Folks, Ativan (lorazepam) is extremely, extremely additive for many people. total addiction can occur within a week. Attempts to stop taking it cold-turkey at that point can result in seizures that will kill you. Ativan is a high potency, low half-life drug that requires you to take it every four hours to prevent the seizures. it takes a year to wean of of it using slowly tapered doses of Valium (diazepam), which if a low-potency, long half-life drug.
Lorazepam should be outlawed, but whatever you do, don’t take Ativan or let anyone you care about take it. Ativan consumption is like play Russian Roulette.
You do not know what you are talking about.
I beg to disagree.
requires you to take it every four hours to prevent the seizures
I don't know where you get that.
I have intractable Epilepsy. The only thing that stops a seizure in progress for me (several times a week) is Ativan, which I only take as a 'rescue med as needed', not a daily thing due to it's quick tolerance build up. I've been on every anti-seizure med science has available. Their effectiveness is limited for me, there is no surgery available for me, and after nearly 40 years of suffering, only one med does anything at all for me anymore and they finally found adding Ativan as needed will stop a seizure in progress for me.
Praise God for Ativan!
It is profoundly saddening what an overdose might cause, or what someone's individual reaction to any medication might be. But never ever throw out the baby with the bathwater. That way lies foolishness.
Prohibition is wrong.
Without Ativan, my myoclonic and partial seizures lead to full blown tonic-clonic seizures which are horrible and include a risk of death. I've broken my front teeth out, cracked others, needed stitches several times afterwards, split my lip, bit my tongue a third through it, cut open my belly, etc etc due to those.
Praise God for Ativan! Without it, I'd be back to those things happening all the time again.
We cannot think narrowly about these things, discarding the good they do for so many people. There is the potential for harm in almost all things, that doesn't mean they should be banned. Consume too much caffeine and it'll hurt your heart, should it be banned? Drink too much water and you'll drown in your bodies fluids, should water be banned?
I do not mean to say there is nothing in what you say. I was once on Klonopin for 13 years before it became ineffective for me. The withdrawl from that was...unpleasant. But I've had much worse withdrawl from other meds. Just went through withdrawl after having to stop taking Depakote after 25 years, as my liver could no longer process it. That was truly awful, and it's supposedly "not addictive".
Drinking while on a decent dose of Ativan will turn a otherwise normal person into a crazed madman.
I’ve had a “take as needed” prescription for Ativan for heart palpitations for over 12 years. Never had a problem with it.