Posted by Lao Tzu on April 10, 2010, at 9:52:56
In reply to Replacing Ativan or Valium with Valerian Root?, posted by Bob12 on April 10, 2010, at 0:40:08
I agree that maybe Glycine or magnesium glycinate may be good options too. I've had success with these in the past. Be careful not to overdose on these. You could potentially throw yourself into a depression if you take too much glycine. That happened to me. Still, I don't think there is any good substitute for Ativan except perhaps a benzodiazepine with a longer half-life like Valium or Klonopin. Klonopin is milder that Ativan and may be a better option for you. However, all benzodiazepines have the risk of dependence. Once, I took Ativan 1mg for two weeks, then went off of it cold turkey. I had one bad day of withdrawal, then I was okay. Like I said, I don't know if there is anything that can really substitute for Ativan except a weaker benzo with a long half-life. Perhaps the withdrawal won't be as abrupt as it is with Ativan. Talk to your doctor. My doctor wouldn't give me any benzos for sleep. Instead, he tried trazodone which increases serotonin in the brain and is used widely as a sleep med. This may help you without the risk of dependence like the benzos. Whatever you do, don't increase your dose of Ativan. The more you take, the worse the withdrawal and the higher the risk of dependence. There are some other good sleep meds like Ambien. Maybe that's another option for you, but if it were me, I'd get off the Ativan carefully with a doctor's help and either try a non-benzo sleep med or explore different nutritional supplements. However, you could also look at it like this: If the Ativan is helping you sleep, why give it up? I'd only be concerned if you have to increase your dose just to sleep. Then the risk of dependence is higher, and like I said, you could have withdrawal symptoms.
poster:Lao Tzu
thread:942904
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20100322/msgs/942937.html