Does Ativan help anyone here?

[tweekie]

My question is, does ativan provide any of you relief from your bipolar disorder. When I'm depressed it just makes me more depressed and so I don't like to take it. But when I'm irritable, defensive, and impulsive, it helps control my reactions to these things and I don't flip out on people. My doctor prescribed it for my anxiety attacks, one .5mg pill at night before bed.  I used to take depakote but I felt way too slow on it. Can ativan be used for Bipolar Disorder too?
I notice when I take it my anxiety goes away. Sometimes my anxiety can manifest itself as hypochondriac delusions, like I'm dying of some strange disease. It also helps when I have perceptual distortions that are disturbing. I was going to talk it over with my doctor. The only thing I don't like about ativan is that it can cause withdrawal from prompt discontinuation. But I'm only taking .5mg, and I don't take it every day. Just when I feel that I need it. But I did notice that it helped me as I described above. Any thoughts?

[morbidlyeuphoric]

I'm on both Ativan and Klonopin. I take them both primarily for sleeping and anxiety. I have not really experienced any negative effects from either drug, except when I was taking Klonopin by itself. But if you're having a hard time with it, talk to your pdoc. I had to switch medications quite a few times for the same reasons.

[ILADVOCATE]

Ativan is a short acting benzo and I've found Klonopin to be of more help as it lasts all day and has less of a potential for a person to build up a tolerance to in some cases be addictive (but the prospect is still there). Ativan and Klonopin are meant for use on anxiety but they have some minor mood stabilization properties.