to take ativan or not?

I have been experiencing strong palps ( I get atrial fibrillations too), as well as incredible anxiety. My GP prescribed 1mg ativan as needed...scared to take it. Before I unintentionally start a medical debate I will just remind everyone that unfortunately my case is not so cut and dry. Lupus along with pulmonary hypertension (high pressures in lungs), atrial fibrillation and polycythemia, complicate things, going for colonoscopy for inflamed colon plus caring for a daughter who had her large intestine removed at 11. I really like the natural route but it is proving tough right now. I was put on the lowest dose of lexapro a while ago. Two docs have differing opinions on that. One prefers the benzo route temporarily, the other ssri's, hence an increase. SSRI's can be vasoconstricting, and I take vasodilators for my condition! Am trying herbal means and vitamins as well. So question is...anyone have any experience with 1mg ativan? thanks all.xxx

Are benzo's really that bad?

Don't be scared to take ativan at all. Truthfully, ativan is a benzo with the least side effects and you shouldn't feel anything adverse (you won't feel high). I took it for many years and it worked quite well for anxiety and panic attacks (and my OCD). Unfortunately, over time, it started to lose its effectiveness for me and I developed a tolerance and now the only benzo that will even come close is Valium (which is nearly impossible for me to get). Again, that's just me though. Nothing to be afraid of at all with ativan. Benzos aren't bad at all and are sometimes the only thing that actually works.

To my understanding, Lexapro is just Celexa only a cleaner more refined version. I used to be on Celexa and I would say it was (somewhat) helpful in dealing with the lows of depression, so no reason why you can't be on both the benzo and the ssri.

I've been trying to figure out how to word this, as I read everything you are going through, if I'm being honest, I would actually be cautious with herbals right now and mixing them with any prescriptions. I use them but I'm not on a lot of prescriptions either so I can experiment. You might want to just follow your doctors advice right now to get a handle on some of the physical conditions first. Of course, I'm not a professional so take it for what its worth :)

Hope all turns out well with the colonoscopy.

Good luck!

Benzo's have potential for tolerance and the potential for addiction. Apparently withdrawl from them can be extremely tough.

With that being said I have had wonderful results using valium 1-2x/week. Whenever I find my anxiety is at its worst I will take 10mg of valium and it calms me down nicely. Knowing I have it as a safety net greatly reduces anxiety I get about having anxiety.

Sticking to a 1-2x/week basis I have not experienced any addictive properties and many times I end up going over a week without it and feel no side effects. Like everything some people will abuse benzo's and give them the bad reputation they have. If you choose to use them just be smart about it.

I have never tried Ativan but I imagine the same principles apply.

Thank you Salvator here and Fixmybrokenmind. Your responses are greatly appreciated. I hope you are both well. Salvator are you feeling better?

Fixmybrokenmind's reply is pretty much spot on in my opinion. It's really easy to build a tolerance to benzos but if you can stick to using them when your anxiety is really bad they are worth their weight in gold. I also agree 100% that just knowing you have them decreases the anxiety about anxiety. There's a lot of stuff online about how bad benzos are but in my experience it's just hype. I've even had people at AA rant about them being "chewable alcohol" but the difference between me on alcohol and me on benzos is massive.