Ativan

[ltlmiss]

Currently I am taking ativan and feel that it is not working as it used to. Does anybody know of a better fast/short acting anxiety med? My doctor told me that if the ativan is not working that I might want to try buspar, but after looking at some of the threads talking about it, i'm not sure that it would be right for me. Any suggestions.
By the way, treating my anxiety has really helped my I.C. I don't have to go as much and I think my pain level has gone down because I am a whole lot calmer now.

[hdb1982]

I take xanax. It helps the spasms and the anxiety caused by pain.

[verdicries]

ativan (and benzodiazapines in general) wear off after awhile; your body grows "tolerant" of them and you need to up your dosage. have you tried an anti-anxiety drug like buspar which i don't believe your body gets used to? or antidepressants w/anti-anxiety? good luck. i know that when i have less anxiety (which seems to be NEVER!:cussing: ) i do fare better!:smile tee

[Berkshire Road]

I like xanax, myself. I did try buspar but was never able to get the right dosage. Either I was still anxious, or I was way too calm -- like I couldn't get upset even when I should have. So I gave up on that. A lot of anti-depressants also work on anxiety, too.

[Claredale]

I go between Ativan and Valium because my body does get accustomed to them both. I tried Xanax, and couldn't handle the side effects, but it's been awhile. Lately I have been inserting a valium directly next to my urthea and lie in bed for about 30 minutes. My doctor suggested this since the valium suppostories were messy and didn't work any better than valium.

[ltlmiss]

I was thinking about asking for valium or xanex, but I don't know how to approach that idea with my doctor, she did suggest buspar but I am a little leery about that. I have used paxil and some other anti depressant, maybe celexa? I can't remember the name but I really hated the feeling they gave me. I like ativan because I don't have any side effects and it does help my anxiety. I've been taking two of the at a time, i'm not suppossed to, but they are just not as effective in the doseage that I am prescribed. Maybe I can just get an increase in dosage, I don't know but I think I want to try someting else. Not Buspar, I have not read any good things about it. I need a STRONG dose of something though, the weak stuff is just not cutting it anymore!!

[karen10]

Paxil, Lexapro, and Effexor work very well for anxiety as a long term treatment. They are all SSRI's, and non-addicting. All the benzo's have an immediate "bandaid" effect, but don't treat the neurotransmitters long term involved in anxiety. Benzo's work on a different neurotransmitter and basically "shuts off" the anxiety response, but then it wears off. It gets you through the crisis, but then you need it again. The other stays in your bloodstream working continuously. I know that some benzo's are used for treating IC. I don't know how the SSRI's work for IC, just the anxiety! :)

[Charisse]

I take Ativan about 5 days a week. I use it for anxiety, fibromyalgia pain and IC. I have to be careful to not take it too often because it is easy to build up a tolerance. What dosage do you take? I take a half tablet (.5 mg) in the evening and if I'm in super pain I will take the full 1 mg pill. I have horrible side effects from all anti-depressants so I know how you feel! I have tried Serzone, Celexa, Lexapro, Wellbutrin, Paxil, Elavil and Zoloft. They all make me puke!! You may need to back off the dose a bit (only take 1 and don't use it everyday) and my bet is it will start working better for you. I don't think switching to Valium or Xanax will really help. For awhile I was using 1 mg and my tolerance was starting to build up so I backed down for awhile and I get complete relief with .5 mg now.

[ltlmiss]

Thanks! I am prescribed just the .5mg and am suppossed to take it twice a day. I have just been taking them both at once in the morning, they work but they are not working at just .5mg. Tomorrow I have an appointment and am going to see about some other options. We'll see.....

[glassd18]

I take 1mg of Ativan at bedtime sometimes. My uro prescribed nortryptiline (Pamelor-tricyclic antidepressant), but I haven't tried it yet. I'm waiting for a weekend where I don't have anything on to start it because it can make you groggy I heard so I want to see how I react off of work time. I thought this helped IC and anxiety as well? I only take the Ativan when I really need it, and I break them in half sometimes. I've taken Effexor, Lexapro before, but for some weird reason I can't seem to get back on any of them due to the starting side effects. Please let us know what your doctor reccommends. Good luck!!

[Claredale]

I have a friend with IC that was put on Cymbalta. She is having to slowly go off if it because it messed her up very badly. I can't beleive the problems she has had with it. I was on Zoloft for 3 months, then went off of it slowly, but I just didn't like taking it. I didn't know of any bad side effects, it just didn't seem to do anything.

[glassd18]

I'm sorry about your friend. I tried Cymbalta for IC too, and I couldn't get past one night on it. It made me feel so terrible. I hope your friend starts to feel better soon.

[ltlmiss]

I went to the doctor today and I am going to try lexapro with ativan as needed. Any thoughts on that? I also learned that I do indeed have taychardia, or however you spell that. She said its probably so bad right now because I am so anemic. So I've got to start my iron pills again, she said that would help me with everything. I've always been very anemic but I hate taking the iron because it makes me sick, so I guess I'm gonna have to. Lately I have been feeling like crap, I have been laying around alot lately. So anyways I hope this Lexapro works, I get so nervous taking something new.

[glassd18]

I took Lexapro before, and I'm thinking of trying it again, but we'll see. I hope it works well for you. Please keep us posted

[Jamey]

I've been taking buspar for a year and a half and it was my miracle drug. It doesn't seem to be helping anymore and you should only go up to 60 mg a day. It's not a fast acting drug for me. I have to take 15 mg 4x a day and you can really tell when it's wearing off. My mom takes klonapin (sp?) and it works really well for her. My main issue is anger/agitation and I'm bipolar. Ativan works for me, but xanax and klonapin make me rage.