Took ativan 3 times in 2 weeks, any chance for tolerance/addiction?

[ntom]

I took perscribed 1mg ativan 3 times in the past 2 weeks to help me get to sleep. each time i took it was seperated by at least 3 or 4 days. i took one about 30 minutes ago and i am not feeling sedated/tired at all. could i be tolerant to it? would i be okay to quit taking it altogether, or would i need to ween it off?

[nursegirl6572]

Sounds like a GREAT plan!  If you continue to have trouble sleeping, you can always look into something like Melatonin.  Another good one for sleep (and not Rx'ed) is Alteril, which contains 3 of the more popular sleep aids, including L-Tryptophan, Melatonin and Valerian.

Read more about it here:

http://www.alteril.com/

A lot of people report that it helps when needed.

Congrats on the school too!  Take care!

[ntom]

thanks nursegirl and dolphin. just to clear it up after the fact, i was prescribed my ativan as a short term thing to help me get through a very stressful school year, where my anxiety was so bad concerning my grades that i couldn't sleep and thus would have no energy to study during the day, and the cycle would continue to get worse. i managed to get through it okay and finish my last semester of university (yay!) without the meds because i made the decision to push through it on my own, and my momentary anxiety is pretty much gone now. when i first took ativan 2 weeks ago it was because i really couldnt sleep as it was the night before my first day of a new job (i supposed you can consider too much excitement a form of anxiety). so, yes i was sort of taking it solely as a sleep aid, but ive made the decision to stop and just try to get a regular exercise routine going and stop laying around in bed all day. thanks again for your support, you guys are great!

[nursegirl6572]

BTW, if you're taking it SOLELY as a sleep aid, I would recommend looking into alternatives.  Practically, short-acting benzos aren't the best sleep remedy...there are other better options if you really need something.

If you do decide to use something to help you sleep...continue to use it only sporadically, or else you may end up with a much worse insomnia.

Good luck!

[dolphin8808]

I totally agree with nursegirl, you are fine. I take xanax as needed and have for 2 years, sometimes taking it daily 2 x per day.

Many times, those of us with anxiety are so worried about addiction, we do not allow it to become a problem :)