S.O.S.!

[celestia]

Poo.

[Penny Century]

Here's my situation, I have been taking 10 mg.+ of Lorazapam (Ativan) for over two years. Before that, it was between 4-8 mg. per day. I have been on this drug daily for over 5 years.

QUESTION: Is this a high enough dose, and have I been on it long enough for the "serious" sudden withdrawal side effect of convulsions?  ... I don't have a history of seizures, but I have a sibling who does. I do have a loooooooooong history of substance abuse, you name it, I've done it--but not in a long time.

given the length of time, i'd say you have valid cause to worry.  i'm not a doctor, i don't know for SURE, but it's not a good risk to take.

This month, I fucked myself up and ate all my pills and I'm a week short of my refill. I have pled my case to the pharmacy, and pdoc's nurse, and they all say, basically, "fuck you, you are stupid and you deserve to tweak for a week."

given your history of substance abuse, they may think you are just med seeking.  have you been able to talk to your pdoc himself, and not just his nurse?

if i were you, i'd insist on talking to him personally and be 100% honest.  say what you did and why.  tell him why you are scared of withdrawl seizures.  point out how long you've been on the med, and your sister's history of seizures.  your fears about withdrawl are legitimate.

and offer a compromise.  say you're willing to get your ativan in 1 or 2 week portions for a while to ease his mind about the potential for abuse or suicide risk.

taking all your pills at once can scare a doctor.  he may be worried about suicide or drug abuse issues, and these are valid concerns for a doctor.  tell him exactly why you took them all at once, be honest.  say you want to work with him to make sure you don't do it again (i'm assuming here that you do indeed want to not do this again.)

to sum up.  be 100% honest, tell him you want help to make sure it doesn't happen again, and tell him why you're scared about not having any more.

in my experience, when doctors know the whole story and beleive their patients to be commited to working on themselves, doctors want to help.  they don't want to hurt you or punish you.  the refusal of more meds may have been b/c he was concerned more meds would lead harm for you.

Should I drag my shameful ass to the ER? What if they say, "fuck you" like the rest of these rat bastards?

generally, ERs are very unsympathetic to patients seeking benzos.  they almost always see this as drug seeking behavior.  your best bet is in talking directly to your doctor.  perhaps even with an emergency appointment.

anyway, i hope this helps. 

i once lost a bottle of klonopin, and my doc was reluctant to give me more (for my safetly and also b/c medical boards frown on over rx'ing controlled meds.) but when i told him the whole story, he made an exception. (saying "JUST THIS ONCE" of course.)

be honest with him.  and let us know how it goes.

good luck,

penny

[PBF]

Hey all you experts: HELP!

I read the site about Benzo withdrawal. I've whined on another board about my current cold-turkey situation, because my pdoc doesn't give a SHIT!

Here's my situation, I have been taking 10 mg.+ of Lorazapam (Ativan) for over two years. Before that, it was between 4-8 mg. per day. I have been on this drug daily for over 5 years.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

10mg of Lorazepam a day is a pretty high dose.  According to the Ashton table its the equivalent of 100mg of valium.  If you've taken that dose for years your system will likely freak out if you quit cold turkey.

PBF

[chimpmaster]

The best option for you under the cirumstances may be to visit a GP and expain the situation; you cant get in to see your p-doc next week and you have run out of lorazepam.  Otherwise call your p-doc and say your script has run out and you need another.  Many will do this without an appointment. If a dr is prescribing you this dose of medication, he/she needs to be responsible to keep you with scripts at hand.  Cold turkey is never the way to go with long term, high dose benzo use.

It is a fairly high dose you are on, but it would be cruel of a dr to not prescribe at least valium in your case to help with the withdrawal - and it does help big time, but can also be used to wean off the lorazepam.  Something which you may wish to discuss with your p-doc.

Good luck.  This could be a bummer of a week for you so do your best to cope.

I went cold turkey on xanax 6 months ago after taking 3mg/day for about 12 months (thats like 6mg lorazepam).  I had a bad time, as you do.  You might be fine, but Id be getting in to see a dr asap if I was you. 

[Breeze]

Here is a sure fire way not to get in that situation again. It's a pain in the ass, but it works:

Ask for weekly prescriptions. That is what I did. That way, you can't get into that much trouble and it's easier to manage your anxiety. You have "X" amount for 7 days.

It has worked well for me, after doing what you did and being without for 2 days. It SO sucked.

Breeze

[Breeze]

Bradley's animal totem was the red-tail,

Everyone has many totem animals. Which one was this? And, uh, what is a red tail?

West Coast, never heard of them Breeze

OH! Hawk. Very cool. The hawk has all kinds of messages when they show up.

[Breeze]

we scattered his ashes in two of his favorite flying locations

This is very cool. My dad was a avid mountain climber. He was training to climb Mt Shasta when he was suddenly taken by a massive heart attack, at age 64. My step mom tried for two years and finally trained with (her now husband) who helped her to climb the mountain. I have this wonderful photo of her on the very top letting dad go in the wind with the now husband holding her legs. I was a pack-a-dayer at the time and just couldn't do it. I wish I had now. So many magical things happened on that climb.

And since then, I have found out how spiritual Mt. Shasta is. It is such a cool thing to do, and of course, as in all cool things - illegal.

I would like to retire there, but I need to find me a wealthy widower, like Anna Nicole Smith did

OK, first you have to get really stupid, then get on that Trim Spa stuff and really lose your head. GOD she is dumb. Sorry. I just don't see you finding the old guy and dumbing down. But good luck.

I live on the Oregon coast. It is beautiful here. Damn cold at the moment but oh so pretty. And you trade wealth for the simple life.

Breeze