Posted by Bob on October 1, 1999, at 16:08:35
In reply to effects of going off ativan!, posted by Amy II on October 1, 1999, at 15:44:12
Just to get this straight:
Week one -- 25 mg/d Zoloft & 2 mg/d Ativan
Week two -- 50 mg/d Zoloft & 2 mg/d Ativan
Week three -- 100 mg/d Zoloft & 1 mg/d AtivanAnd you're still in week 2, right?
First of all, your doc's trying to taper you off of the Ativan, so don't experiment and try quitting it cold turkey! From what you've written before, the long-term effects of that dose of ecstasy are bad enough on their own. If you're that sensitive to narcotics, then maybe the Ativan is already hitting you hard with withdrawal effects on top of everything else. I know my brother was on Xanax for just two weeks, and he went through 4 days or so of hard times when he stopped cold. Since your doc put you on the Ativan and he wants to taper you off of it, have patience and follow through on the taper. At 1 mg/d, you might talk to your doc about splitting the dose (since you're taking it 2x/d right now). You also may need to stretch out the taper. Folks who've come off ativan might have something more to say about that.
As for the zoloft, it can take up to two months before it settles in. Zoloft was the first AD I was on. Saying it might take two months to settle in doesn't mean it doesn't have an immediate effect. My first month on Zoloft was a roller coaster. I'd be up for a week, then down the next, but the fluctuations got smaller and the "normal", baseline point got better each week.
SSRIs can take time to settle into their "therapeutic effect". You may feel like you have no time to wait, that things are just too crazy/painful/frightening/whatever to cope with right now. But from the sound of it, you've been going through hell for months now -- in spite of it all, you must have a great source of strength inside of you to have held on this long. You're just going to have to dig deeper.
Keep letting us know how you are. Keep checking in. Everybody was here for you on your earlier posts, and we're not going to abandon you now.
Stay strong,
Bob
poster:Bob
thread:12409
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991001/msgs/12413.html