Ativan Anyone On This? Post. Or Neg Symptoms To Look For

[arizona girl]

with the arrest of my other doc and what he did to me. I'm going to take it tonight and hope I get some better sleep. Sleep is always a bit of an issue, but it has really been bad the last couple of days.

So if any ones on it, I was wondering how it effects people with our issues. We all always seem to have different reactions to meds then the normals.

[pearsjon]

i tried my hubby's one time before i knew i had dys and i swear to bob i was passing out asleep w/i 15 min. and that's all i have to say about that.

[futurehope]

I love the way benzodiazepines make me feel more relaxed. My experience is that the longer I took them, say for 3 weeks or more (daily), the less they had an effect, and the more I had a withdrawal if I discontinued them.

But I have nothing but good to say about their ability to help you sleep or relax in difficult situations. Now, if only I could keep taking the stuff and have the same effect no matter how long I've taken them.....

Anyhow, that's been my experience.

[morgan617]

I've been on benzos daily for about 17 years now and never developed a tolerance. I take the same amount or less than when I started, which is a pretty small dose. I take valium, which has a very long half life and I take 1 mg a few times a day. They started it after they realized the usual med given for the inner ear disorder I have was literally killing me.

I found it also helps with my OI, so it does 2 different things for me. There is a huge stigma with benzos, but every med has it's place, just about anything can be abused. The dose I take had to be in liquid form in the hospital, because it's a pediatric dose. It still makes me sleepy after all these years.

If I had to go off it, I would have withdrawals, but only because I've been on it so long. I couldn't just stop my atenolol either and it's also a small dose. With no stigma.

Used in moderation, these drugs can be very helpful, and my doctor has stated taking this drug is the least of my problems, and I agree. Others won't, because of the type of drug it is. The only thing you can do is try it and see what happens. It has a very short half life, which may be why some people have problems with it. On the positive side, it has a very short half life, if you don't like it....

Every med has it's place and not every med is for everyone, but I say if it helps, when so few things do, I'm not going to complain about it....good luck! morgan

p.s. I had a very similar thing happen to me many years ago, that doctor "retired" soon after that incident. It's appalling, and my reasoning is they are sociopaths and sociopaths come in all walks of life. Hopefully he will be jailed as many doctors can just move to another state and take up where they left off. They have been trying to get rules into place for a long time with this, but it's everywhere, teachers, ministers, dentists, you name it. My state has a place you can look anyone in the health care field up and see if they've had disciplinary actions taken, but it's incredibly obscure and hard to find and only pertains to your state. It's pretty pathetic. I am sorry this happened to you and the others. Many years ago I turned a doctor in to the state and he got to go a seminar he had to pay for. That's it. But it was a year and a half of pure hello for me. I'm glad this is a police thing, as opposed to a state peer review thing. It would never go anywhere.... morgan

[arizona girl]

Hey morgan, thanks for the input once again. I asked you another question in my post about the ACE inhibitors if you want to take a look at it.

So I took the generic ativan last night. Of course I had an opposite reaction. Then I realized I'd been given it once before to take before an MRI and the same thing happened.

I feel like I can't get any air in my lungs and then I get anxious, I ended sitting up for two hours until I felt like I could breath again. The label says don't take if you have breathing or apnea issues because it slows respiration. I've suspected for some time that something isn't with my sleep, but haven't had a sleep study done yet. So cross this one off Ativan not for me.

So morgan there must be a difference with the valium, because that one does get me thru an MRI just fine, though you get a bit loopy. That's interesting that this low dose helps your IO. I often think my autonomic system is in overdrive, maybe this might calm it down a bit. I startle real easy, but that response is also probably how I new something was going wrong with my exam. Do you notice if the valium effects your bp and hr one way or the other?

P.S. I'm so sorry this happened to you too and the support system they provided you with was so weak and he only got a slap on the wrist. If you want to pm what happened you can. I am feeling supported by the agencies involved. I'm actually getting interviewed next week by our medical board, as well. They're the ones who decided if they will loose their license. They sometimes can still have a license after being convicted. It appears that this doc may have had issues in another state. So you are right about them moving around. I know what your saying about trying to found out, it's daunting. I asked the person at our medical board if they were aware he may have issues in other states, and they couldn't confirm or deny, but they do investigate before agreeing to license. They can put restrictions on as well. Since he had to have a nurse with him during the exam that probably was the restriction that allowed him to practice again. This dude's M O was so good he managed to get away with it in front of the nurses. Had an answer for everything! Hopefully this will be his last opportunity.

[jmag828]

with the arrest of my other doc and what he did to me. I'm going to take it tonight and hope I get some better sleep. Sleep is always a bit of an issue, but it has really been bad the last couple of days.

So if any ones on it, I was wondering how it effects people with our issues. We all always seem to have different reactions to meds then the normals.

i was on ativan for about two weeks, the starter dose.. it made me groggy, and helped me fall asleep, but my built up a tolerance to it very fast. and i didn't like the idea of being on benzos to start with and wanted to stop once i felt this happening. my doctor said it was such a low dose that i didnt taper off of it and i would not have been addicted in two weeks. i stopped it cold turkey and the next two weeks were like **** in terms of anxiety. it eventually subsided but i just didn't like the ativan at all. ive taken xanax at night on an off and can take it a week or two and then if i forget to one night im fine.. but the reaction i got from the ativan was horrible. i would never take it again.