atavan

can someone tell me what symptoms or side effects they have or get with atavan. i spelled it wrong i know. i dont have aniexty all the time just during certain times. i have depression, anxiety, and issues with an eating disorder. i need to know what it does to you and if it increases weight gain or appetite. i cant have that.

[cj29]

Ativan is in a class of medications called benzodiazepines (a lot of people will refer to them as benzos).  It is usually prescribed short term on as needed basis.  I have taken it in the past with no major issues.  I believe it works well for anxiety, but you can build a tolerance to them and they can have withdrawal effects when you come off of them, however, in my experience, as long as you come off of it slowly under your doctor's supervision, they can be minimized. Furthermore, I was on a low dose for a short time, but for people that remain on a short acting benzo like this, it can be more difficult to come of it in my opinion.

I had a favorable experience with it.  I took it on an as needed basis for a couple of months.  I believe it works well, but this type of benzo is not usually for long term use.  There are other classes of medications (like SSRIs: Zoloft, Prozac, Lexapro, etc.) that are prescribed long term and there are also longer acting benzos that are sometimes prescribed.

I think the big step that you can take right now is going to get help through counseling with someone.  For me, the most crucial step was talking it over, learning about the anxiety and finally confronting it.  I firmly believe that counseling gives you the knowledge to attain long term relief from your anxiety.  I also believe that medication can be a useful tool to use while you are going through all of this and when combined with counseling, it can really go a long way!   Keep us posted!