ativan addiction

Hi.I think I have a addiction to Ativan.I was put on it .05 mg a few years ago,and I didn't use it very often,then last year I had a bad case of vertigo.It helped.I have so much stress in my life,special needs daughter who has life threating illness,husband sick,i also have factor v,and anxiety.Now it seems like I can only go 3 or 4 days then the withdrawal is so bad I take it again.Please can anyone tell me what to to do.Thank You All

truebliever, Please discuss this with your doctor. Tell the doctor about the stress factors in your life. He maybe able to prescribe a different med than Ativan. You may also benefit from therapy to help cope with the stress.

Truebeliever its not advisable to stop any psychotropic med cold turkey, its very dangerous on your physical health aswell as mental. I am tapering off five years of Ativan and was on 7.5mg so pretty high. I am down to 4mg but not without the odd zopiclone or codeine to add to the mix to help however it can be done vbut please seek help from your doctor on how to limit them or maybe go onto valium as they tend to switch you to that as its less potent and last longer in your body so you could ask about a safer way to taper off as its much better than going off altogether

Do you want to get off of it?

Or you and taking it as needed and if you don't need it for awhile you get withdrawal?

There is a difference between addiction and physical dependence. Some one who is addicted in the normal sense of addiction will not go three days without. An addict will take more and more and to get high and not just the prescribed amount.

Don't label yourself an addict when it is just physical dependence. Semantics I know but important semantics I think.

From what I've seen from addicts, I'd say you don't have an addiction problem at all. Those who rob pharmacies for benzos and opiates are ones with true addiction problems. As long as you use it as prescribed and for stressful situations like you described you're totally fine and have nothing to worry about, in my opinion. That's what Ativan is meant for. I've been around a lot of addicts and their obbession to get the drug is unmanagable and scary. Typically, they end up in jail or die over their addiction.

I agree with the posters who say there is a reason for you to take this medication and it does happen to cause dependence, but that is not the same as saying you have a substance use problem (addiction). You may technically speaking addicted, but people fear benzos too much in my opinion due to that. They are important meds, just as pain killers are for pain. I had 3 years of knee surgeries and had to be on pain killers almost the whole time. Of course I was "addicted," but was it a substance abuse problem? No. Should I have stopped taking the pain killers because I was addicted? No. They were being used appropriately for a medical issue for which they were designed. Same with benzo use.

Hi To Everyone.Thank You all for your replys.Each one of you helped me.Bless all of you.Everyone of the replys had something that I understand and realize what I'm feeling.Truebliever