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I was put on 2 mg lorazepam which I took once and then took 1 mg for 10 days. After that, I took one-half for a week and now I am taking quarter. Will I get withdrawal symptoms?
Answer
Ativan (lorazepam) is in the benzodiazepine class of medications, which are often recommended to be slowly tapered if you are going to be discontinuing to avoid withdrawal symptoms. Potential withdrawal effects include:
- Relapse or rebound of condition being treated
- Sweating
- Increased heart rate
- Muscle cramps
- Tremor
- Insomnia
- Anxiety
- Agitation
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Hallucinations
- Seizure
Risk Of Withdrawal With Lorazepam
There are certain risk factors that increase the likelihood that you may experience withdrawal symptoms with lorazepam, which include:
- Use for over one year
- Use of high doses
- Short duration of action benzodiazepines (which includes lorazepam)
Ativan (lorazepam) is considered a fast acting, short duration of action benzodiazepine and is therefore associated with a higher incidence of withdrawal symptoms than many others in the class according to various studies.
Tapering Lorazepam
This is no single recommended way to taper Ativan (lorazepam) and the method you employ should be based on a discussion with your doctor. In general, it is recommended that you initially reduce the dose rather than extending the dosing interval as extending the dosing interval (e.g. say from every 6 hours to every 12 hours) increases the risk of between-dose withdrawal.
Various sources, such as the Guidelines for Panic Disorder, suggest to taper benzodiazepines like lorazepam by no more than 10% every week. Other sources recommend decreasing your dose by 10-25% every week and adjust based on tolerability.
In your specific case, you have taken lorazepam for less than one month, at low doses (doses go up to 10 mg per day!) so your risk of experiencing withdrawal symptoms is relatively low. Nevertheless, it may be prudent to utilize a taper to further decrease the risk. Be sure to speak with your doctor regarding the best method of stopping lorazepam for your specific medical situation.
