Doctor assistant mistake, I got the wrong benzo!

[JohnQ1]

Been on 1mg 3x a day, (3mg a day total) of clonazepam for around 6 years (was at 4mg and trying to taper off to zero).

I had someone else pick up my medication for me. Instead of 90 1mg's of clonazepam they gave me 90 2mg's of lorazepam! (ativan).

I called both pharmacist (they said they can't take them back and prescribe 2 controlled substances like that), and the doctor who said the same thing, they can't prescribe or fix this and it was my fault for not checking the bottle. So to either go to the hospital or try and make it with the 90 2mg ativan then go back to the klonopin next month

And since I'm broke with no insurance, I can't afford the hospital or a lawyer!

I have 6mg of ativan a day, strength wise that seems to be the equivilent of the 3mg of ativan (thank god for some reason they gave me 2mg's)

So 2mg 3x a day you think? I know the main thing is the difference in half life but since the strength is equal would taking the 6mg's 4 times a day work even better? Or even taking 1mg 6 times a day if I have too?

Or would 2mg's 3x a day or maybe even trying 1mg 3x a day be fine? I hate this because I am wanting to get off benzo's all together and this is putting me months back again!

Thanks for any help. Please help me do this at home. I really can't do it any other way at this point.

[ClassiqueMom]

bump.. sooo hoping someone here has an answer for you!


and if nobody here knows.. maybe another board somewhere?

wishing you allll the best!

[ARTIST658]

Been on 1mg 3x a day, (3mg a day total) of clonazepam for around 6 years (was at 4mg and trying to taper off to zero).

I had someone else pick up my medication for me. Instead of 90 1mg's of clonazepam they gave me 90 2mg's of lorazepam! (ativan).

I called both pharmacist (they said they can't take them back and prescribe 2 controlled substances like that), and the doctor who said the same thing, they can't prescribe or fix this and it was my fault for not checking the bottle. So to either go to the hospital or try and make it with the 90 2mg ativan then go back to the klonopin next month

And since I'm broke with no insurance, I can't afford the hospital or a lawyer!

I have 6mg of ativan a day, strength wise that seems to be the equivilent of the 3mg of ativan (thank god for some reason they gave me 2mg's)

So 2mg 3x a day you think? I know the main thing is the difference in half life but since the strength is equal would taking the 6mg's 4 times a day work even better? Or even taking 1mg 6 times a day if I have too?

Or would 2mg's 3x a day or maybe even trying 1mg 3x a day be fine? I hate this because I am wanting to get off benzo's all together and this is putting me months back again!

Thanks for any help. Please help me do this at home. I really can't do it any other way at this point.

John Q,

I think the best place to ask for benzodiazepene equivalency advice would be your pharmacist and/or your doctor, rather than seek out answers from lay-people, here. It's too important an issue to trust to those of us without the proper education to do so!

I can't give advice on medication dosages, or I'd be risking my own licensing. (My licensing is in substance abuse counseling, not medicine.) But I'll pass on a page that gives you an idea of the comparison of dosages of these different drugs: http://www.dr-bob.org/tips/bzd.html

Be careful to watch the "half-life" column, as there is a tremendous difference between klonopin and ativan when it comes to its half-life. Also, note that .25 mg of klonopin is comparable to 1 mg of ativan.

Beyond this, I'd be stepping outside my scope of my licensing. I hope you'll discuss this with your doctor or pharmacist, to do it right.

God bless,
Ruth

[JohnQ1]

John Q,

I think the best place to ask for benzodiazepene equivalency advice would be your pharmacist and/or your doctor, rather than seek out answers from lay-people, here. It's too important an issue to trust to those of us without the proper education to do so!

I can't give advice on medication dosages, or I'd be risking my own licensing. (My licensing is in substance abuse counseling, not medicine.) But I'll pass on a page that gives you an idea of the comparison of dosages of these different drugs: http://www.dr-bob.org/tips/bzd.html

Be careful to watch the "half-life" column, as there is a tremendous difference between klonopin and ativan when it comes to its half-life. Also, note that .25 mg of klonopin is comparable to 1 mg of ativan.

Beyond this, I'd be stepping outside my scope of my licensing. I hope you'll discuss this with your doctor or pharmacist, to do it right.

God bless,
Ruth

Pretty sure .5mg klonopin =1mg of ativan.

I'm now going through pretty bad symptoms. I'm not going anywhere in public or using the phone. I'll just try to make it with the 6mg of ativan a day and hope it makes up for the 3mg of klonopin without causing bad things