[SpaceCadet]

So I posted on a different topic earlier about having obsessive negative thoughts and started to do some research online. I found this topic on a forum about someone having similar, or in fact the exact same side effects as me.

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/in...?topic=26900.0

I'm wondering if obsessive thoughts are part of the withdrawal from Ativan. I recently dropped my dosage of Ativan (I've been taking it about 2 weeks) from 1mg two times a day to 0.5mg two times a day and today I stopped cold turkey. I'm wondering if anyone here has taken any Benzos and had similar side effects trying to get off of them? I don't want to take them anymore, I'm actually done taking medicine all-together because I honestly think I don't need them and they are just making me worse and messed up in the head.

[xxxxcrystalxxxx]

Originally Posted by nwsmith1984

So I posted on a different topic earlier about having obsessive negative thoughts and started to do some research online. I found this topic on a forum about someone having similar, or in fact the exact same side effects as me.

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/in...?topic=26900.0

I'm wondering if obsessive thoughts are part of the withdrawal from Ativan. I recently dropped my dosage of Ativan (I've been taking it about 2 weeks) from 1mg two times a day to 0.5mg two times a day and today I stopped cold turkey. I'm wondering if anyone here has taken any Benzos and had similar side effects trying to get off of them? I don't want to take them anymore, I'm actually done taking medicine all-together because I honestly think I don't need them and they are just making me worse and messed up in the head.

When I got off of Xanax I had more physical symptoms. Lack of sleeping, nightmares, sweating, etc.... My anxiety spiked more for a couple of weeks. I have repetitive thoughts after my injury. I would get "stuck" on them and if I'm having a really bad day its worse.

[nightnurse30]

I would go from 0.5mg 2 times a day, to 0.5 mg once a day before you stop cold turkey. you dont want your body to go through a physical withdrawal of any sort, so it would be smart to keep dividing your dose in half for another week or so until you are done. So maybe for the next 5 days take 0.5 mg once a day, and then down to 0.25mg for a couple days then stop.

Also if you choose to go without meds all together....i would not just stop taking them all on the same day. If you are on any type of antidepressant, or pain medicine that you have been on for some time, you need to slowly wean yourself off of these as well or you could have some pretty severe side effects of withdrawal with the worst being possible seizures or rebound headaches of a severe intensity. Also you would worry about personality changes during withdrawal that are possibly worse than what you are experiencing now.
'
So talk to your doctor and start weaning only one drug at a time. You dont want to actively wean from multiple drugs at once because if you start having side effects, you wont know which one your body is reacting to with the decrease in dose.