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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Jaynee on November 29, 2003, at 2:17:12
I am taking about 1mg a day, sometimes I take only .5 and somedays I take none. But the last 4 days I have been taking more than usual. The other night I took 4mg and it did f&*# all. It should of knocked me out but it didn't. I took that much because I have a very bad cold and couldn't stop coughing long enough to get to sleep so I thought maybe I could take enough ativan to pass out, but it didn't work. I have taken about 2mg today.
I have been taking about .5mg for about a month or 2. Will I be able to completely stop taking it or should I go to my doc and tell him I will need to taper off.
Thanks
Posted by almondjoy on November 29, 2003, at 4:15:53
In reply to Ativan, when is it a problem, posted by Jaynee on November 29, 2003, at 2:17:12
i always think tapering is easier, no matter how much i've been taking. i had an "issue" with ativan a couple times, start taking higher dose and more often after a few weeks of taking it; so i taper off if i can, or else run out cos i couldn't do it.
at the dosages and frequency you've been taking, i think you might feel a bit anxious for a few days of not taking it, but it'll be alright. getting in the habit of taking it daily is when tapering is most important to avoid anxieety, but also when its the hardest
so personally, when i go from taking it occasionally to almost everyday, i feel like i should finish my script and not ask my doc for more (if he hasn't already suggested it would be the last)...hope this all makes since, its 5a
Posted by tiredman on November 29, 2003, at 12:56:20
In reply to Ativan, when is it a problem, posted by Jaynee on November 29, 2003, at 2:17:12
I suffered from a trauma in September that lead to insomnia. I’ve been on 2 mg of Ativan nightly for the past two months. I asked my pdoc about addiction. She said “too late, we’ll worry about that when you are better”.
After about two weeks, I started waking up as soon as the Ativan was out of my system. She then added trazodone to the mix.
She told me that Ativan alters your sleep cycle so it’s not real “addiction” (I only take it at bed time) but if I stop taking it I will not sleep. I’d rather not be dependent on a drug but it’s better then staying up all night.
Posted by Alexander on November 30, 2003, at 14:39:45
In reply to Ativan, when is it a problem, posted by Jaynee on November 29, 2003, at 2:17:12
> I am taking about 1mg a day, sometimes I take only .5 and somedays I take none. But the last 4 days I have been taking more than usual. The other night I took 4mg and it did f&*# all. It should of knocked me out but it didn't. I took that much because I have a very bad cold and couldn't stop coughing long enough to get to sleep so I thought maybe I could take enough ativan to pass out, but it didn't work. I have taken about 2mg today.
>
> I have been taking about .5mg for about a month or 2. Will I be able to completely stop taking it or should I go to my doc and tell him I will need to taper off.
>
> Thanks
>
Hmm
Consider this:
1) you have a problem and for this u have been prescribed Ativan as remedy and it works. - FACT2) you now have a second, from the first totally independent, problem: namely a cold/flu. - FACT - You do not have a remedy for problem 2 (for whatever reason)
-Problem 2 is keeping u awake and u r trying to use the remedy for problem 1, remedy 1 (Ativan) to accommodate problem 2 - FACT
-this doesn't work for you - FACT - and you are getting concerned about remedy 1, which was never intended to resolve problem 2.
Now, "not being able to sleep" in problem 2, isn't actually ur problem 2, it is just a symptom of problem 2,
...and while a "tranquilizer" is a pretty good tool to deal with insomnia, when it is the/a problem (and let's not get here into insomnia being the symptom of psychological problems), this is not the case in your scenario..:u need to deal with problem 2, and let problem 1, along with its remedy, alone.
-->get urself some codeine or hydrocodone. Cough is a terrible thing that simply doesn't let u sleep.
(I once had a physician’s assistant in the States, who, upon seeing her and complaining about a cold and cough, she asked the routine question: "does the cough prevent u from falling asleep?" All I had to do, if I wanted hydrocodone juice, was to answer "yes", no matter if I had a cold or not, no matter if I actually wanted it to keep that itching out of my throat during the day.)Now I know that MDs are very stingy with narcotics, especially when u come and suggest the remedy urself.
And because an MD would, beyond any reasonable doubt, Rx another MD, upon complaining about the same symptoms, codeine/hydrocodone, and no matter if he requested it or not...
... now if u were in Canada, especially Ontario, u would ask the MD if he thinks that u r lying, then u would request that he dealt with you in exactly the same manner that he would with a fellow MD, upon complaining about the same symptoms. If he/she tells u that this is what he/she is doing (by not giving u a narcotic that would VERY effectively relieve problem 2), then u tell him that u have ur doubts about that, which, upon confirmed (the doubts), would constitute "Discrimination by Association" Ontario Human Rights Code ss.10, 12, and request that the College of Physicians and Surgeons look into that.-->or u simply go into any pharmacy and get urself "dextrometorphan", which is nothing but either d-codeine, or l-codeine, I forgot. It works pretty well, too.
-->Just, for your sake, don't pump up the Ativan, if u don't have to. I am taking Ativan for 10 years, and if there is only the most remote possibility, that u might have to take it for longer, too, keep the dosage down. It is the greatest investment that you can make for your short-term memory.
You can take my word on that.
Posted by Jaynee on November 30, 2003, at 20:50:20
In reply to Re: Ativan, when is it a problem, posted by Alexander on November 30, 2003, at 14:39:45
I am over my cold and don't take as much ativan. I only took .5 yesterday. I just started effexor and am feeling pretty calm. I am thinking I should maybe take .25 for a few days and then just quit. Or can I just quit cold turkey, actually I will ask my pdoc his opinion.
Alexander you are right, I was taking the ativan for the wrong reasons when I had my terrible cough. It's just that if I don't get enough sleep, I get very, very anxious, so that is why I got desperate for sleep, and was taking too much ativan. But I was only not sleeping because of the cough, not because of insomnia.
Thanks all for you help.
Posted by Alexander on December 1, 2003, at 14:08:38
In reply to Re: Ativan, when is it a problem, posted by Jaynee on November 30, 2003, at 20:50:20
> I am over my cold and don't take as much ativan. I only took .5 yesterday. I just started effexor and am feeling pretty calm. I am thinking I should maybe take .25 for a few days and then just quit. Or can I just quit cold turkey, actually I will ask my pdoc his opinion.
>
> Alexander you are right, I was taking the ativan for the wrong reasons when I had my terrible cough. It's just that if I don't get enough sleep, I get very, very anxious, so that is why I got desperate for sleep, and was taking too much ativan. But I was only not sleeping because of the cough, not because of insomnia.
>
> Thanks all for you help.
Ya, I can totally relate with u. I therefore always keep some codeine and/or hydrocodone somewhere. Because it really effectively gets rid of any itching in your throat, and effectively supressed cough, which is especially annoying and painfull, when it is dry cough.Next time u get an Rx for Tylenol 2/3/4, Lortab, Vicodin, or any other narcotic, keep this in mind and lay some pills aside. Because if one thing is for sure: u'll get a flu again - sometime, somewhere, somehow.
This is the end of the thread.
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