I know that I'm tired of going on and on about the lorazepam (Ativan) debacle - I know you are too. Last night was my third attempt at trying to wean down to .25mg of the stuff. The strategy I'm using this time is to alternate .5mg - .25mg for two weeks, then go down to .25mg for two weeks, then alternate .25mg - 0mg for two more weeks. Theoretically, that means I should be off the stuff in six weeks time.
The two previous attempts were scuttled by (first time) Mike's death - I just couldn't focus on weaning off the drugs when such a close friend was dying, and (second time) the huge physical effect going from .5mg to .25mg had on me (cutting the dose in half, even though the amount wasn't very much at all). I ended up being wide awake all night, and had to go back to the doctor for some advice about it - eventually starting me back at 1.5mg of lorazepam and 30mg of mirtazapine (don't you just love the way I bandy about the names of these drugs - quite sad).
Over the last several months, I have begun the taper of both drugs again. I'm now down to a stable dose of .5mg lorazepam and I take about 5mg of mirtazapine every third night (a little more than half of 1/8 of a 30mg pill - it becomes real guesswork to figure out how much you actually take). I don't think the lorazepam does anything at all to affect my sleep, but I sure can tell when I wean down to small doses of the stuff. Interestingly, all the reports about coming off this drug say the same thing - weaning goes uneventful until you get to the small doses - then the rebound affects (sleeplessness) really make themselves apparent.
As I said, I'm sure you're sick of hearing me go on and on about this stuff, but I find it cathartic to write down just where I am. Maybe years from now I can look back on this and say how stupid I was to give in to medicine and start taking the drug(s) - it's been over a year, ten months of which have been trying to wean off.