Ativan (lorazepam) Need Advice

[GeekMan]

Hey all,

 

So for 10 - 11 years I've suffered with major anxiety disorder, depression and recently diagnosed with Aspergers.

 

I ended up in hospital last week over a suicide attempt (long story for another post). The crisis team gave me some meds to take home until the home team visit me. They gave me Ativan (Lorazepam) 1mg.

 

I'm also on 40mg Citalopram.

 

Now, in all these years I've never felt a medication work like Ativan has. I took one today, about 5 hours ago and it's like I'm a changed man. Seriously. I got a bit of tiredness, but I could still function. But my body returned to complete relaxation. No panic. No sickness. No annoying skipping heart beats. No feelings of anxiety at all.

 

Infact, I even went to the shop to get milk, something that would cause anxiety problems for me at the moment, but on this medication I didn't even bat an eye lid.

 

It appears to be a "wonder" drug for me at the moment.

 

I have the doctor visiting tomorrow to discuss meds. I told my psychiatrist that these meds are working amazingly. No suicide thoughts either. I'm actually smiling. But she turned around and said that these meds are not a good idea.

 

NOT A GOOD IDEA! I have battled with this for years, and now there is a medication that works and you're telling me it's a bad idea?

 

I am aware they can become addictive. But 1 a day is doing me perfectly fine at the moment.

 

I just wonder that tomorrow he's going to pull me off them and start me on some new crap meds (I've tried so many in the past that don't work), and that I'll end up back in a depressive, anxious heap, and back to square one.

 

I would rather take these and be dependant on them, than to suffer any more of this anxiety.

 

I've had a taste for what normal life feels like today, and I feel I have "arrive" closer to the path of being mentally stable again.

 

So what can I do if my doctor says it's a good idea to not take them?

[jt07]

I don't think there is anything you can tell the doctor what you haven't said here. Some doctors simply don't like to prescribe benzodiazepines. Period. I'm not exactly sure why because benzos are extremely effective meds.

 

How long have you been on the citalopram?

[Spadez87]

hey, Your story is like mine abit. At 16 i found clonazepam. Its was everything to me that ativan (lorazepam) is for you... Now im in hell.

 

ive been taking Ativan type drugs (Benzos) for the last 10 years and your doc is doing you a solid man. After about 3 weeks you start to become physically dependant and you need the dose your taking to not get sick. Its loses the effects quick. Then you have to keep upping the dose to get the same "wonder drug" type effects. Eventually when you want to come off the drug its HELL.

you have to taper over months depending how long you have taken it and at what dose. Cold turkeying could kill you. look up benzo w/d. Ive cold turkeyd and taperd 5 times in 10 years and its awful.

 

picture w/d from heroin for 5 months but this can kill you if not done medically supervised and the safe/right way type thing.

 

This being said if you take a benzo like ativan which has a short half life (this prevents your body from getting chemically dependant)

a couple times a month you will never will have to deal with all ive wrote above.

 

Its a great drug but seriosuly you dont want to take it daily. at most a couple times a week. This will prevent addiction/dependance which you really dont want. trust me,

 

good luck

[GeekMan]

I'm just so confused now. Looks like I'm going to be back in this mess once the doctor pulls me off them. Just as I start to gain some hope too. Might just tell them to forget all of this and put me in a hospital because I can't be going through all this depression and suicide attempts again. They can sort me out, because no professional on the outside seems to know how. I'm kind of annoyed now that they even gave them to me in the first place.

[tryp]

It sounds like you've had a long, hard battle with your illness - I'm not surprised that you feel very anxious about possibly being taken off of something that works.

 

Benzos can be a pretty divisive subject - there are people (patients and physicians) who have had bad experiences.  Addiction is a possibility, as is dependence (these are two different concepts - you can be physically dependent without being addicted.  In fact many of us are physically dependent on our medications in the sense that we would have withdrawal if we were to suddenly stop - many non-addictive drugs can create physical dependence).

 

There are also people (including members here) who have used benzodiazepines either daily or as needed for extended periods of time with no problems.

 

It very much depends on the patient, and whether you get to keep taking them depends to some extent on your doctor's comfort level.

 

All you can do is explain to your doctor what you have explained here and come to a collaborative decision between the two of you as to the best course of action.

[jt07]

hey, Your story is like mine abit. At 16 i found clonazepam. Its was everything to me that ativan (lorazepam) is for you... Now im in hell.

 

ive been taking Ativan type drugs (Benzos) for the last 10 years and your doc is doing you a solid man. After about 3 weeks you start to become physically dependant and you need the dose your taking to not get sick. Its loses the effects quick. Then you have to keep upping the dose to get the same "wonder drug" type effects. Eventually when you want to come off the drug its HELL.

you have to taper over months depending how long you have taken it and at what dose. Cold turkeying could kill you. look up benzo w/d. Ive cold turkeyd and taperd 5 times in 10 years and its awful.

 

picture w/d from heroin for 5 months but this can kill you if not done medically supervised and the safe/right way type thing.

 

This being said if you take a benzo like ativan which has a short half life (this prevents your body from getting chemically dependant)

a couple times a month you will never will have to deal with all ive wrote above.

 

Its a great drug but seriosuly you dont want to take it daily. at most a couple times a week. This will prevent addiction/dependance which you really dont want. trust me,

 

good luck

 

Can you back any of that up with actual peer-reviewed articles? Physically depended after 3 weeks? And withdrawal from benzos is not at all comparable to withdrawal from herion. Again, what is your source for that?

 

Most people who take benzos as directed don't have problems with them. I took 3 mg of Klonopin for 3 years and never had a problem getting off it. Don't believe the horror stories about benzos on the internet. Those are the worst cases because most people who don't have problems don't bother posting about it on the internet.

[GeekMan]

It sounds like you've had a long, hard battle with your illness - I'm not surprised that you feel very anxious about possibly being taken off of something that works.

 

Benzos can be a pretty divisive subject - there are people (patients and physicians) who have had bad experiences.  Addiction is a possibility, as is dependence (these are two different concepts - you can be physically dependent without being addicted.  In fact many of us are physically dependent on our medications in the sense that we would have withdrawal if we were to suddenly stop - many non-addictive drugs can create physical dependence).

 

There are also people (including members here) who have used benzodiazepines either daily or as needed for extended periods of time with no problems.

 

It very much depends on the patient, and whether you get to keep taking them depends to some extent on your doctor's comfort level.

 

All you can do is explain to your doctor what you have explained here and come to a collaborative decision between the two of you as to the best course of action.

 

I'll explain to him tomorrow what I explained here and see what he says.

[jt07]

Do tell the doctor what you wrote here. But one more piece of advice: Don't come on too strong demanding benzos. That will make you appear like a drug seeker and actually work against you. It's better just to be honest and tell the doctor how much the benzo helps you but don't push it too far.

[janetta]

I have been taking Ativan since fall of 2011.  I started out on .5 three times a day, then had to up it at night to 1mg.  I did great until this past January when I realized I had been majorly depressed for years even though I had been on Lexapro for over 10 years.  My psych dr eventually had me taking 6mg of ativan every day and it ended up causing more anxiety.  He said my body had become dependent on it.  I am now down to .5mg 3 times a day again, but find my anxiety creeping back in this weekend.  I did take 1 mg a couple of times yesterday and today.  I need to call my dr in the morning and ask if its ok to go up to 1 mg.

 

I know exactly what you mean by feeling normal/great when the ativan works.  It makes you feel amazing!!  I would love it if I only had to take it once a day.  Let us know how it goes with your home visit.

[KarateKid]

I actually had a similar issue in the sense that I was prescribed 20 tablets of 2 mg Ativan, and that's basically almost done now so I went to a walk-in clinic and the doctor there refused to refill or give me a prescription for my ativan.

 

My psych. appointment was next thursday, which was too far tbh from the day i was feeling the anxiety taking over.

 

anyways, i was lucky that i was able to see my psychiatrist today in the morning. She refilled my prescription with the difference of it being 1 mg of ativan twice a day rather than 2 mg of ativan once a day.

 

Honestly, for me, I'm the same way: Benzos only work for me, you need to tell your doctor: my anxiety is relieved when I'm on ativan, lately, i've been developing a tolerance to the ativan and don't know whether increasing the dosage is better or taking it more than once a day is better.

 

IF you say that, your doctor will see that your body is dependent on it and will hopefully try to work with those two options. It's also not asking for them directly.

[Idiot]

I've been on 2mg Ativan 3x day for at least a few years now. Recently my pdoc upped it to 4x because I was freaking out but it's only for a month at a time so it's just been 2 months & I'll pry go back to 3x day. He really only gave me the bigger rx so I could take 2 at a time if I needed to, which I do sometimes anyway. I've never had a problem as far as switching down or between doses, physically, and I think my dose is closer to the high end.

This is really the only med that I can tell is helping me, too. I take lamictal and lithium and whatever anti-psych I'm always trying out & I don't know what any of those are doing. As far as withdrawal, my lamictal is the worst! I get so messed up if I don't take it within a couple hours of my usual time.

I'm glad I have a pdoc that hears me when I say that's the only drug helping with anything so he keeps me on it, plus trusts that I won't go crazy with it and I can mess around with my dose.

Ativan is the best

ETA: Maybe the dr wasn't totally shutting the door by saying benzos are a bad idea--maybe just something they think in general, but still will work with you on. It's weird that they think you're drug seeking just for something like that, just because it's a type of drug- long time dr should know if you would be lying after that short of time because they suspect you want to get high. Sometimes drs suck, I hope yours doesn't and works to make you feel better.

Edited July 7, 2014 by Idiot

[crazyguy]

 I've also tried loads of antidepressants from numerous different drug classes with no real benefits, but like you I've had some success with Ativan... not as dramatic as yours but it has aided me quite a lot lately.  

 

My doctor reluctantly suggested the Ativan around December last year to help me get through my studies.  I was prescribed 1mg 3x per day but rarely used that much and in the last month or so I have reduced my dose drastically as I haven't required it as much. 

 

Yes benzos long term benzo use is supposed to cause tolerance but in 8 months I haven't experienced it.  Long term use is supposed to cause dependence (physical and psychological), but again I haven't experienced that at all.  I think when it comes to benzos doctors seem to fall into two camps - those that never prescribe them (bad)  and those which hand them out like smarties (very bad).    Why there aren't many doctors in the middle ground I don't know. 

 

If you can use them responsibly and have good self control then I don't see that they are particularly dangerous and in my experience they have less side effects than virtually any other med I have tried

 

. My main fear is my doctor retiring or something and having to go through a battle to get prescription refills when required.  -  Ask for a Benzo in the UK and most doctors will look at you like you are a drug seeker.  

Edited July 9, 2014 by crazyguy

[crtclms]

You *can* develop tolerance. You *can.* But not everyone does, not even close.

 

I'm sick of saying it, but I have been on Xanax, 1mg BID, 1mg PRN, for 8 years. I have not gone up in dosage, ever, not even for hypo or mania. I don't use anywhere near all my prns. I had two and a half months worth accumulated from not using very many PRNs, or I would  have had to find psychiatric care sooner.

 

I have developed dependence in the same way I have developed a dependence on Lamictal. In fact, I haven't been on Lamictal nearly as long as I have been on Xanax, and I've had to raise my Lamictal several times. I am maxed out at 400mg. I must be a Lamictal addict.

 

 

[BionicMDD]

My pdoc prescribes me 120 Ativan a month, up to four a day as needed for anxiety. I've had the same rx for at least 3 years and the funny thing is I always have extra pills left at the end of the month. I don't count them but it's a substantial quantity. So not everyone becomes addicted or dependent. It is possible to use benzos responsibly.