weight, I was taking 1mg every day; now I take 1mg daily. What do you think? I quit smoking in Feb. of this year, and have only managed to drop 4 pounds.

Exercise isn't doing anything...