[lysergia]

i have lots of experience with clonazepam, it's worked well for me in the past. however, last year i took a hefty dose for awhile and HATED the withdrawal that took me months. it scared me off the benzos for awhile.

the most effective dose for me was 0.5 - 1mg PRN the first few days, then 2mg after i habituated a little.

because i'm still leery of clonazepam, my pdoc wants me to try lorazepam for a little while. i have .5mg tablets, and i'm supposed to fool around with the dose until i find one i think is comfortable.

i took one pill last night and expected to feel *something*, but i felt nothing at all. that sort of doesn't seem right to me. i'm about to try 1 mg just now to see what happens.

pdoc says i can worry less about addiction with the lorazepam and i shouldn't worry about the "how much" for right now, just worry about figuring out what works. but i am SCARED. i'm scared i'll figure out it takes 2mgs of these too, and what happens then? is it the same risk as clonazepam if i end up having to do this every day for a month or two?

clonazepam didn't seem to drop off sharply, i could feel the longer half-life. will i notice a drop with the lorazepam when it wears off? should i expect a little rebound anxiety after four hours or whatever?

sorry if these questions are already posted somewhere. i looked but got impatient since well, i'm freakin anxious and it's hard to concentrate.

if you've taken both of these benzos before, would you share what was different/same for you?

thanks in advance!'

[tryp]

Differences: Lorazepam made me suicidal, Klono just made me depressed. Klono gave me longer lasting relief.

Similarities: They pretty much felt the same and I needed about the same equivalent dose.

Umm, let's see. I thought the clonazepam was a lot smoother - with the lorazepam, I felt like it was really effective, then dropped off. I really would use it for PRN relief, but I think the Klono is a lot better for daily use in my opinion. I know you don't want to do that, but that was my experience.

If it helps at all, 0.5 mg of Klonopin = 1.0 mg of Ativan - they're not equal in potency.

This post has been edited by tryp: 16 May 2009 - 11:06 PM

[gizmo]

Ativan works quickly. Very quickly. As I mentioned before (and this is probably known to you) if you put it under your tongue and let it dissolve, you will literally feel relief in about 10-15 minutes. Yes, you can feel it stop working in about 4-5 hours (that was my time, your time may differ up to 6 hours). It is not slow and steady like klonopin.

I took 2mg of Ativan because I was used to 1mg of Xanax. Don't adjust your dose based upon what I say, please.

I felt no "rebound" anxiety. I would say that, at times, I felt my anxiety return. For that, there was another pill, if needed.

I didn't take it long enough to get habituated to it (neither klonopin or ativan) so I don't have any information on that. I really think habitualization is a personal thing, and varies according to each person. I also think it takes time. Dependancy also takes time. If you need it because you are out-of-your-mind anxious, that's not dependancy. Taking it because you crave a mellow mood, that's dependancy. See the difference?

Let us know how it goes. And don't worry too much about it.

[chimpmaster]

I think benzo use is very personal; there are personal differences which affect the experience at an individual level.

Having said that, what you say about the short half life of atvian vs longer half life of klonopin is true.

Its not as bad as xanax, but definitely short acting.