anyone take ativan for withdrawal?
 

I was prescribed Ativan 0.5mg for my withdrawals and severe anxiety. Has anyone else been prescribed this and what dosage? Seems to be helping I feel great no withdrawals at all!

Yes, that was the last medication I was given to detox. The first was Librium, then Lorazepam, then Ativan. Be careful not to get over-confident with how well it works. I did and used that as an escape hatch for my not-so-secretive plans to drink again. The problem was, it didn't work so well after that first time. That's why I went through 3 different drugs. By the end, I could only detox in a hospital. Doing it alone didn't work anymore. So, consider this a lucky break and don't do what I did and abuse it.

Yep. I think it was .5 mg every 4-6 hours. Obviously follow your Drs orders to a T.

I never took them for more than 5 days and started to taper off after day 3.

Yes. It works. I only took it when I thought I needed it. The last thing I wanted to do was get addicted to another drug or rely on one. The best thing in the world is being able to fall asleep under your own power without any assistance from drugs. Tapering is always good if you are taking it the way they prescribe it.

Yes but in the hospital. I did not take it once I got out.

I am 239 days sober and have been on it since I stopped drinking. I don't remember if the dose was the same back in Feb but I think so- I am prescribed it 1- 1.5 pills a day, 1MG, as needed. It is for anxiety, in my case. I have been trying to stick to the 1.5 max lately and some days it has been a struggle; I take one when I feel the "amped up" feeling begin in my chest as that is my main sign of impeding anxiety and that cluster of symptoms. I have historically had a hard time sticking to the rx dose of things like this so I do have conversations with my dr about this drug in particular.

I anticipate being on it indefinitely - my life in sobriety is wonderful on the whole, with some big stressors that are (and will be, to some extent) ongoing.

Good luck- keep in communication with your dr.

I had a bad addiction to benzo's and to alcohol.

I would take Xanax or Ativan during the daytime to keep from shaking as I withdrew from the prior night's drunk.

It was that bad for me.

Not a fun way to spend a day or an evening.

I detoxed in a hospital and haven't had a benzo since.

They gave me tranzene (or something like that) to facilitate a healthy detox, and that worked fine for me.

You may want to get a second opinion if you crave Ativan after you detox.

Benzo's can have pretty strong withdrawals.

Stick around and let us know how you are doing.

We all wish you the best in your efforts to get clean and sober.

Same here. I was out of it for about three days. On the third or fourth day I woke up reasonably straight and refused to take anymore. Some peopl like being wasted on drugs, but I hated it. It was really the opposite of what I liked about alcohol which was the ability to be larger than life. I never drank to escape.