ATIVAN Reviews (LORAZEPAM)Average Rating: 3.3 (709 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare ATIVAN with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Gender males first. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 |
More on ATIVAN: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR ATIVAN | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 1 | Anxiety | I'm very sensitive to all drugs and this seemed like a lifesaver at first. Very calming (for me) and I was able to sleep well at first. | I took extra pills on a couple of high stress days and ran out. I was not able to get a refill for four days. On day two I had the first panic attack I've had in over 30 years. I felt incredibly terrible and didn't understand why. It suddenly occurred to me that I was hooked on this drug. I also realized that the "passing out" event I thought was brought on by a stressful event a month previously was in fact a seizure caused by not taking Ativan for a number of days. My legs were cramping. My face and neck were cramping and contorted and I was sweating profusely. I was taken by squad to hospital and was treated as a cardiac patient. ALL normal test results. After I was given Ativan I felt fine. All of this is just coming together for me as I reflect on events of the past few months. I'm off the drug now (5 days cold turkey) but this is very difficult. Lots of anxiety, brain fog, trembling and I can't sleep at all. I like many others I've read on this site WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS DRUG!!!! Very addictive and in my mind dangerous. DO NOT TAKE THIS DRUG! I was only taking .5 mg per day... | M | 58 | 1 years .5 mg 1X day | 1/21/2011 | 1 | Dementia Anxiety | Halluciations, aggresive, | NEVER give this to a dementia patient that is on other dementia and anxiety medication. Father is currently taking Excelon and Seroquel. Hospital did not read med chart and did not continue with those two meds. Instead the P.A. ordered the Ativan and my dad became a completely different person. He saw green bottles on the ceiling, a little child that wasn't there and became aggresive with family members and nursing staff. If the medical staff had done their job and continued his regular daily medications, they never would have needed to give him Ativan. His charts now state to never give him this drug again and I intend to have a Med-Alert bracelet stating this as well. His Seroquel should have taken care of any anxiety he might have been feeling...stupid move by med staff. | M | 83 | 1 days 1X day | 1/24/2011 | 1 | Anxiety | Brain fog, insomnia, heart racing, headaches, urinary tract infections, general feeling of illness, sensitivity to light, hearing problems, derealization, depersonalization. | I would not recommend taking this stuff. It caused a lot of problems while I was on it. It did help for anxiety, but the side effects are NOT worth it. This stuff is insanely hard to get off of too. You literally have to taper off slowly or you can have more serious problems. This stuff should not be taken for more than 2 weeks. | M | 22 | 3 months 1 1X day | 3/22/2012 | 1 | Stressed | Hullucinatons panic sayimg unusual things unable le to make a sound desicion , | M | 52 | 1 days 2 | 6/20/2012 | 1 | social anxiety | It did not help me at all. I have been going through social anxiety since I was in school. Then I stopped taking it, I suffered a seizure. Now I'm taking more pills to control my seizures for the next 3 years. My life is ruined. If Ativan helps you, great, but it didn't help me | M | 21 | 2 days 2mg | 4/30/2012 | 1 | anxiety | still suffering Memory impairment after 35 years | Got addicted to Ativan, due to lack of awareness whilst taking the drug took 12 instead of six tabs daily. suffered horrible withdrawls (under doctor supervision) forgot friends names. Still have a messud up head 35 years later have to ask people to remind me of their names (they all remember me). NEVER TAKE THIS DRUG | M | 57 | 7 months 30 3X day | 7/19/2013 | 1 | Job stress/anxiety. | Minor erectile dysfunction, poor judgment/decision making, coordination loss, emotional blunting. | DO NOT TAKE ATIVAN OR ANY OTHER BENZODIAZEPINE LIKE KLONOPIN, XANAX OR VALIUM DAILY!!! Daily use is what eventually hooks approx. 60% of us, and the majority of doctors are clueless in this particular area of medicine. Though great in the beginning, I underwent a series of spinal surgeries requiring detoxing from the pain meds as well as benzos, and any detox center that says they can get you off of them in a matter of weeks doesn't know their neurochemistry about benzos. I began the Benzodiazepine (Benzo) Withdrawal Support Group on Facebook three years ago, and of the 500+ members which include doctors, psychiatry professors, lawyers, stock brokers, teachers, and we plain old mom's & dad's, none of us have gotten off without significant symptoms, and usually after only 4 months daily use. As happy as the newbies who just started taking them are, they have no clue what's in store if they ever try to quit. Magellan Behavioral Health Blue Cross/Shield in North Carolina's study states, "A large number (40%-80%) of patients treated with these medications for 4 months or more develop tolerance and can have a discontinuation or withdrawal syndrome. Patients may experience rebound or withdrawal symptoms, which include tremor, anxiety, agitation, and dysphoria." That's not a small risk to benefit ratio, but a huge one!!! My daughter takes a Xanax or two once every few months for long drives due to a panic attack on the road years ago, but it's the daily use that wi | M | 57 | 4 years 8mg daily 2X day | 9/6/2013 | 1 | PTSD, Anxiety | Hallucinations, Rage, Paranoia. I'm an OIF Veteran. In the midst of divorce. One night I became very emotionally overwhelmed and began to feel panic. Went to the ER at Loma Linda where they told me I wouldn't be able to see the psychiatrist unless I was suicidal or homicidal. They only thing they could do for me was write me a script for anything I've ever taken in the past. I asked then for a sleep aid. Ativan was that "sleep aid" 2mg. I was pretty much blacked out for an entire week, hallucinations, out of body experiences. I went through a paranoid rage and really hurt alot of people. I couldn't understand what had happened to me until reading through the effects of this stuff. They gave me 2mg 3Xdaily I can't believe they'd just hand that stuff out like that with no patient education. | M | 28 | 7 days 2mg | 3/7/2012 | 1 | Anxiety | Loved it at 1st. Really helped... then... HELL. I was told ativan could be addictive. But I was very careful how I took it. I started having worse and worse anxiety bc of mystery symptoms appearing. This happened for 3.5 years! Bad crazy mystery symptoms! Finally a few months ago I had tolerance w/d! It was like someone opened the gates to Hell and kicked me in. You see.. since I was a yoyo user... I had been going through Benzo w/d off and on for 3.5 years! It also causes anxiety from hell withdrawaling. I had to reinstate the ativan and ween off if it over a 2yoyo month period. Im 50 days Benzo free and still suffering. It could take a year to heal. I was a fool. These pills will bite you in the butt one day guys... they are ONLY supposed to be prescribed for 2 weeks MAX! Thats how fast the gaba receptors gain a STRONG dependency! Do NOT take benzos! Its an epidemic! Drs are handing them out like candy! They say they are harmless. And they will deny you are going through w/d after 50 days clean. Its insane! Do your research folks! There's a 100+ page manual out there called the Ashton Manual how to get off these drugs. And lists over 270 w/d symptoms that can last for years! W/d symptoms wax and wane on and off... its hell. Anxiety, depression .. shocks ... insomnia ... twitching ... grrrrr! | M | 28 | 4 years .5mg-1mg | 12/17/2011 | 1 | trouble sleeping after amxiety attk | Hot flashes, trembling arms, weakness, mind racing, agitation, increased blood pressure and heart rate. | M | 46 | 2 weeks .5 | 1/28/2012 | 1 | ANXIETY | MY ELDERLY FATHER TOOK THIS FOR A FEW YEARS BEFORE I KNEW. He was making his own visits to the doctor. I am a nurse and knew about the dangers of it, so when I found out 2 years ago I tried to wean him down with the help of the pharmacist. My father was hooked and refused, but when he started falling I had had enough. We took his ativAn and brought it over to him several times a day and tried to wean him down. He slept 24 hours a day and only got up to eat and take his med. He became so deconditioned he could hardly walk. He became suicidal and very paranoid (the phone, the neighbours, etc) He fell again and we sent him to the hospital where he spent several weeks going through detox. It was horrible to watch! He then went to a nursing home where he fell the first day and developed some serious bloodclots in his leg. Due to this, and his deconditioning he doesn't walk at all anymore. His mind is now clear, he is awake all day, and could be home if he could walk. | M | 82 | 5 years 1 MG 3X day | 1/23/2012 | 1 | insomnia, anxiety | anxirty, fear, insomnia, bad thoughts, derealization | Dont let the "seemingly"low dosage (.5, 1 or 2 mg)tablets fool you. And dont think "oh ill just take this now and then" THIS STUFF CREEPS UP ON YOU.It is strong and quickly addictive. RESEARCH IT! at first it was very relaxing but sooo gradually that I didnt even notice i became more and more anxious and fearful. I didnt put it together in time to know that it was the medicine itself that had "turned on me" and was actually causing the things it was supposed to stop but by then it was too late, if I didnt take it the symptoms were even worse and now im STILL trying to get off of it 3 years later (lost years)THIS AND OTHER BENZOS LIKE XANAX AND KLONOPIN and even VALIUM ARE THE HARDEST DRUGS TO QUIT AND THE MOST DAMAGING!. DOCTORS WONT TELL YOU THIS, ITS LIKE THEY DONT KNOW OR WONT ADMIT IT. IF you havent started it yet then DONT! Find out about NATURALor NON BENZODIAZEPINE ALTERNATIVES or COUNSELING.If you have then take heart, go to Benzo Buddies.org or other sites for support and advice on how to quit. theres hope. | M | 50 | 3 years 1 3X day | 8/19/2011 | 1 | Blurry Vision, Dizziness, Light Sensitivity, Memory Loss, Trouble Walking, Siezure, Migraines, Muscle Pain, Balance Issues, Motor Skill Imparement, Cognitive Imparement, Exhaustion. | This medicine is fine until your body develops a tolerance to it and/or you try to go off it. Then you wish you would die. This medicine should be illegal. Do yourself a favor and don't ever take this poison. | M | 36 | 3 years 2 1X day | 1/15/2012 | 1 | uncle given it in er room | He died and had lung cancer,they gave to him because he was copding. | husband was also given iv for it it in er for breathing problems and went incoherent and sent on a breathing machine,this drug kills people luckily husband was ok.uncle wasnt i notice er with both of them wanted to know if they need a breathing machine would it be ok to hook them to one,now i think to myself,wtf they know its bad but 1 nurse told me its all the got in er room for lung situations thats bull in my opinion. | M | 69 | 1 days iv 1X day | 11/3/2011 | 1 | panic attacks | it just did nothing for me at all, NOTHING!!! | i felt that it was just too weak for me | M | 29 | 1 months .5 mgs 8X day | 7/25/2011 | 1 | Went to ER for PVC's | Tachycardia, Panic attacks, Horrific thoughts, Agoraphobia, crawling out of skin, severe weight loss. | For me this became the drug from hell. What started out as a trip to the Dr's to deal with some harmless PVC's became a living nightmare. For some stupid reason instead of just letting me see a cardiologist to ease my mind he decided it was likely these premature ventricular contractions of the heart were caused by anxiety so he prescribed Ativan. Within 24 hours I was experiencing a racing heart along with a feeling of doom and gloom. In 48 hours I was experiencing horrible thoughts, vertigo and claustrophobia. In three days time I had become so agoraphobic I was hiding in my home and had to call friends to drive me back to the E.R. because I couldn't even drive. I felt like I could burst out of my skin. When I explained to the Dr what was going on all he said was to stay calm and just take my new little med. When I started researching this stuff on line I found that for some they can have an odd adverse reaction and actually acquire all the symptoms it's suppose to fight against. I told the Dr this and he said stop looking on the internet and just keeping taking the med. He could see my heart was racing at 132 resting and did nothing. So for an entire month I begged for help. By then I had lost 35 lbs. I looked like I was dying and felt like I was dying and had begun making out my will. I was scared to death to give it a try but I weened myself off breaking it down a 1/4 of a tab every three days. The withdrawal is so vile I wouldn't wish it on anyone. | M | 35 | 30 days 3X day | 5/3/2011 | 1 | anxiety | Was very relaxing when I took it, but 12 hours later anxiety was very extreme.....I have to definitely add that the anxiety was far worse than what I'd ever come close to experiencing prior to ever taking the drug. Then I realized this was in fact withdrawal. And this was after only 20 days on a low dosage...........Verrrrrrrrrrrrrrry additictive. | I went off of it cold turkey. Should have tapered.......First month was terrible......Four months later it was still tough. 1 year later it was pretty good....Take heart. Time and the Grace of God can heal you......Now it's been 20 months.........And everything's back entirely to normal. Entirely, 100% back......My advice, Pray, taper off slowly, stick with it, you won't feel better in a month, but you will in a year, absolutely. | M | 56 | 20 days 1X day | 6/10/2011 | 1 | ER doctor said I had anxiety | Tinnitus, brain zaps, psychosis, insomnia, muscle twitches, muscle cramping, numbness, confusion, shakes/tremors, paranoia, anxiety, suicidal/murder thoughts, fear, panic, seizure | Taking the drug feels great, it's amazing how at ease this stuff makes you feel. Being on the drug was not a problem for me, coming off of it was and I only had TWO 1mg in 2 week period, two 1mg doses which even still a year later is messing with me as far as side effects go. I went to the ER for anxiety, a near panic attack because of a traumatic event. The ER doctor gave ativan, it felt great. A few days later the ativan started to wear off and I woke up in the night covered in sweat as if I had been swimming in a pool, was shaking, dizzy, paranoid, scared and felt insane, like nothing I had ever experienced. IF you experience this I suggest soaking your feet in warm water to calm down, rub them and maybe eat some chocolate (It helped me, it sounds silly but TRY IT) I was rushed to the ER again and they gave me 1mg ativan. I was then evaluated by a shrink at the ER and diagnosed with generalized anxiety (WHICH IS ABSURD!) I have never had anxiety panic attacks before this and now I have random panic attacks all the time which are gradually tapering down as I am recovering from Ativan. Coming off Ativan is hell, literally hell! being on it is heavenly and what goes up must come down. I suggest not taking this unless it is a medical emergency and you are panicking beyond reason to start with. The withdrawal effects of this drug aren't worth it. There's more, too much I can't fit it all here. | M | 28 | 2 weeks 1mg 1X AN | 3/4/2011 | 1 | anxiety | Hellacious anxiety,constipation, protracted withdrawal syndrome including suicidal impulses, severe depression, severe insomnia, inability to work, rage, inner trembling, hyperacusis, tinnitus, electric shocks, psychosis, and much more...for 26 months severely. Sx became bareable but some still present at 39 months off ct. Drug from hell. | M | 48 | 5 months .5 mg | 4/8/2013 | 1 | Anxiety Attack (severe) | Out of world feeling. Feels awesome at first. After you begin to come down, insomnia, really cold feeling in hands and feet, joint pain, numbness (face and hands), muscle twitching and absolute fear. | M | 20 | 6 days .5mgx2 | 12/26/2012 |