Posted by Kimo on April 11, 2008, at 23:22:53
In reply to Lorazepam Withdrawal, posted by Pete Anderson on October 12, 2006, at 6:22:36
I feel the need to warn people about the unbelievable possibilities with lorazepam withdrawal, especially if it is handled by people who do not understand what the drug can do,
I had been taking lorazepam for years, in ever increasing doses, through a series of psychiatrists who just kept increasing it. In Sept. of 2007 I reached a dosage of 8 mg per day. I had no idea this was too much, only that my anxiety just wouldn't go away. When my psychiatrist abruptly left town, it took me 4 months to find another, and she turned out to be extraordinary. Her first visit with me caused her great shock at the amount of drugs I was on. I was also on 600 mg of Serooquel, as well as others. When I came back in two weeks she said she was so concerned she didn't even want me to drive home for fear I would have a seizure or be stopped for a DUI because I was so unsteady. She said I had to be treated in the hospital.
The only psych hospital she could find at that time turned out to be hell on earth. They knew nothing about Ativan withdrawal, and after abruptly having no Ativan at all for 3 days I sank into the most frightening experiences I could describe. In processing all this later, I believe I went through a long period of seizures, psychotic hallucinations, a body coma (can hear and see but can't move or talk). For weeks I lost all memory, which has slowly returned. All patterned responses were gone (like how to dry off after a shower). The hospital thought I just had to "wait it out", which is a dangerously wrong thing to do. There is of course much more that happened but here I am 4 months later, still unable to return to work. I am told that sometimes dosages such as this can take 6 months to get out of your system. Unbelieveable.
Why is this drug even on the market? I know this is an extreme case, but be sure to question your doctor when they bring up any benzodiazapine (they all end in "am"). It you do need to reduce the dosage, I am told that .5 mg per week is about right.
I have done so much research on this, and so has my therapist that I am full of info if anyone
poster:Kimo
thread:694055
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20080220/msgs/822804.html