Coming off lorazepam

[Caroline]

I was taking lorazepam for severe anxiety - I took 1mg a day for 4 months. Over the last month I have reduced to 0.5 down to 0.25 and then nothing for the last 16 days. I was doing quite well or so I thought and then over the last 5 days I have developed joint pains, tremors, weakness and worst of all increasing anxiety which has got to such a bad point today that I have had to resort to taking 1mg. Is it normal to have delayed withdrawal symptoms like this and how long will they last? It was so bad I had to take one and now I feel like I have taken a huge step backwards. Any advice would be appreciated

[chris]

I'm sorry to hear that you had to resort back to 1mg of lorazepam after such a long run off of them. Yes, delayed withdrawals are very common and often precide weeks or even months after discontinuation. I'd recomend a longer reduction plan,something that spans a couple months rather then just one.Good luck and i hope you are doing well as you wrote this post a while ago.

[anita]

hi just wanted to say i took 1mg of lozerpam for 4 months once every morning, im benzo free i went cold turkey and its only day 6, it will be interesting to see if i have a delayed withdrawal, since reading your story maybe il be lucky,bloddy hope so, i had a nervous breakdown after losing my husband and baby in the same week, it was 1 year later i hit the wall, keep strong we can do this!