Ativan side effects

This medication literally might have saved my life. After a death of a close family member I literally feel like I went crazy. I would pace, be restless, feel dead, not be able to sleep, no appetite, weight loss, cry randomly, cry uncontrollably, feel like i was going to die and had urges to commit myself to a hospital I was so scared.

My doc prescribed me 0.5 to take as needed. Well, for me that as needed is every day for the last few weeks. I can't do without it, though I would like to eventually, hopefully soon.

The only side effect I notice is that it makes me even more tired than I already am, but that's why they sometimes say take it at bedtime. Well, if you have anxiety, you know that it doesn't just come at bedtime, so it can be difficult to really want to do anything if you take it in the morning or during the day, but I found that if you take half then it's not as bad, so take half during the day, and half before bed time.

I had extreme anxiety so the dr. gave me .5 Ativan. i have been taking it for a month now 2 times a day. it worked great up until last Friday. Since then my heart has been pounding and i have extreme anxiety again, not as bad because i still am taking the meds but the rapid heart beat has taken over my life right now. I can't sleep, eat, concentrate on television. i barely go to work. I don't know what to do. Another doctor i went and saw told me that Ativan is only used temporary and that if you keep using it as a long term thing you are going to have to keep uping the doses and depend on it more and more until you go to the highest dose and it dosent help at all. Now I am scared about depending on them and not being able to get off them. PLEASE SOMEONE HELP. i need some help through this.
i am going to a therapist and all she can say is practice deep breathing so it doesn't really work 100% for me.

Im still on the fence about Ativan...I am taking a 1mg tab once a day along with my 100mg og zoloft. The ativan is for my dystonia, which is a result of certain surgeries i had to rid myself of cancer. The dystonia would flare up and become horrible (meaning my neck,left shoulder and left side of my back would twitch like crazy)and this eventually lead to the ligaments in my shoulder becoming so loose from the twitching that I have had to have two more surgeries to correct that problem. Since taking the ativan on a daily basis, I have has almost NO ticks or twitches. however, while i don't have as much anxiety, i do feel more depressed and my doctor upped my zoloft...

I have been taking lorazepam (generic for Ativan) for over a year. It helps me sleep and keeps me level from anxiety. I do find it difficult to sleep without it, but the reason I started is because I found it difficult to sleep. I don't crave it and or abuse it. I am very happy with it and at $6.00 for a 30 day supply, am grateful.

I have recently experience high bp that my doctor said was due to anxiety. He prescribed .5mg Ativan. It helped in the beginning but I have now noticed that in only 2 weeks I am having extreme anxiety when it wears off. Last night I woke out of a dead sleep in what the ER doctor said was a panic attack. He then gave me a double dose of Ativan in the ER. This sent my heart rate skyrocketing and caused a major panic attack in the hospital. I have never had these before I started Ativan. Has this happened to anyone? Now they put me on Valium to counteract the anxiety from Ativan. The ER doctor now thinks the high bp was from the new birth control pill I started. I think I am going to quit taking any meds.

I was prescribed Ativan 0.5 mg. x2 in order to relax me before a brain MRI. I never do meds, but I did find that I am slightly claustrophobic and that was the only way I was going to be able to have the procedure done. Ativan did the trick, although I did take 3 pills in the span of a couple of hours. It didn't take effect immediately, but once it did I had no nervous edge for a couple of days! But, my husband threw away the rest of the bottle (10 total), so perhaps it affected me more than I realize!

I have been taking ativan off and on for almost a year. I do not feel as though i am addicted at all. It helps to relax me if i feel an anxiety attack coming on. I take .5mg as needed. Sometimes i take half of that in one day, sometimes i take a whole .5 and some days i dont take it at all. I have never noticed any withdrawl symptoms. There are some weeks i will take 1 a day then go for a week with none. It has been a life saver for me. I guess everyone responds differently to medicine.

Ativan can very easily ruin your health and your life. Anyone taking this drug (or any of the other benzodiazepines) is playing with fire. Everyone becomes addicted eventually and that's when the nightmare starts!!! Some people become addicted in a few weeks, for others it can take longer. The debilitating effects of addiction can take years to resolve!

See www.benzoisland.org

i started taking ativane 4 months 3 months ago when my mother passed away and i only take it at night time and it works wonders to put me to sleep or else i would be up all night long thanks ativane!!

Ativan is VERY addictive. As long as you are taking it with the supervision of your personal doctor, then there's nothing to worry about. I believe that the doctor has to give another kind of antianxiety medication every after 3 or 4 months so this will not have any addicting effects. Be VERY careful because if you are using it for too long and you try stopping the intake, you will definitely experience withdrawal symptoms. The withdrawal syptom's severity depends on how long and how much you taper the usage of your medicine. BE very careful on consuming this drug.

I have panic attacks and irritable bowel. Ativan has been a life saver for me. It not only relaxes my stomach muscles so I can eat, it calms me also. One must be careful when taking ativan. It has been documented to be habit forming.

I've been taking ativan for over 4 months, and I like it alot. Whenever I can't sleep or have an anxiety attack, It works like a champ. But is there any long-term risks?

I Like Ativan - It levels me out and when I have panic attacks and can't sleep at night. It really takes the edge off.
by GLA

I am looking for something that will work for my panic attacks. I suffer from anxiety/panic disorder. I have been on soo many different medications and havent found anything that is working for me. can you help??

loss of sleep, nausea, diarrhea

I love ativan. Whenever I can't sleep I just take one and I am better. But does anyone know about its long term risks..

Ativan is a complete life saver. I was experiencing criple-ing panick attacks and sleeplessness. I take an ativan whenever one comes on and it levels me out. It has actually decreased the frequency of panick attacks.