EllieZero Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I have a Rx for .5 ativan for high anxiety situations, which are often in public places like school. Unfortunately I have a really difficult time sleeping due to depression/anxiety, so taking a benzo puts me to sleep in situations where I need to be awake. I understand that they're CNS depressants so that's kind of the point, but do you have an suggestions for counteracting the drowsiness that comes with benzos? (I don't want to use benzos to sleep at night because I'm terrified I won't have them when I need them) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 If you take the benzo PRN you might be stuck with the side effect. if you take it daily the sedative effect will eventually wear off and the anxiolytic effect will keep on keeping on for most folks if you take it as prescribed. Of course you may become dependant on the drug if you take it daily so that you cannot just stop it cold turkey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 If you take the benzo PRN you might be stuck with the side effect. if you take it daily the sedative effect will eventually wear off and the anxiolytic effect will keep on keeping on for most folks if you take it as prescribed. Of course you may become dependant on the drug if you take it daily so that you cannot just stop it cold turkey. I agree with this. Taking it at a steady dose the sedative nature will probably wear off. I did not find it helpful taking it PRN at all. It is a hard med to wean down from, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasetinsley Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Though I agree with the previous posts, switching to another benzodiazepine may be a better option. At your dose of ativan, another option could be Serax (Oxazepam) 10mg, which is the slowest acting benzo available. If it isn't strong enough, 15mg isn't out of the question due to the moderate activity of the drug. Another option would be 3.75mg of Tranxene (Clorazepate). There are others, but that is my best advice since the potential for tolerance, dependence, and misuse are less for the latter medications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crtclms Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 You cannot say how much someone will have to take to match one benzo based on your dosage with another benzo. They have different mechanisms, and work differently in different people. You can't use equivalency charts, those are for titrating off of benzos, and not an accurate comparison of their strengths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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