Ativan and pharmacist

I took Ativan for a couple of weeks straight and for six weeks or so on and off. I went from taking a 1 mg SL to 2 mg one night and it made me feel like a zombie so I cut back to the 1 the next night. Then I started getting heart palpitations so I asked a pharmacist and she told me that they can cause that and to cut back to 0.5 mg for the next three nights and get off it which I did. Two days after taking my last dose I ended up in emergency with withdrawal symptoms ranging from numbness to a tightening of a band around my head. A week later I thought that I could go back to taking just 0.5 mg a night. Big mistake as it put me right back to square one. I haven't taken one since thankfully and never will again. It is the worst drug in the universe imo.