[raspberrytorte]

Did it make you feel depressed?

Because I noticed that my whole down feeling thing didn't really begin until I started taking it (switched to it from clonazepam).

But it could have just been a coincidence because it was my last appointment with my current provider, she'll be gone in a couple of days, and now I'm in doctor limbo land.

Also - is it supposed to do anything? I take 1mg and it's like taking a sugar pill. We switched me because, though the clonazepam was helping A LOT with my overall anxiety, it wasn't helping when I have intense anxiety/paranoia attacks. And she told me this would help with that.

I'm calling her tomorrow anyway to see if she was able to refer me to someone. I was thinking about asking to be switched back to clonazepam, because this lorazepam stuff doesn't do anything.

And we lowered my seroquel dose down to 200mg, so that could be why I've started feeling more anxious/down too.

Who knows.

What's your lorazepam experience? (Should probably be posting this in the anxiety forum...but most of us here have anxiety disorders too anyway.)

[~Christina]

Benzio's are depressants ,, So yes they can tank your mood.

I would bet your anxiety is increased due to the decrease in Seroquil.. Typical response.

[raspberrytorte]

I was kind of thinking it was the seroquel too... I'll ask her about that too tomorrow when I call. I'd rather not go back up to 300mg, but right now my goal is to make it to my next appointment with whatever new person I'm going to end up seeing (if there will be a new pdoc/pnp) without going off the deep end (either way).

[cher2082]

All benzo's make me cry my eyes out.... no help for panic attack from these

I have taken it infrequently. It just made me feel really mellow and relaxed. I didn't notice an increase in depression. I am already depressed.

[Woolly Bugger]

I take lorazepam as needed, which is usually 0.5 mg per day, or possibly 1.0 mg if I'm really tense. I find it only reduces my anxiety, nothing else. I used to take 2 mg at a time, but have slowly reduced it over the years. Most days, I don't need it at all. It can make me a little sleepy, so I try not to take it before driving. I've been taking it for a decade without any problem.

[Victoria'smom]

I'm on Ativan as needed for agitation. so far it just puts me to sleep .

[Toodles333]

I was given it when I came out of hospital to stop the mania. I took if for 4/5 days. I don't really remember. I slept better and ate better the first day, but nothing after that. I ended up taking 3mg one day and 4mg the next. I was still manic.

[raspberrytorte]

Maybe I just need to get used to it. It's a lot different from clonazepam (or any other benzo I've been on for that matter! It's so weird).

I'll give it one more day and call tomorrow if I feel it's still not doing anything.

[jacky8807]

once you have been on klonopin (in my opinion) ativan is as week as aspirin and its short acting. i think klonopin as long as its not abuses is a very good drug when needed
i tried xanax too and found it to be horrible.

It is short acting and very subtle. It helps me to eat if I am stressed. Calms my stomach.

I take .5mg 1 to 2 times a day. It was written for me to help with racing thoughts and agitation from the manic episode I was in. It tends to slow things down just enough where I am able to take control but it isn't sedating for me.

Right now I am more depressed than anything, I haven't been taking it as much but sometimes when everything is just too much for me I take it and it helps to ease that feeling. I guess that felling would technically be anxiety. Anywho I haven't noticed it making more depressed.

[Nammu]

To be honest I was on too many drugs at the same time to tell which were doing what. I've been on all the benzos at one time or another the one thing I can tell you though is not to stop benzos abruptly or you'll get seizures, even if you are still taking the rest of your meds. Propranolol is the drug I love for anxiety, but we all react differently so you need to find out what works best for you.

[Iguanadon]

Adivan can make me feel withdrawn when I take more than my normal dose (0.5mg).

I took 10 mg last night. No effect on my distress.

[Iguanadon]

Originally Posted by Supanova

I took 10 mg last night. No effect on my distress.

10 or do you mean 1.0 mg?!

[raspberrytorte]

Yeah, um, I am going to call tomorrow and just ask pnp what she thinks. It's nice not being completely weighed down by clonazepam (since that stuff is really strong), but I don't think this lorazepam stuff is strong enough for me, to help with my anxiety. And I think it's going to end up like alprazolam and I'll have withdrawal feelings between doses. Sucks.

supanova - I think I'd be on my *** if I took 10mg of any benzo. Hope you meant 1mg instead too.

Raspberry, I am just now reading your post. I have taken both lorazepam and clonazepam. How much clonazepam were you taking? When you say that you are taking 1 mg of lorazepam, do you mean 1 mg per day in one dose? Is this an every day dose or as needed?

A lot of the difficulty in switching from clonazepam to lorazepam depends on if you were/are taking the drugs regularly.

I can't address the issue of whether the lower seroquel dose is causing anxiety, but clonazepam is so much longer-acting than lorazepam, that I would think switching from one to the other would be likely to cause some disturbance in your mood (either sedation or anxiety) until the clonazepam gets completely out of your body and your body adjusts to the lorazepam.

[raspberrytorte]

Originally Posted by jo_thorne

Raspberry, I am just now reading your post. I have taken both lorazepam and clonazepam. How much clonazepam were you taking? When you say that you are taking 1 mg of lorazepam, do you mean 1 mg per day in one dose? Is this an every day dose or as needed?

A lot of the difficulty in switching from clonazepam to lorazepam depends on if you were/are taking the drugs regularly.

I can't address the issue of whether the lower seroquel dose is causing anxiety, but clonazepam is so much longer-acting than lorazepam, that I would think switching from one to the other would be likely to cause some disturbance in your mood (either sedation or anxiety) until the clonazepam gets completely out of your body and your body adjusts to the lorazepam.

With both I was/am prescribed 4mg a day. I took the clonazepam regularly, usually 2mg (one in the morning, one at night, and sometimes I would take a third while at work if I experienced intense anxiety/paranoia, not that it really helped with that, hence pnp switching me). I'll be taking the lorazepam daily too. Actually, on the bottle it says to take all 4mg, so that one isn't a PRN.

Right now I'm experiencing some clonazepam withdrawal, which is really uncomfortable. I spent the entire day feeling like I was going to have a panic attack at any moment.

If I stay on it, I'm hoping I'll adjust and be fine once I'm over the clonazepam withdrawal.

No I mean 10mg my distress was that high it had no effect at all. I was still hysterically crying all night.

Okay, thanks for that info. It sounds like you are taking a lot less lorazepam than you were taking clonazepam, so it makes sense that you would be having withdrawal symptoms.

You may have seen "equivalency tables" for benzodiazepenes where they tell you approximately how many mg of one benzo is equivalent to 1 mg of another. Clonazepam is about 4 times stronger (per mg) than lorazepam according to the table I linked to above, so yes, I'll bet you're going through some withdrawal.

I'm glad you're getting a 4x/day dosing schedule on the lorazepam. (if you're taking it every day, I mean.) When I took it, I was on 3x/day dosing and I started getting withdrawal symptoms between doses after a few months.

I hope your clonazepam withdrawal doesn't go on for too long.

[raspberrytorte]

Originally Posted by jo_thorne

Okay, thanks for that info. It sounds like you are taking a lot less lorazepam than you were taking clonazepam, so it makes sense that you would be having withdrawal symptoms.

You may have seen "equivalency tables" for benzodiazepenes where they tell you approximately how many mg of one benzo is equivalent to 1 mg of another. Clonazepam is about 4 times stronger (per mg) than lorazepam according to the table I linked to above, so yes, I'll bet you're going through some withdrawal.

I'm glad you're getting a 4x/day dosing schedule on the lorazepam. (if you're taking it every day, I mean.) When I took it, I was on 3x/day dosing and I started getting withdrawal symptoms between doses after a few months.

I hope your clonazepam withdrawal doesn't go on for too long.

Thanks for the information.

Lorazepam sucks. I want to go back on clonazepam. Clonazepam was nice. I could even skip taking it before work and feel fine. Never had any withdrawal feelings between doses, and always had a lot left over at the end of the month.

Still clonazepam withdrawing. It sucks. I constantly feel like there's something heavy resting on my chest, and I've been waking up anxious and shaky.

My pnp is gone, and I don't have another doctor lined up yet, so I'm not sure what to do. I was going to ask her if I could go back on the clonazepam, but now I have no one to ask.

I have three refills left on the clonazepam, and I don't think she bothered discontinuing it before she left.

Don't know what to do.

[raspberrytorte]

How long does clonazepam withdrawal last anyway? It's been a week.