Ativan

[maya]

Anyone esle on this. I just started FRiday and am loking to hear your experiences on it.

Maya

[davidthegnome]

Maya, I have been on ativan (AKA, lorazepam) since late December. My experience with it has been good. That is, it has helped me a great deal to come back down to earth and manage to cope with daily life again. When they started me out on it I was on a higher dose, a miligram every four hours during my chronic phase which I think lasted about a month and a half. Was really hard, I couldn't eat much, could barely sleep, was always having panic attacks, three or four a day.

Over time though, I have gotten much better - and I certainly would have taken a lot longer to do it without the lorazepam. I've weaned down quite a bit on the med and now take only half a miligram a day (generally in the mornings, or when I need it) though I have had a few days where I haven't taken any.

My opinion is that it is a very useful drug - if it helps. It has helped me a great deal and still does when I need it. There is of course, a risk of addiction if you take it for a long time or are on a high dose. I'm sure your Doctor has explained that to you though.

As for side effects, the only one I really seem to notice from it is drowsiness. So I'd suggest being careful about driving or anything like that, just while you're getting used to it and learning how it effects you personally.


Hope that helps. Good luck and God bless you

Dave

[maya]

Thank you Dave and I am so glad to hear you have had positive experiences on it.

I have tried other types of meds with no success and have had reactions. My doctor said that Ativan is more of a sedtaive and shouldn't cause as many problems.

I think I will need a higher does as I am currently on the lowest one as a starting point. I am still having panic and may need more.

Yes, I worry about the addiction so I hope that I will not always need it.