2 mg Ativan OK wo permission?

[Sloppy Joe]

pdoc gave me a prescription a while ago for .5mg, did nothing. He said I could go up to 1 mg, still nothing. Then he said Ativan doesn't work for everyone. I'm pretty sure that's baloney. I badly want this to work, I have a presentation, anything wrong with going up to 2?? What's the worst that can happen?

[No Surprises]

Two milligrams of Ativan is a perfectly safe dose; they even sell 2mg tablets. That said, it's probably the highest dose one should take (not because a higher dose would necessarily be dangerous, but because the increase in undesirable side effects would outweigh any potential gains in terms of efficacy).

[Positive]

You shoudl try it on yourself. At 1mg, you should feel buzzed, honestly. Im a big guy, and 1MG-1.5MG made me buzzed

[Sloppy Joe]

Originally Posted by No Surprises

Two milligrams of Ativan is a perfectly safe dose; they even sell 2mg tablets. That said, it's probably the highest dose one should take (not because a higher dose would necessarily be dangerous, but because the increase in undesirable side effects would outweigh any potential gains in terms of efficacy).

What are the undesirable effects? ...

Originally Posted by Positive

You shoudl try it on yourself. At 1mg, you should feel buzzed, honestly. Im a big guy, and 1MG-1.5MG made me buzzed

I'm small but honestly didn't feel a thing on 1mg, idk if weight matters. But I prob shld try it out before tomorrow's presentation?

[meyaj]

Ativan is pretty interesting in that it doesn't use any of the typical drug metabolism pathways, and although I don't know whether or not this will cause a huge variance in patient response, it implies that, just because Ativan doesn't seem to be working ideally, doesn't mean other benzos won't. It takes me about 4mg of ativan to get somewhat desirable effects, but even 2mg is a pretty high dose for most people.

The only real problem with taking bigger and bigger doses is that dependence becomes more and more serious and dangerous, and constantly asking to increase the dose is probably making you more likely to be susceptible to this, in your doctor's eyes, as you are pretty much mimicking drug-seeking behavior (even though that doesn't seem to be what you're actually doing.)

I've found that, with a lot of psychiatrists, it's a bit of a turn off for them to have patients repeatedly asking to increase the benzos. It sucks for the people who are legitimately unresponsive to the drugs, but the doctors are trained to be vigilant about addicts and it's inevitable that some innocent people are going to get burned in the process. They'd also rather not be responsible for playing a part in creating a new addict.

I'm not sure exactly what signs you're looking for to know if it's working or not, but benzos are so subtle that they often work without realizing. Weight DOES matter, and although I can totally relate to the feeling that normal doses of benzos just don't work, I wouldn't try out 2mg right before a presentation. You might not even realize it while on the stuff, but higher doses of benzos could make you look and talk like a drunk... not something you really want your teachers/co-workers or whatever seeing. Ativan is also pretty bad among the benzos in terms of memory impairment, and you will probably not be at your sharpest. Personally I wouldn't double up on a dose during a presentation until you're really aware of how such a dose affects you. 1mg may not seem to help overtly, but should definitely still be able to keep you from completely losing it while presenting.

As for your pdoc... if he said that Ativan doesn't work for everybody, he shouldn't have a problem letting you try something similar, like Klonopin (clonazepam). I have the choice between the two, and I stick with klonopin because I find it more effective, and it's also longer-acting and doesn't impair memory to the same extent. Maybe you'll have more success with it.

[Saqq]

I'm prescribed Xanax 3x3x05.mg/day -- (and ativan 1mg twice per day) I don't use either that way, I think that would be ridiculous, but thats how how it's prescribed.

I started with just collecting the ativan, it does nothing but put me to sleep at around 3mg, and nothing before that)

This is how I tested how Xanax felt on me.
1mg in the morning, felt nothing, added 2mg at lunch (3mg total mid way) -- still nothing... 2 days later
4mg -- nothing... 2 days later..
6mg -- A little Hazy - less anxiety... a week later
10mg -- Don't give a **** about anything -- ahhh just right. (my mom gets this feeling off of 0.5mg )

So somewhere between 6-10 is what I take, and prescribed nowhere near that, I've talked to my psych about it, and he's not exactly a fan but it will be up to him as I just ran my last refill on it...

I don't have withdrawals as I take this much maybe once per week, which fits the 45mg/month I get.

[Sloppy Joe]

Originally Posted by meyaj

I've found that, with a lot of psychiatrists, it's a bit of a turn off for them to have patients repeatedly asking to increase the benzos. It sucks for the people who are legitimately unresponsive to the drugs, but the doctors are trained to be vigilant about addicts and it's inevitable that some innocent people are going to get burned in the process. They'd also rather not be responsible for playing a part in creating a new addict.

Ha, not even close. It took 3 yrs for him to even consider prescribing the benzo & this is only prn. I've taken it twice in the six months since it was prescribed.

Originally Posted by meyaj

I'm not sure exactly what signs you're looking for to know if it's working or not, but benzos are so subtle that they often work without realizing. Weight DOES matter, and although I can totally relate to the feeling that normal doses of benzos just don't work, I wouldn't try out 2mg right before a presentation. You might not even realize it while on the stuff, but higher doses of benzos could make you look and talk like a drunk... not something you really want your teachers/co-workers or whatever seeing. Ativan is also pretty bad among the benzos in terms of memory impairment, and you will probably not be at your sharpest. Personally I wouldn't double up on a dose during a presentation until you're really aware of how such a dose affects you. 1mg may not seem to help overtly, but should definitely still be able to keep you from completely losing it while presenting.

yea, that's what I'm worried about. I guess I might as well take the 1mg, can't hurt.

Originally Posted by meyaj

As for your pdoc... if he said that Ativan doesn't work for everybody, he shouldn't have a problem letting you try something similar, like Klonopin (clonazepam). I have the choice between the two, and I stick with klonopin because I find it more effective, and it's also longer-acting and doesn't impair memory to the same extent. Maybe you'll have more success with it.

Not a chance ... I really ought to find a new dr

[UltraShy]

Originally Posted by Sloppy Joe

What's the worst that can happen?

At worst you fall asleep during your presentation. 2 mg isn't going to kill you if that's your worry.

[Arisa1536]

2mg of lorazepam ativan, is gooooood
with 2.5 i am literally buzzing and the life and soul of the party, its like my social anxiety is non existent and i sleep like a baby the by nightfall too

however you find yourself increasing the dosage so you will not be able to just stand 2mg
some people take to benzo's very quickly, like i did, and i have been on again off again with a range of them since i was 17
but hey i am able to go out in public, make speeches at work, talk to people freely and so on so i see no harm in it
just be careful you do not over dose

[meyaj]

Overdose is very difficult with benzos unless mixing with other downers... so as long as you're responsible it's not a real concern. With high doses you have a rapidly increasing tolerance to worry about, and with tolerance comes dependence, pretty much by necessity, and that is far more dangerous.

[Saqq]

I'm prescribed Xanax on a per/use type basis - but my doc did it 0.5g x1 x 3 doses a day - so 90 pills.

I told him I use about 4mg per use so I'm barely staying within the limit of 90 pills per month -- so what does he do? double the dose to 180 pills with 4 refills

Too bad its $50 without benefits now that I have no job so I'm not abusing them, I can barely afford them haha (I could but I don't need them yet, still have a refill from the day before that meeting)

[Positive]

4MG a day?

[UltraShy]

Originally Posted by Saqq

I'm prescribed Xanax on a per/use type basis - but my doc did it 0.5g x1 x 3 doses a day - so 90 pills.

I told him I use about 4mg per use so I'm barely staying within the limit of 90 pills per month -- so what does he do? double the dose to 180 pills with 4 refills

Too bad its $50 without benefits now that I have no job so I'm not abusing them, I can barely afford them haha (I could but I don't need them yet, still have a refill from the day before that meeting)

4 mg per day or per dose? (Same question as the one above me asked).

And you're paying too much. You're apparently getting 90 mg a month (180 pills x 0.5 mg) for $50. I get 300 mg a month for $36 (2 mg x 150 pills).

[Freesix88]

1-4 mg is the common dosage for daily benzo use (klonopin and xanax especially)

4x3 = 12 mg on the other hand is a different story.

[Saqq]

I only take it as needed though, not 3x daily like you guys are assuming -- ie, if I have to go out, I'll take anywhere from 6-10mg and thats it -- there will be 3-5days where I don't use any at all.

[meyaj]

Originally Posted by Saqq

I only take it as needed though, not 3x daily like you guys are assuming -- ie, if I have to go out, I'll take anywhere from 6-10mg and thats it -- there will be 3-5days where I don't use any at all.

6-10mg without a dependency is pretty much abuse anyways. I've never even heard of anyone who needs that much, although I can relate to using that much as it's much more pleasant and definitely more effective - but nowhere near "necessary."

The vast majority of people would let that get out of hand though, and gradually start using more often, although oddly enough with the higher doses like that it's usually self-limiting. I'm guessing you don't have that problem because it's unlikely a pdoc would script you enough to take that much every day if you don't have a long history of dependency on the drug.

Either way, it only underscores the fact that there's a medically therapeutic dose, and there's a "feel good" dose, and one way or another, far too many people will do whatever they can to convince themselves that they are the same thing.