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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Ron on June 4, 1999, at 14:33:59
I am just starting to take Lorazepam as well as just starting therapy. Am I going to get hooked on this stuff? The first few times I took it, boy was I mellow. And I had a great day at work also. No stress!!
Posted by alan on June 6, 1999, at 23:12:20
In reply to Lorazepam, posted by Ron on June 4, 1999, at 14:33:59
> I am just starting to take Lorazepam as well as just starting therapy. Am I going to get hooked on this stuff? The first few times I took it, boy was I mellow. And I had a great day at work also. No stress!!
If you take enough of the stuff long enough, then if you stop taking it too quickly, you may suffer from a (maybe very) unpleasant discontinuation syndrome: shaking, sweating, etc.
So don't stop suddenly. Go slooooow.
If you start raising the dosage on your own, running to different doctors to get more scripts,
falling on your face from masive dosages; or if you use it to counter frequent hangovers; basically, if you so use it that you do yourself more harm than good and feel a compulsive desire to continue using it anyway, then I'd call you 'hooked'.
If you use it as prescribed and it continues to help (but expect the initial joy of not being so anxious to pass; and don't try to regain it by incrreasing dosage on your own), great! Just remember to avoid the discontinuation syndrome.
Don't worry about a label ("hooked"). Worry about your well being. Good luck.
Posted by Tom on June 14, 1999, at 11:48:56
In reply to Lorazepam, posted by Ron on June 4, 1999, at 14:33:59
> I am just starting to take Lorazepam as well as just starting therapy. Am I going to get hooked on this stuff? The first few times I took it, boy was I mellow. And I had a great day at work also. No stress!!
To put it bluntly...yes, you will get hooked. Even if you use the drug properly, you will have a difficult time giving it up even if you no longer feel you need it. And it gets more difficult the longer you stay on
the drug. I've tried for a year and a half to get off these types of drugs (ativan,klonopin, xanax) and still can't give them up. Be very careful with these drugs...Tom
Posted by alan on June 14, 1999, at 20:38:44
In reply to Re: Lorazepam, posted by Tom on June 14, 1999, at 11:48:56
> > I am just starting to take Lorazepam as well as just starting therapy. Am I going to get hooked on this stuff? The first few times I took it, boy was I mellow. And I had a great day at work also. No stress!!
>
> To put it bluntly...yes, you will get hooked. Even if you use the drug properly, you will have a difficult time giving it up even if you no longer feel you need it. And it gets more difficult the longer you stay on
> the drug. I've tried for a year and a half to get off these types of drugs (ativan,klonopin, xanax) and still can't give them up. Be very careful with these drugs...
>
> Tom
Well, people are different. I've used benzos and nevver had any trouble getting off of them, as long as I did so very, very slowly. Of course, if you are a very anxious person, and remain so, then when you try to stop using benzos you will feel very anxious, and knowing the benzos would help, it will be hard to resist the temptation to relieve the anxiety by going back to the benzos, and if they were not harming you, I think it would be foolishly masochistic not to. I suppose that could be called 'craving', but few would not crave relief from the painful feelings of anxiety. Personally, I only experience pathological anxiety episodically, usually as part of a major depression; when the problem lifts, I stop the benzos. I do not crave benzos when I am not anxious; quite the cotrary, I welcome the chance to get off something which may make me tired and forgetful--tho those side effects do diminish with time. There are, I have heard, people who crave benzos when not anxious, who get high on them, and who keep increeasing the dosage to get that high. (Don't confuse the 'euphoria' of the initial relief from anxiety with the euphoria of a drug high. I suppose the only way to tell which is which is to wait for the initial euphoria to pass and see whether you then feel that you just gotta get it back and are strongly motivated to increase dosage even tho you are not anxious.) If you are one of these, then of course you should try to do without them; I assume you do not want to live a life centered around getting your next fix. But if you use them as prescribed by one responsible physician, and they work for you, I know of no reason not to remain on them for life. Of course, if your anxiety lifts, as at the end of a depression, or if it occurs only in certain situations and you can learn not to be anxious in those situatons, perhaps with the help of CBT, or if you run for the benzos when anxiety is appropriate, then they are probably not for you in those situatons. (An example of the last case: Dont use benzos to deal with test anxiety caused by your failure to have studied!) On the whole, some, but few, people who use benzos get 'hooked' on them in the addiction' kind of way.
Posted by Cass on June 24, 1999, at 0:33:04
In reply to Lorazepam, posted by Ron on June 4, 1999, at 14:33:59
> I am just starting to take Lorazepam as well as just starting therapy. Am I going to get hooked on this stuff? The first few times I took it, boy was I mellow. And I had a great day at work also. No stress!!
I just got off Lorazepam after taking it for years. Yes, I am having withdrawls. Anxiety, spaciness, generally a bad time. Be careful, and take the medication with discretion.
Posted by alan on June 25, 1999, at 20:32:18
In reply to Re: Lorazepam, posted by Cass on June 24, 1999, at 0:33:04
A question for peop;e who have had a rough time coming off benzos: Exactly, how did you go about it? As well as you can remember, what exact schedule did you follow, by how much did you reduce dosage and at what time intervals? Personally, my strategy was to try to go so slowly that I never felt any withdrawal effects; as soon as I felt a withdrawal effect, I went back just enough to eliminate it, and then started down again in tiny steps as slowly as needed. (I think I can feel the difference between withdrawal and return of anxiety.) Fortunately, as I recover from a depressive episode, the anxiety stops; but if I feel some real situational anxiety, I ride it out or try to eliminate its cause by taking appropriate action, during withdrawal just as I would at any other time. If I suffered from 'free-floating' anxiety all the time, I would take benzos all the time. At any rate, getting off benzos has never been any trouble for me, which is why I asked my queston above.
Posted by cass on June 25, 1999, at 23:46:22
In reply to Re: Lorazepam, posted by alan on June 25, 1999, at 20:32:18
> A question for peop;e who have had a rough time coming off benzos: Exactly, how did you go about it? As well as you can remember, what exact schedule did you follow, by how much did you reduce dosage and at what time intervals? Personally, my strategy was to try to go so slowly that I never felt any withdrawal effects; as soon as I felt a withdrawal effect, I went back just enough to eliminate it, and then started down again in tiny steps as slowly as needed. (I think I can feel the difference between withdrawal and return of anxiety.) Fortunately, as I recover from a depressive episode, the anxiety stops; but if I feel some real situational anxiety, I ride it out or try to eliminate its cause by taking appropriate action, during withdrawal just as I would at any other time. If I suffered from 'free-floating' anxiety all the time, I would take benzos all the time. At any rate, getting off benzos has never been any trouble for me, which is why I asked my queston above.
Unfortunately, I had no choice but to stop taking the medication abruptly. My doctor, who is not a psychiatrist, would not let me take it anymore at all. I am considering switching doctors. I feel that not letting me taper off was unreasonble on his part.
Posted by ghut on July 2, 2000, at 21:13:07
In reply to Re: Lorazepam, posted by cass on June 25, 1999, at 23:46:22
hey i have a question;
what exactly is lorazepam, this guy i know who does alot of drugs found them under the couch at a party, and hes taking them now and i just want to know what can happen to people who just take them... like if hes going to freak out i want to warn him not to take them. thank you
Posted by Cam W. on July 3, 2000, at 11:06:03
In reply to Re: Lorazepam, posted by ghut on July 2, 2000, at 21:13:07
ghut - lorazepam is the generic name of Ativan. It is a benzodiazepine, a Valium-like drug, only shorter acting. It is addictive in the long-term, but, unless your friend goes seeking them from doctors, he probably won't get addicted on the amount he has found.
Not to get preachy, but the "I found some drugs; let's try them and see what they do" attitude is scary. If these pills had been high blood pressure pills, blood thinners, anti-diabetic meds, etc., your friend could very easily be dead right now. Oh well, I guess it's live and learn. - Cam
Posted by ghut on July 3, 2000, at 18:51:10
In reply to Re: Lorazepam, posted by Cam W. on July 3, 2000, at 11:06:03
....Valium-like drug, only shorter acting. It is addictive in the long-term, but, unless your friend goes seeking them from doctors, he probably won't get addicted on the amount he has found....
I showed him this webpage and told him that he shouldnt take them but he says hes going to anyway. He cites you saying its not going to be addictive to him as proof he should do it. He said valiums make you trip and i told him thats not what they do but he wont listen. o well, i dont know what to tell him, i dont think hes going to 'buzz' or whatever , but thanks for the info.
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