Posted by KaraS on August 13, 2004, at 16:42:17
In reply to Ambien and Ativan withdrawal, posted by LindaNYC on August 13, 2004, at 13:50:11
> I took Ativan for three weeks in 1996. My surgeon gave it to me after surgery. I didn't know anything about the drug, and assumed it must be for pain. In that period of time I had a 48 hour 'blackout' in which I had complete amnesia of all events that took place. My family told me I was fully awake, alert, and interacted with everyone, but I was very angry/hostile. I have no memory of any of the events. When it came time to stop the Ativan, I went through a 4 day withdrawal that was the worst drug-related experience I could even imagine. I did not sleep, even for 10 minutes, during that time. I was exhausted. I was shakey, crying, and felt a horrible sense of impending doom. It was probably ten times worse than the Ambien withdrawal. I am glad I will never make that mistake again.
Wow, that's awful. You seem to become as easily dependant on benzos as I do. My Ativan experience wasn't anywhere near as bad as yours though. When I did notice the symptoms, I went back on it and reduced very, very slowly and took something else to help me sleep. It wasn't much of a problem from that point on. We really do need to educate ourselves and become your own advocates. Drs. are only part of the solution. Education is the rest.
poster:KaraS
thread:365148
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040811/msgs/377305.html