Odd reaction to Ativan

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I have heard that people with AS do really well on Ativan, even children. However, I took it and it made me act drunk. Like really drunk. That's what other people have said anyway, I have never been drunk so I don't know, but other people said that I looked like I was drunk. I got very nauseous and dizzy. I didn't take too much, only 2 pills. I was 12 at the time, but big for a 12 year old. I was about 120 pounds and 5 "4.

This is really too bad because it's one of the only medications for anxiety minors can take in my area. I tried another one and it didn't work.

Has anyone else heard of an aspie reacting like to Ativan? It seems as they don't have negative reactions to this stuff.

I take Ativan when I have panic attacks or occasionally to help me sleep. I only take one 10 mg pill at a time though.......two is a lot! It's possible that you overdosed.

I haven't heard anything either way about the way aspies react to Ativan...........It does work for me though for panic attacks (not really for sleep.........but it reduces my anxiety). I have had strange reactions to a lot of other meds though.......... for example when on a quarter of a pill of the lowest dose they prescribe of Ritalin I got extremely anxious and agitated............

What do you take Ativan for? It can make you really sleepy during the day and can impair (temporarily while under it's influence) learning and memory so it isn't good to take regularly anyways. Also you have to wait until you have an attack before taking it. Maybe you should try SSRI's. I thought prozac was approved for children in Canada. I know it's the only SSRI that is. I just recently started on them to prevent attacks. So far these make me a bit sleepy during the day but otherwise no adverse effects. Also CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) is more effective than any meds for anxiety. I haven't tried this yet though...............I'm too lazy...............but I am studying psychology so I know the evidence shows this..........................

I take half a milligram, and only occasionally when I am anxious, and it works pretty well. How strong were the pills you took?

I don't take Ativan right now because I reacted so badly to it. I once took it once for a medical procedure, I don't really want to get into it because it's personal, but it was something that could have caused people anxiety.

I don't remember how strong the pills I took were because it was like 3 and a half years ago and I didn't pay much attention to it.

Prozac was the other medication I tried and it didn't work.

Drunk people are less anxious. The only pill that made me feel drunk was codeine, although now that effect has worn off. I need to take it once a month (personal reasons).

I was gvien some ativan a couple of months ago to help with severe rushs of anxiety, they worked great, to bad they're addictive.

Not everyone reacts well to any drugs, no drug has 100% success rate.

I think that how you react as a kid and how you react as an adult will be different.

Your body is still developing at age 12, that's whay I think it is bad for so many kids these days to be taking prescriptions when they are not fully developed...But that's my 2 cents.

I think that if you were to take it as an adult (probably fine at 16 thought you might wait til 18) it wouldn't be so bad.

I can remember when I was in 7th grade they tried to make me take ritalin and I took it once but it made me feel really wierd so I didn't take it again til I was 18 and it was totally different and not what i remembered. Also I have taken ativan for a few months with pretty good results though it is relatively weak in my experience and as others have said most benzodiazepines are not good to take often.

I would say try your best in school and socially til your adult and then once you graduate highschool try out different medications as you will be fullly developed and respond to drugs a little better i think.

I wasn't taking it for social problems. I was taking it for anxiety.

you could always ask to try something different.

you might respond differently with another benzodiazepine but seeing as how ativan is on the medium/lower end side of potentcy I think they'd likely be similar or worse. also something to note is that these types of drugs can cause rebound anxiety.

many are taking ssri's to help with anxiety, my brother is taking one for this reason though for him he siad it doesn't really do anything...however he's on the lowest dosage, others on WP could swear by the help they've recieved from an antidepressant to help their anxiety. most people have to try 2 or 3 before they find one that works though, which I find very frustrating and time consuming but they are not one size fits all.

Not sure it's so odd. When I was put on Ativan they always said "you may feel drunk". I told them I'd never been drunk and they didn't believe me.

I take Ativan for anxiety. Usually 1 mg, 2 mg if it's really bad.

I had 3 mg for my vasectomy, too. Led to the very weird occurrence of me being able to lift my head up, look at what the doc was doing to my nethers, and just think "Cool!", as opposed to totally freaking out.

But, like any other psychotropic medication, different strokes for different folks. If it makes you feel weird, then don't use it.

(I kind of feel drunk on it, but "drunk" is better than "freaking out". Most of the time, when I have a panic attack and take Ativan, I just go lie down and usually end up falling asleep.)

Oh, and daydreamer84? I sure hope those are really 1 mg pills and not 10 mg ... 10 mg would knock me out for a day or two, I suspect.

Lorazepam (Ativan) works ok for me. But when I was in A&E (ER for the americans) in a floridly psychotic state, they gave me 10mg diazepam (Valium) and when it kicked in I became twice as bad. I ended up on the floor being handcuffed by two police officers. That is how bad it made me. It is now on my notes that I have a "paradoxical reaction to diazepam" and must never be given it again.

I have had anxiety attacks my entire life. Tried some anti-depressants and had horrible results. Several few years ago my dentist prescribed Lorazepam (Ativan) because of my intense anxiety during dental visits. I would put off dentist work for years until I had abscessed teeth or worse. The Lorazepam worked well. Like the guy who had the vasectomy and was able to detach and watch. I was able to have dental work done and stay calm. Life changing for me. Fast forward 5 years and I needed some major dental work so I asked my new dentist for Lorazepam and it worked great (again). Anxiety is ruining my life so I decided to ask my physician for a prescription and he refused. Gave me Wellbrutrin and it almost killed me. I told me that every SSRI I have tried has not worked. He wanted me to keep trying different kinds and I refused. Went back after a melt-down and the Dr. finally prescribed Lorazepam 1 MG. He wanted me to take it once a day but I only took it when I felt an attack coming on but since the med takes 1 - 2 hours to start working (on me) that strategy didn't work. Then I started taking prior to going someplace or doing something that I suspected would cause me to have anxiety. That worked better but not perfect. I found myself feeling really bad on the days I didn't take it. Is that the rebound? Now I take it 3 - 4 times a week. I'm considering taking it every day. Dr. wants me to take it once a day forever and suggests that I take it 2 times a day so that I can function during the day and sleep at night but I'm afraid if I take it every day that I will become addicted. Lorazepam (Ativan) has allowed me to go out in public and do things without acute anxiety. It has helped me sleep and my body doesn't ache as much from constant tension. I've even stopped grinding my teeth at night, at least on the nights that I take it. Bad part is that I feel sad and crappy when I don't take it. I'm struggling with whether I should take it everyday. I've never been addicted and the thought scares me.

.5-2mg is a single dose of Ativan. 10mg is WAY too much.

Are you sure you don't take Valium instead?

deber, please don't worry so much. I had the same worries. But I have been taking it - lorazepam - every day for years with no problems. Of course I dont think it affects me as strongly as others, no medication, whether it was a benzo (anti anxiety ) or SSRI ever affected me if I skipped a day. But I find it really helps me to sleep and stay asleep. It sounds like it really helps you too. I would HIGHLY reccommend you taking it every day. It will help you. If you need to get off it, all you do is taper it down a bit and you can get off. It's different for everyone of course but most people I know do not have much of a withdrawal syndrome for it. Esp for such a small dose. Even .5 mg helped me a lot, but I find 1 mg helps me more so that is what I have been taking.

I also take 2.5 mg of Valium sometimes.

I don't during the day though as they make me sleepy and don't really decrease my anxiety. Although I haven't tried it lately Maybe I should.

And I agree, 10 mg of lorazepam/ativan would have been a huge overdose.

Although I looked it up. Here is an interesting discussion by nurses discussing a drs order to give 10 mg ativan to a patient (they didnt do it.)

http://allnurses.com/nursing-issues-pat ... 43998.html

But according to this, IF you do it in divided doses it is within accepted levels to do up to 10 mg a day. Probably NOT reccommended, but it is the upper limit.

I took 2 mg once, didn't notice much a difference. Never taken more than that.

Lorazepam is taken several times daily by mouth or injected to treat anxiety. Dosage ranges from 1–2 mg taken either every 12 or every eight hours. The maximum daily total dosage for anxiety is 10 mg given in two to three divided doses. For sleep, patients may take from 2–4 mg at bedtime. Doses taken before surgery range from 2.5–5 mg.

Read more: Lorazepam - dose, children, effects, withdrawal, drug, people, used, medication http://www.minddisorders.com/Kau-Nu/Lor ... z1a5CaOOBg