ativan and prozac

hi, i have had severe anxiety for three years, combined w/ mild depression. have been taking 3-4 mgs of ativan daily for 2 years, cant function without it. my doc just prescribed prozac, very low dose, have not picked uo script yet. has anyone taken these 2 meds together. iam afraid the prozac will make me more anxious. my anxiety is worse then my depresion, i think. anxiety paralizes me w/ fear. thanks bonnie

[Idilijai]

When I first started suffering from anxiety, I was prescribed Ativan and it nearly ruined my life. I became completely numb, followed by episodes of severe anxiety. After one month, when I realized that the Ativan was making me sicker, I went of immediately. I suffered some withdrawal symptoms and later learned that going "cold turkey" was not a good idea.

I began to get better, despite the withdrawal, but a few months later I had some very stressful experiences. I plunged into a clinical depression that left me completely debilitated. I was terrified to take anything else, but eventually gave in to Prozac. Slowly, but surely, I recovered and am now better than I had been in years. I've been taking Prozac since 2003 and am able to manage my dose based on how I'm feeling.

Medication like Ativan can actually make some people worse and that's what happened to me. I believe it depressed my central nervous system so that I was a perfect candidate to experience clinical depression. I'm not saying that this is your situation, but it is helps to hear other experiences so that you can evaluate your own reactions.

[Hensley258]

As you know Ativan is simply a Benzodiazaphine much like Xanax, Valum, and Klonopin. I take Xanax every afternoon at a pretty high dosage.

Benzos are kind of the best and the worst wraped up in one package. I notice that while nothing vaproizes my anxiety like Benzos do, that my long term usage of them has actually resulted in a worening of my anxiety dissorder.

Prozac would not be my first choice antidepressant if you have very bad anxiety, simply because Prozac can be very energizing.

I would have went with a less energizing SSRI such as Zoloft or Paxil.

As for the Benzos, well what can people like us do? We have severe anxiety and only benzos work. It's kind of like your damned if you do and damned if you don't.

I am addicted to Xanax, but what is the alternative? I'm not going live every second of my life trembling from massive anxiety. I will take being an addict over dealing with the horror of my anxiety everyday.