Lorazepam - Long Term Use?
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I've been at a heightened state of anxiety, resulting in agitation and tremors, although I'm not sure if this is due to medication or circumstance. Does anyone have any comments on using lorazepam (particularly in this combination) for extended periods? Oh, and I also like the occasional drink. :)
Answer:
I've been using lorazepam on and off for a couple of years now. I usually use it for a few days at a time,with breaks in between. However occasionally I have used it for up to 6 weeks at a time (either on its own or in combination with prozac). Dosage has varid form 1.5mg to 4 mg a day. The only time I have had withdrawal symptoms is when I was on it for 6 weeks at 4mg a day and then came off it abruptly. Then I had severe anxiety, palpitaions and difficulty in breathing which lasted 4 days Normally I would reduce the dose gradually, and I don't find any difficuty in coming off it that way. Howwever, I find that it loses its effectiveness if I take it for more than a few weeks and I prefer to use lorazepam as a 'first aid ' measure - taking it very occasionnally -rather than on a regular basis. I do drink - which probably increases the sedative effect of lorazepam, but doesn't seem to have any other bad effects. I've been on Ativan (lorazepam) for about 10 years. 1st of all, you should never drink when taking lorazapam. Definitely dangerous. 2nd, you'll probably start noticing memory problems if you continue to take it. You didn't say whether you take .5 mg 4 times daily or if you take it all at once. If you are taking even doses throughout the day, I'd say your agitation and anxiety is probably stress related or related to your depression. Understand that when you stop the Lorazepam it is very important that you do so very gradually. Cessation of lorazepam can cause anxiety and agitation. It is very addictive. One of the problems I'm having which appears to be attributed to lorazepam is random drowsiness during the day, which can be pretty extreme (ie today, whilst coming down the stairwell at work, I just sort of found myself in a horizontal position and almost fell asleep) Have you any experience of this symptom, and if so, what do you do to combat it? I do have problems with daytime drowsiness, though not as severe as you describe. On the whole if I am busy and interested in something I don't get drowsy. If I start to relax - read, watch TV etc. - I'm in danger of falling asleep, which is a pain. I suppose I deal with it by adjusting the dosage - more if I know I'm going to be busy, a bit less if I'm trying to relax. Another thought - if I'm trying to cut down I sometimes make myelf wait for 30 minutes or an hour before taking a tablet - to see if I really need it or just to extend the time gap between doses. Recently when I was cutting down from 4mg a day (6 weeks ago) to 3mg a week (now) I gradually extended the gap between doses, until eventually I was taking it every 36 hours and then every 48 hours, then twice a week.
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