too many?

[cubfan70]

I have something very scary to face tomorrow and my doc gave me 60 ativan 4mg a day. I've already taken 12 and now I'm feeling very relaxed, but worried about the fact I forgot a conversation I had with someone a few hours ago. I'm off norco, tramadols, and oxy's. The ativan works at high levels. Has anyone else used this much to finally reach the calming they needed?

[kimmieb]

ok, i did get your pm and gave you my e-mail.....please keep in touch....you are taking a LOT of ativan....which you just might need for right now (as i said, i don't know what you're going through)....but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be careful....i've been down that road....it's a harder road to back out of than the hydro or oxy or opiate road....don't want to see that happen to you, and reaching out here for support and asking about others' experience is just what you need to be doing....you're gonna be ok....please keep in touch and stay on here....you'll get all the support you need....

good luck and my prayers are with you....
k.

[lady67]

Personally for me, giving me anything more than 30 pills at a time is a problem.  I have come to realize that my motto is, "1 works good, 2 works better, and well 3...that would be heaven."  I have found that anything can be addicting if you have an addictive behavior.  Please be very careful with any drug that is given to you.  Do you have someone who knows about your problem that can dose them out to you so that you don't take too much at one time?  That was my biggest leap of faith, letting my hubby control the meds.  But it worked.  If any doctor around here prescribes me anything, they call him.  This was arranged by myself, my husband and the local doctors and pharmacies.  I figured if I were going to do it this time, I might as well do it right.

Good luck with whatever you have facing you tomorrow.  Will be praying 4 you!

[drmwvrjean]

i was prescribed ativan a little under 2 yrs. ago for anxiety from my mom dying.  i was prescribed the 1 mg.  and was supposed to take half to one every six hours as needed.  that dose never really seemed to do anything for me.  i remember when i had a really, really bad anxiety attack, i took 3 pills, a total of 3 mg.  and that seemed to finally calm me down.  i can't imagine what 12 pills or even 12 mg. would do!!  please, please be careful!!  i hope everything goes well with you tomorrow...my best wishes and prayers are with you!!

[worried878]

be safe....just because it is the prescribed dose does not mean it will not become habit forming one day...you like how u feel so that says alot right there...the benzo is hitting ur spot right now...be safe and take them short term in smallest amounts possible....dickins to get off of as former poster has mentioned

[kimmieb]

really depends upon how long you're intending to take these, how long they're prescribed for, and for exactly what (just one incident type of thing....or true anxiety that might be a lifelong thing?  very different things)

it's only over the long term that benzos become a REAL problem....as i said....i was on them for, actually, well over 5 years.....and by that time 3 mg, probably not even 6 mg would have done anything for me.....tolerance builds up, just like with the hydros, oxys, and all those meds

benzos are much more dangerous to go off of though, and it really NEEDS to be done under a doctor's supervision, unlike going off of hydros or oxys or other opiates/narcs

[122 Tactical Fighter Group]

Anything worth doing is worth doing to excess  -  - Naturally its me that has done beaucoup benzo's - and ativan was one of them.....at some point it will be better for you to just plain dry out for awhile. I am not entirely sure if its a tolerance thing or if it gets into cross tolerance, but some people take enough to drop a normal person in their tracks. And its not to get sloppy trashed....its just to have them work -

[kimmieb]

hey, first of all.....are  you really a cubbie fan?!  if so, you're awesome!!!  did they win tonight??  was at my son's b-ball game and couldn't watch and forgot to DVR it...

anyway, back to your real question....

ok, 4 mg a day is kinda a lot.....i am completely weaned off of it now (thank God), but when i started on it five years ago for sleep, i started at .5 mg at night....eventually, over the next five years, i got up to 3 mg every night....never went beyond the 3 mg....but my doctor was already concerned that i was going too high....

now, keep in mind that it was prescribed for me NOT for anxiety, per se, but more for sleep troubles, insomnia, waking up and not being able to fall back to sleep in the middle of the night....so i don't know, maybe there are different dosages given for different problems

you didn't take 12 of them in one day, did you????  or do you mean you took 12 mg?
please let me know....

after years of use, even the 3mg of ativan at night didn't do it for me anymore....and that's why i made the decision that i needed to get off of it for good....in order to get the same "calming" or sleepiness effect, the amount you have to take will just keep going up and up over time....until you're at much too high of a dose....and then no doctor will either prescribe it for you....or it just won't work for you anymore, period.

HOWEVER, if this is for something for an extremely limited amount of time (a week or two?), then that's probably different.....and you don't have to worry about all that other stuff i just said

just clarify exactly how much you've taken already in just one day....

thanks!
kim