My psychiatrist put me on Ativan 6mg for my anxiety back in September, I think it was the 14th or 15th of September. I also have bad insomnia which I have been taking Seroquel for since I was 24, I'm 42 now. I took the Ativan 6mg for a month but all it did was make me groggy all day so once the month was up I didn't refill it but tried to stop cold turkey. I had taken Xanax in the past and cold turkeyed that no problem so I thought it would be the same with Ativan. Not so, I suffered terrible withdrawal symptoms for a week, complete loss of appetite, nausea, severe headaches, panic attacks, racing heart etc. I had no idea what was wrong until I went online and researched the Ativan and realized I was suffering withdrawal. I went ahead and refilled the prescription but only started taking 2mg instead of 6mg. After taking nothing for a week the 2mg was sufficient to end the terrible withdrawal. I realized that I needed to get off this medication but would have to do it slowly. I didn't want to go back to my psychiatrist since all he ever does is put me on strong, high dosage medications like Seroquel and Ativan so I met with my primary care doctor. He told me to take the Ativan 2mg for two more weeks which I did. Starting tonight I am going to take 1.5mg for a week than 1mg for a week, than .5mg for a week and then .25mg for a week. Then stop. Do you think this is a good way to taper and do you have any other suggestions for me?
Thank you
J Anderson