Posted by Fred23 on July 10, 2004, at 18:26:10
In reply to lorazepam dosage, posted by msurtees on July 10, 2004, at 7:14:24
> I have a prescription of these for when I have those 'tense' days. It states .5mg 3 times a day.
>
> There are times when it feels like I would like to take 1.0 instead. Is that safe/recommended?I've got the exact same prescription, and have been discussing it in a variety of posts that have all now scrolled into the archives.
The first issue is are you taking the generic, e.g., Mylan, or real name brand Wyeth Ativan? I found the generic to be practically ineffective, compared to the name brand, which I voluntarily switched to, even though the cost (insurance copay) is much greater.
My goal has been to duplicate a pattern I figured out from "borrowed" Xanax, where 0.5 mg per day, taken in the morning would last all day.
Since Ativan is half as "strong" I'm testing where 1.0 mg/day in the morning is "enough". So far, this idea seems to work. Since Ativan has a slightly longer half-life than Xanax, it should.
What "the books" would have you do, though, is take 0.5 mg throughout the day, up to three times. Since Ativan takes longer than Xanax to reach its peak level, it is not so good for "PRN" type usage, however.
What I've found is that benzos have a certain "threshhold" where unless enough is taken to reach that threshhold, there is *no* effect. The goal is to find the dosage timings to keep enough in the system to stay above that threshhold, but not get too much higher, or else the body adjusts to that as a new threshhold. In other words, take as little as possible to have a steady anxiolytic effect.
(Note that my ideas are different than what is considered normal, so balance my ideas against those more knowledgeable.)
poster:Fred23
thread:364641
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040710/msgs/364820.html