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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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How Long Does It Take To Get Off Of Lorazepam?

hi I am waiting from the insurance for a psychiatrist to go to to get me off lorazapam. what would a good doctor do and how long does it take to get off of it only was taking 5mg but ended up in er and he increased it because I was having withdrawl from it. not good
Fri, 2 May 2014
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Psychiatrist,  's  Response
Hi..May I know for what problem you were prescribed lorazepam & how did you ended up taking 5mg Lorazepam daily? Generally speaking, Lorazepam is a short acting drug of benzodizepine class & gets rapidly cleared from the body in around 24 hours. Hence, sometimes it becomes difficult to wean off a patient (in this case you) from lorazepam particularly when he is taking moderately high doses like 5mg. One of the main strategies employed is addition of longer acting drugs like Dizepam/Clonazepam/Chlordizepoxide of the benzodizepine class just enough to substitute for lorazepams actions & not causing distressing withdrawal symptoms. Under cover of these drugs, lorazepam is gradually stopped. In uncomplicated cases, usually 1-2 weeks time is enough to taper off lorazeapm & as aforementioned drugs are longer acting & self tapering thus lesser chances of addiction with them. Hope this is helpful.
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How Long Does It Take To Get Off Of Lorazepam?

Hi..May I know for what problem you were prescribed lorazepam & how did you ended up taking 5mg Lorazepam daily? Generally speaking, Lorazepam is a short acting drug of benzodizepine class & gets rapidly cleared from the body in around 24 hours. Hence, sometimes it becomes difficult to wean off a patient (in this case you) from lorazepam particularly when he is taking moderately high doses like 5mg. One of the main strategies employed is addition of longer acting drugs like Dizepam/Clonazepam/Chlordizepoxide of the benzodizepine class just enough to substitute for lorazepams actions & not causing distressing withdrawal symptoms. Under cover of these drugs, lorazepam is gradually stopped. In uncomplicated cases, usually 1-2 weeks time is enough to taper off lorazeapm & as aforementioned drugs are longer acting & self tapering thus lesser chances of addiction with them. Hope this is helpful.