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Questions for Ativan users

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Posted 10/13/2010 10:17 PM (GMT 0)
I know some people on this forum take or have taken Ativan for anxiety.  My only experience with Ativan has been on two different occasions I took some for a root canal (the same tooth had to be done in 2001 and then in 2008, but don't get me started on that!).  It worked wonders to sedate me during the procedure but it left me pretty loopy and I didn't remember a lot of what took place.  That is fine for a root canal - I'd rather not remember it! - but for other situations that would hardly be ideal.  The kind I took was put under my tongue - does that make a difference? 

So my question is - how does it make you feel, exactly?  I'd be looking for something that would just "take the edge off", make me a little calmer temporarily.  Does it make you more emotional (like alcohol does to me) or less emotional - sort of blunting the emotions a bit?  I'm thinking if it would be helpful to get through a funeral, for example.  Do you remember everything after it wears off??

 

Posted 10/13/2010 11:52 PM (GMT 0)
I usually used it as a sleep aid at night but the few occasions I used it during the day for anxiety I don't recall it making me loopy. However, I think I have a high tolerance to meds that are relaxants. The only way to know is to try it. Maybe start with 1/2 a pill rather than a whole one? I also allowed them to dissolve under the tongue.

Sue
Posted 10/14/2010 12:21 AM (GMT 0)
I have a prescription from my doctor for .5 mg which takes the edge off without making me loopy.

Also, the day I had a lumpectomy for breast cancer, I was given 5 mg on an empty stomach before they ever gave me any anesthesia.  It was the best day of my life LOL

On that dosage, I did get pretty talkative, and it's not completely clear to me that I was making sense.  My cat (RIP) was also on the same drug (and he was prescribed .5 mg! I was furious that he and I were on the same dosage) and the first time I gave it to him, he was very talkative and insistent and I thought he was reacting to his trip to the vet and so forth, so I gave him another dose at bedtime and he kept me up all night, talk talk talking. 

In the very worst case scenario, I'll take 1 mg for sleep if something is really weighing on me and my mind won't shut up.  But for taking the edge off and yet allowing me to work, .5 mg is just right.

I should also note that (a) I pretty much get no side effects from medication so YMMV, and (b) I also have been a meditation practitioner for 25 years, so the drugs are just one part of a larger whole.

edit to add:  I abused it for a short time in college, and my experience with it then was that it did not make me feel any better about the things that were upsetting and depressing me, but it removed all inhibitors on expressing my feelings.  So I would be sitting in class crying and what not, and that really didn't do me any good.  This was, however, on what was probably far too high a dose taken steadily for far too long without a break.

Posted 10/14/2010 12:37 PM (GMT 0)
I don't take Ativan but I do take Klonopin on occasion for my anxiety. It has helped me deal on the days that are high anxiety. It does not make me sleepy or loopy. It calms me down, suppresses my "normal" mental reactions to things which in turn helps calm my gut. I can still feel emotions but it takes the things that normally would bug me and puts them on the back burner so to speak. So if Ativan makes you feel loopy, maybe look into Klonopin. I take .25mgs - it's a .5 mg dose cut in half.
Posted 10/14/2010 1:08 PM (GMT 0)
I take Ativan occasionally, when I'm so stressed I can feel myself tighten up with the stress. It relaxes me a bit but otherwise doesn't affect my activities. I take a .5 mg dose.
Posted 10/14/2010 2:52 PM (GMT 0)
Great input everyone, thanks. I think now that I was loopy because of the dosage. For my first root canal, I don't know how much I took... I remember I kept saying I was still anxious, still anxious, so they just kept giving me more and more. For the second one, I found my receipt so I know I took 2 mg. I think I could probably take .5 mg and be okay.
Posted 10/18/2010 10:06 PM (GMT 0)
I take ativan and it helps take the edge off, I also take setraline more for anti-anxiety than depression. Xanax makes me fall asleep and drool on my keyboard at work. I can't focus at all. On bad days I may take 2 mg, most days 0. But be careful because I get really bad rebound headaches when taken day after day then stopping.
Posted 10/19/2010 3:31 AM (GMT 0)
I took 2mg the night before my first colonoscopy, a couple of months ago. Actually my 2nd, as the first was in 1958. I was pretty nervous about this second one, as the first was a horror.

2mg. was a double dose for me, and it was just a bit too much perhaps. I got up in the middle of the night for a BM (flaring after all), went to sit down on the throne and as I did so, I failed to correct for the weight of my head leaning forward, and ended up banging my head into the wall (once only!). So I'm sitting there, my head leaning into the wall, and no way I could manage to sit back upright for the next few minutes. Just didn't have the balance or strength or co-ordination to manage it. I was finally able to pry myself off the wall, but it took all my skill :-)

Scope the next day was no problem. Techniques and technology seem to have improved in the interim!
Posted 10/19/2010 11:25 AM (GMT 0)
Wow, what a story!
I've never taken more than 1 mg, and usually .5 is plenty - and will make me a bit sleepy.
I have a scoping tomorrow and I never sleep well the night before.... hmmm, maybe I'll take one. I'm sure it would be out of my system by morning........
Posted 10/21/2010 3:09 PM (GMT 0)
I used to be on it regularly....it can become quite addictive....was on up to 1mg per day... I still have some left - occasionally I will hit 2mg (4x .5mg) at a time for a totally relaxing evening....It does take off the edge, and in larger doses can make you forget about having a bowel all together.
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