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 Date added. 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 |
| 2 | BPD | Was advised to take this to calm me down during my extreme periods of impulsivity when required (also taking seroquel 300 mg and 150 mg daily). It didn't really have any calming effects for me, and made me vomit severely. I guess different things work for different people. | F | 25 | 1 days 2mg | 12/11/2011 | 3 | Anxiety | Cognitive dysfunction, memory issues, feeling "doped up". | I take Ativan only once a day, in the evening. Most times I take 1 mg., but occasionally 2. I'm presecribed 1 mg, 4x/day, but there's no way I could tolerate that. Like a lot of other people reviewing here, I enjoy the effects very much, but I'm concerned about the side-effects. I only take it in the evening to get myself ready for bed. In my history, night is when "the bad stuff happened", so when evening falls, the frequency and intensity of my stressful thoughts/morid scenarios, teeth grinding and tics go way up. The Ativan effect wipes all of that clean away and gets me in a nice mood to go to bed. It's difficult to say if it's only the Ativan that's causing me to have difficulty with my cognitive functions because I also take Trileptal (900 mg. 1 x day), which definitely exacerbates the situation. Unfortunately, I've tried life without either, and it's a difficult trade-off, as I'm sure most of you know. You take the side-effects so that you can function like a noral human being. Anyway...I'm very concerned about the addictive nature of Ativan, but at this point in life, the trade-off weighs in favor of not being in a highly agitated state 24 hours a day. The information contributed to this site has been very eye-opening, and I appreciate everyone's contribution. I wish you all the best. | M | 48 | 2 years 1 mg. 1X day | 12/10/2011 | 5 | None | M | 68 | 1MG 1X AN | 12/2/2011 | 3 | disturbed sleep pattern | staggering, drowsiness during day | Drs. here in MA are keen on prescribing SSRIS. IBS over last five years has always disturbed sleep, sometimes to intolerable degree. Last few months tougher than usual; also have plantar fasciitis, job hanging by a thread, dermatitis, etc. Past Rxs for Paxil, Remeron, Tradnazone: all nitemares. Rx for valium back in '70s--that helped me. I did have a dependency, but nothing serious. Averaging 3, 4 hrs of sleep--shitty sleep--for MONTHS. Dr. broke down & gave me one time rx for lorezapam. No dramatic change, but it is helping cut down pain & cramps, & of course, anxiety. | M | 59 | 2 days 1 mg P.M. 1X day | 11/30/2011 | 1 | For a severe panic attack | Racing heart, extreme body pain, blurred vision, extreme nausea, insomnia, jitteriness, suicidal thinking, shortness of breath, etc. | I was initially given Klonopin when I experienced a severe panic attack. My Dr. kept increasing the dosage of it when I did not improve. I got sicker and felt crazy! I was switched to Ativan as a "milder" choice. Ater 8 mos of taking 3 mgs of Ativan, split into 4 doses, my family insisted that I "detox" as I was threatening suicide on a regular basis. I was going to admit myself to a local psych unit, but no beds were available, so I started to reduce at home with help of my counselor, family, and psychiatrist. (I had to argue with my psychiatrist who wasn't sure I knew my own body well enough) I am on month 9 of my reductions and now only take 1/8 mg per day. My body is totally addicted to this med and punishes me with each withdrawal. I am very sick for at least a week until my body/brain adjust to the reduction. If I reduce by more than 1/4 mg, I fall apart! I lost a full year of quality living on this med. I realize now that had I been given holistic or cognitive methods to deal with the panic attacks, I would not have needed any meds. (I already take a low dose of Citalapragm for anxiety/depression) I would never recommend a benzo for anxiety usage. People may state they tolerate Ativan when they only use it occasionally, but I would say that if they ever tried to stop the drug, they would see how their body would rebel. I can't wait until I am totally free from it. My thinking has cleared and I can now function. I am still battling side effects wh | F | 56 | 18 months 3 mgs 4X day | 11/21/2011 | 1 | Anxiety | Without my being aware of the debilitating impact of this powerful BENZODIAZEPINE, I encountered LONG-TERM side effects, including SEVERE physical, cognitive & emotional impairment. Ativan potentially causes a PARADOXICAL effect....meaning that the reason you are taking it will actually become a PRIMARY symptom to dramatically worsen & complicate the situation. | RED ALERT: If I knew THEN what I know NOW, I NEVER would have taken Ativan. My psychiatrist neglected to inform me the important details of Ativan being potentially ADDICTIVE & HARMFUL after taking the LOWEST dosage for only 7-10 days. Ativan turned my life into a living hell on earth. Within a few short months of taking the smallest dose only as needed, my cognitive function became IMPAIRED to the point where I could not even recall my own telephone number. I am a professional writer and I literally could NO longer function....I was forced to stop writing, due to the damaging cognitive function. In addition, my outgoing personality & positive outlook on life radically changed before my very eyes. Suddenly, I became extremely anxious, irritable, violent, with unexpected rage, depression, suicidal & emotional unstable. The smallest amount of stress or difficulties would instantly send me into a hostile fit, breaking things & screaming like a lunatic. I HATED THE PERSON ATIVAN TURNED ME INTO!!!! My circumstance with Ativan became much more complicated because I was prescribed Cymbalta to treat Fibromyalgia. Without my knowing it, the two medications had SEVERE INTERACTIONS, which contributed to my dramatic change in personality, behavior & impaired cognitive function. In Oct 2010, during a horrifying taper off Cymbalta, I reached rock bottom & overdosed on Ativan. Quite frankly, I should be DEAD.....but by the GRACE OF GOD, I'M ALIVE TODAY T | F | 47 | 10 months 0.5 MG 2X day | 11/13/2011 | 5 | Anxiety | Light sedation | Helped with my anxiety attacks following a trauma. Nothing bad to say. The key to this drug is the AS NEEDED part, not gobbling it daily and then being shocked that it is addictive. | F | 44 | 2 months 1mg 1X AN | 11/11/2011 | 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 | labrynthitis | At first, all I did was sleep. I was given this drug for labrynthitis, which it was found later I never had. The ent told me nothing about this med. Several times I did not take it to see how my labrynthitis was, I got extremely ill, but did not know it was due to withdrawal. After 6 weeks I was dependent but had to stop it for tests. I got deathly ill, shakes, couldn't walk without holding on to the wall, diarreah, anxiety, mood swings. | After 2 weeks off the drug, my doctor told me it couldn't be the withdrawal causing my issues and I was subjected to numerous tests which all came back normal. This started me on a downward spiral of being handed so many medications to deal with my "anxiety", with many horrific side effects. It wasn't until after much research and study that I found out my health problems were due to taking benzo medications. I am still in the healing process today, 20 weeks off benzos. | F | 61 | 6 weeks 1mg 2X day | 10/29/2011 | 1 | Insomnia | IBS,Parathesias & nerve pain,Cog Fog,weakness,memory problems,muscle cramps/spasms,urinary freq/incontinence,blurry vision,no saliva,anxiety,ear & sinus pain/pressure,hair loss | I was sent to many specialists and all tests came back normal. Not one doctor suspected the Ativan was causing all these symptoms. I found out through my own research, and also, that the same thing has happened to many other people. | F | 48 | 20 years .5 mg 1X day | 10/28/2011 | 5 | Panic attacks | Ativan is a fantastic drug. It calms you without knocking you out like Xanax. I take .5mg every night because I would have horrible panic attacks in the middle of the night, but none since I've been taking it. I have a severe dental phobia and took 2 mg yesterday at the dentist and was able to get a shot for the first time in ten years! I was not "out of it" just calm and able to get done what I needed to get done. I don't recommend driving on anything more than .5 mg because it does make you drowsy. This drug has been a life saver for me! | F | 49 | 2 years .5 1X day | 9/25/2011 | 5 | Agoraphobia, Emetophobia, OCD, PTSD | Drowsiness for the first week | Ativan is my LIFE SAVER! I had it for a few months just sitting in the bottle because i'm not a fan of taking meds as I am scared of side effects because of my emetophobia, but once I took it I was so glad I did! I had agoraphobia and was housebound for 2 years, I was taking 0.5 MG when I would have mild panic attacks at home, drowsiness was the only side effect I had, but after a week or so it went away. One day my family decided I needed to get help so they gave me 2 MG of Ativan and, after 2 years of not leaving my yard, I was able to drive myself to the hospital and check myself in to get therapy. That was 2 months ago, now I take 1 MG 3 times daily and I have not had a problem leaving the house since, its a miracle drug for me and I thank God for the doctor who prescribed it to me. I will take it daily for as long as I need to, until I feel comfortable without it through the help of therapy. People will try to tell you not to take it daily, but i'm here to say from experience it works and if thats what you need to live a fulfilled life go for it! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND ATIVAN!!!! | F | 22 | 1 MG 1X day | 9/20/2011 Patient History | 3 | ER doctor prescribed for anxiety | I went to the ER with heart racing and headaches, blood pressure at stroke level, er doc said headache causing anxiety so he gave me ativan, ativan worked great, but now if i dont take it i get extreme pressure in my chest like someone sitting on it and bad headaches, just trying to push myself through this, i am guessing this is from not taking the ativan, that is all it could be!!! | F | 33 | 4 weeks 1mg 3X AN | 9/6/2011 | 4 | Anxiety | insomnia and anxiety upon withdrawal | For a short-term, as needed thing Ativan is great. when I was freaking out to the point I'd convinced myself I couldn't talk it snapped me out of it in less than an hour. I still couldn't function perfectly on it (I eventually had to go on an SSRI) but it helped in the moment. I didn't get addicted or have any serious withdrawal from it and at one point I was taking it every day for about a month. | F | 19 | 5 months 0.5 mg 1X AN | 8/25/2011 | 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 | 4 | could not sleep | Just a little drowsy | F | 44 | 5 days 2 mg 1X day | 8/15/2011 | 5 | Panic Attack | None | In my 30s had severe panic attacks when having to give speaches..I had never had this problem before..my job was giving speeches..so I found Ativan..this drug kept me from having panic attacks for 30 years. I watched the amount I took and was careful never to exceed 3 mg 3 pills in the morning. I never fet I had to take more than that. It takes sometime to get off Ativan. It does not cure panic attacks. It keeps you from getting them. After 30 years I decided I wanted off these pills and I would drop the dosage down to 2 then 1 then off..I had no more panic attacks maybe due to my system changing over the years. The problem that it did cause was that after stopping this drug I would develop heart dysrhythems. They felt pretty severe so I went to the cardiac Dr had many tests and nothing was found..the skipping stopped as soon as I began the Ativan. So now I take 2 mg to 1 mg every day. This will stop your panic attacks..I found nothing else that did the job. I run 3 miles a day and have for years..no adverse affects..good luck with your panic attacks..they themselves can be life wrecking.. | M | 63 | 30 years 3 mg 1X day | 8/14/2011 | 2 | Anxiety,Panic disorder | No side effects except when ativan was fading after 6 to 8 hours anxiety would return. If I took two pills in a day , I would feel groggy but still calm. Withdrawl is TERRIBLE. | DO NOT take this medication. I am one who researches on every medication there is and I ignored when everyone said this was a bad drug and only looked for the good in it. I should of had listened! Sure, its fine if you take it once a week but if youre someone who needs somthing everyday to function with work,school people..remember its only temporary until you feel like your life is ran by this medication. Its highly addictive and you tend to feel like you cant function without it. Im on day 3 of tapering off it, 1/2 a pill of 0.5mg and its been HORRIBLE. I just had a major panic attack and thought my paintings and statues with faces were going to come alive. I became scared of them and took everything down. Withdrawl comes with everything you see on Ativan websites. Im trying very hard , if anything this medication gives you more anxiety on the fact that you cant function without it and are scared that once it wears off youre going to panic. DO. NOT. TAKE . IT. By the way, if your psychiatrist says you can take this medication for the rest of your life...GET A NEW PSYCHIATRIST. I should of had known, I study psychology! Try without medication, much safer. | F | 21 | 10 months 0.5 mg 1X day | 7/28/2011 | 1 | anxiety | Worked fine at first, but tolerance quickly sets in! Spent a few years thinking I was going crazy, only to find out that interdose withdrawal and tolerance brought on the worst anxiety I have ever experienced along with a ton of other side effects! It took me over 2 years to withdraw and every step of the way was HELL! Do not take!!! Do not take ANY type of benzodiazepine as they all work the same way!!! | I lost 5 years of my life!!! A few months of relief at the beginning is not worth many years of a totally ruined life!!! Do not take!!! | F | 54 | 5 years 1mg 3X day | 7/27/2011 | 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 |