[sewerrats]

6 month check up at the hospital, the shrink asked are you ok, i say yes running on %70 which is max for a nut like me. The wife chips iN he is the best he has been for a long time. Everything going smooth ,then this statment pops out his stupid mouth YOUR NOT GOING TO LIKE WHAT IM GOING TO SAY NOW???? , its time to come of your 4mg a day lorazapam,WWWWWWWWWWWWWWhat you nerd i have been on ativan ie loz for 30years it part of my DNA nearly. You near on killed me last time with a fast tapper by one of your under shrinks. The GP even went against the shrink an gave me back 4mg a day after being hospitalised in the mental hospital over the zero tapper. Ido well on my 4mg an my gp said you will be on for life if stable, i said fine by me. Then you get stupid idiots like this shrink that instantly trigger all the bad memories , an puts me in a anxierty attack. I said you will kill me you nerd , he then says we will leave it has it is for another six months. What in gods name lets a shrink talk with his foot in his mouth, Now i worry he may stop the MED IN 6 MONTHS AN THE gp could be powerless to stop him. Can a GP upstage a shrink on welfare of patients like mine did last time. IF the shrink comes back with this i havent the strenth to tapper 4mg an i dont want to end up back in hospital or worse.

[pegasus]

Whoever left you on 4mg of lorazepam for 30 years needs to be shot! It's highly addictive and doing massive damage to you. You do need to come off it gradually and with a great deal of support but it most definitely should not be stopped cold turkey.

[-jimi-]

If someone can stay on 4 mg a day (medium dosage) for that many years, it means he didn't build up tolerance (people who do should not be on benzo meds), and therefore it is not an addiction. The med doesn't need increasing, it is not used to get high. The med still helps. He has been on it for a long time on a pretty low dosage.

Then what does it matter if it is addictive? Addiction just matters if you try to get high, if you take more meds than you should, if you need to increase dosage. And it is not me saying this, it is my ex doc who is a specialist in med addiction.

What use is it to come off a med after 30 years? It just sounds like unnecessary torture.

Also what my ex doc said, is that you never taper down a short acting benzo after long term use. You switch to a long acting benzo, THEN taper it out, because it is much milder on your system. That final taper should take around 6-8 months.

Is there a real reason for taking you off the med, like organ damage or similar? If not, I really have a problem with the doc's thinking. I have met docs that don't want to look bad on paper, it is high status to be a low prescriber of benzo meds. Even had those prescribing none. Ever.

I can understand docs being reluctant someone starting fresh on this med, but taking it away after all those years....... that is madness. If you can find an addiction specialist, they might be able to help you better.

[gma45]

I agree with jimrat. Why mess with a good thing? If you are feeling fine and you have been taking small dose for so long. Why cause unnecessary hardship on the patient? Dr.s have gotten so scared to prescribe any med that is addictive that patients now go without proper medicines that really help the patients. I think under prescribing is a bigger problem than most people want to admit. I am sorry you are having to go though this. It can be nerve racking!

[sewerrats]

Originally Posted by pegasus

Whoever left you on 4mg of lorazepam for 30 years needs to be shot! It's highly addictive and doing massive damage to you. You do need to come off it gradually and with a great deal of support but it most definitely should not be stopped cold turkey.

Why should i come off after 30 years, I was on 10 to 12 mg at one time , i have a massive anxierty illness an 40 mg valium 2 times a day does nothing. So if i come of 4mg ativan which still works an keeps me stable what do you suggest for my illness , i would always need benzo,s there the only thing that works on cronic anxierty. mabye 6 mg xanax then i would be supper cool, an out my box i will but on the forum a study that shows benzo ,s are no worse DEPENDANCY WIZE as ads in if you can keep to a certain mg which i can its a vital to remmission.
Both anecdotal reports and published research emphasize that the definition and manifestations of tolerance, dependence, and addiction are commonly misunderstood among physicians and even among a surprising number of psychiatrists. Experts in the use of benzodiazepines report that tolerance normally develops to their sedative, cognitive, emotional, and motor effects, but not to the autonomically anxiolytic effects, i.e. not to their ability to interrupt the neurological "panic circuit." Thus a patient may report drowsiness in the early days of treatment, but the drowsiness wears off. Once an effective dosage is found in the first weeks of treatment, this dosage (or, after a while, a lower one) will eliminate panic attacks and most dysautonomia for years and decades. Patients on such a maintenance dosage should be regarded as "medically dependent," just as many patients are dependent on glucophage or insulin or anti-hypertensive medications that exhibit a rebound effect on cessation – or on Paxil, for that matter – but should not be regarded as "addicted" in the absence of all the other criteria that characterize addiction. THIS GOES AGAINST ALL OLD FASHION TREATMENT.

[sewerrats]

Originally Posted by pegasus

Whoever left you on 4mg of lorazepam for 30 years needs to be shot! It's highly addictive and doing massive damage to you. You do need to come off it gradually and with a great deal of support but it most definitely should not be stopped cold turkey.

BENZOS DO DAMAGE ,?????????? well the dont make you fat, they dont kill your sex life an they dont kill your vital organs, ANTIDEPRESSANT do all those things. plus they actually saved my life.

[sewerrats]

Originally Posted by gma45

I agree with jimrat. Why mess with a good thing? If you are feeling fine and you have been taking small dose for so long. Why cause unnecessary hardship on the patient? Dr.s have gotten so scared to prescribe any med that is addictive that patients now go without proper medicines that really help the patients. I think under prescribing is a bigger problem than most people want to admit. I am sorry you are having to go though this. It can be nerve racking!

Thats the problem my GPS havent got a problem at all an i have just had a med review, Its just this one shrink, if ever i get his juniors its never mentioned . would the swap shrinks at a NHS mental hospital if i asked or would that poor petrol on the fire. this shrink has triggerd me bad for nothing but his own ego, even though its 6more months before i return .I have this hanging over me THAT THE SAME QUESTION IS GOING TO BE ASKED. my wife said i will not let them take you off as i no it will kill you to detox now , i near on died on the last attempt. OR should i ask my GP to tell him to back off has he is causeing more damage to an already damaged patient

[Confusedinomicon]

If you're detoxing, it would probably take a year to do so safely. If the shrink thinks you can just stop all together they are stupid.

I think you should just ignore the shrink and if you see the shrink in 6 months and they ask you to go off the medication ask about how they want you to wean off. If he suggests anything "short term" tell him that he is not informed, especially if the short term previous detox almost killed you. If the shrink won't prescribe, just go to the GP and explain the situation.

[WikidPissah]

Hey sewerats...you know I have been doing the dreaded benzo taper. 4mg down to 1.75. Still tapering, and it is hell. But if you get stuck, print out info and give it to the shrink. Shrinks are stupid, they rx this stuff without having any idea the damage it causes. Here's the best info : Ashton Manual
Do some serious research before going back.

[sewerrats]

Originally Posted by WikidPissah

Hey sewerats...you know I have been doing the dreaded benzo taper. 4mg down to 1.75. Still tapering, and it is hell. But if you get stuck, print out info and give it to the shrink. Shrinks are stupid, they rx this stuff without having any idea the damage it causes. Here's the best info : Ashton Manual
Do some serious research before going back.

thanks but i dont want to detox , i love being on ativan. i have high anxierty an the benzo works still after years.i carnt control the anxierty without it so why give it up. BENZO,S get tollorance sure. but dont really have side effects like ALL ad,s .