How much lorazepam is too much? I take 2 mgs twice a day for anxiety.

I take it for daily anxiety, but if I'm late taking it, I freak out. So is that the original anxiety I had or am I getting addicted to these pills? Please help and thank you.

Umpy
• Oh for God's sake.

• Take more, please.

• it's obviously not working. go and punch somethiing - find another outlet

• Umpy it's the original anxiety. The reason it feels so crazy is because when you take your medication the way you're supposed to, everything is tamped down. When you don't you "uncap it." The dosage you just posted isn't excessive. But you do need to take what is prescribed and take it in the manner in which the doctor directed.

• Most psychotic nut cases take that dose. Either figure out what is causing your anxiety or resolve yourslf to a life of chemical dependence.

• I take clonazepam for anxiety ,and I have the worst panic attack disorder My Doctor has ever seen. the dosage is very minimal because that is only the dosage my body can take. My doctor said it is basically a muscle relaxer. However, I'm trying to get this issue resolved because I don't want to be on medication for the rest of my life. It can be horrible because it makes you very tired,and I'm a person that likes to have a lot of energy and be active doing myriads of things. Also, I have a fear of eating in public ,and I haven't eaten in a restaurant in a very long time. I used to love to go out and have a blast ,but this disorder changed my life in a negative way. I can't afford to go to my therapist anymore so I'm trying to read on this subject on my own, and I'm trying to fight to regain the joy of living again. I'm a fighter. I admire those of you who don't have a panic attack disorder and anxiety. Its not a laughing matter, and you have no idea people like me and people like OP I'm sure, have to endure everyday.

• That dose is on the high side. Most patients get .05 or 1 mg. I take .05 and I split them and still get a therapeutic effect. By this point, you are probably physically dependent on them and that is why you don't feel well when you haven't taken it. It's called interval withdrawal, your body is reacting to a prolonged period of no lorazepam. Might take up to a year to clear that all out of you, good luck and hang in there.

  Not%20a%20Doctor

• Anxiety is easy to learn to manage without meds. You're not supposed to take those meds over long periods of time. You're habituating to them and wanting more. A sign of addiction.

• OP, you have to conserve it! I was given enough Lorazepam to take two .5mg pills a day, but I only use it once a week or so. Oddly enough, I took a pill for the first time in a while, this evening, because I've been really stressed out between work, school, and my personal life. All I want to do these days is stay in bed.

• Forget the lorazepam. I prescribe 65 Seconals and a bottle of Scotch. It will solve all your problems.

• Being anxious about your dosage of anxiety medication is too funny to be real. It's another disingenuous post from this clown.

• Relax. You're just an asshole, that's all Very common these days.

• According to my pharmacology book, the max you can take per day for an adult is 2-6mg. So taking it twice a day would equal 4 mg. You are not getting addicted to it.

  Cotton

• If max dose is 4-6 mgs, and he is taking 2 mg twice daily when some patients take .05 to 1 mg, then he's taking a lot. If he's feeling wacked between doses, then I'd say he's getting hooked.

• Umpy, do get any exercise? I suffer from depression and anxiety, and exercise helps a lot If you have a bike, take it out and ride for an hour a day. You'll feel better Take care and dont get addicted to pills.

• Of course he'd be getting addicted if he was real. His scenario has him freaking when he doesn't take his meds on time. That's not normal anxiety. Nothing is going on except he doesn't have his pill. That's habituation. Sheesh. More than one addict on here.

• R11, that is actually a common reaction and situation that anxiety sufferers have.

• R15, I'm wondering what types of exercises you've found tend to best lessen anxiety and depression. I know you mentioned bike riding, but I was wondering if there was anything else you could think of. Also, does just getting outside help a lot too?

• I do the threadmill and bike at the gym during the work week. On the weekends, I ride my bike for 2/3 hours. I'm 35 pounds over weight and trying to manage my food intake. I self-medicate with food. I find riding my bike brings me a lot joy. I love riding into new neighborhoods and it to town. I stop and get a Starbucks or a little bite to eat.

• Yoga, even the most simple poses can do wonders for anxiety. Go for a thirty minute walk everyday. Excercise is the best cure for anxiousness.

• You can become addicted to benzos after only a couple of weeks - that's why some European countries are moving to ban them completely. If you miss a dose and experience serious anxiety you are physically addicted to the drug. Don't stop cold turkey whatever you do - you could die from convulsions. Hopefully you can find a doctor who'll help you get off them, but in a way that doesn't trigger acute withdrawal syndrome (and 4-6 weeks, which is the standard length of time for detox/withdrawal, isn't long enough for most people). Even though you annoy the shit out of me, I truly feel sorry for you Umpy - you've got a long, long road ahead of you.

• I've taken 4 mg ativan to try to sleep and it had no effect on me at all. I might as well had taken a couple of jelly beans. Before an MRI in the hospital they gave me 2 mg IV and it did nothing for me either. When I had surgery they gave me three shots of Versed and it did nothing for me. I think they finally had to give me that Michael Jackson stuff to put me out. I'm a very nervous/anxious person. I think my body fights all that stuff off.

• I don't think any of these drugs actually work.

• I'll bet you also have Fibromyalgia, don't you R22. Or you're a big ole drug addict. Or a big ole liar.

• r18 I'm not r15 but I find any sustained cardio works well. Enough to get your heart rate up so you sweat continuously (and be sure to drink a lot of water). It makes a huge difference. r6 you really need to find a new doc if yours is telling you that a benzo is a muscle relaxer. That is a flat out lie. Benzos are effective but should only be used for a short term. The addictive potential is really high. Of course the drug companies like to convince doctors that it's ok for patients to get dependent. Then they have a customer for life.

• Face it. He's the new Judy "the pills" Garland.

• yoga is phenomenal for anxiety/stress. especially hot yoga.

• Lovely ... I'm now getting a mental picture of Umpy as Neely O'Hara screaming "I want a doll! I want a doll!"

• I never thought of yoga as for men. It works for men? Do straight men ever do it? Whenever I try not to take a dose, I get so irritated and hateful inside. I was only supposed to take 1 mg twice a day but I increased it to 2 mg twice a day b/c I'm depressed and I look forward to being drowsy and carefree and falling asleep. My roommate told me I sleep a lot.

  Umpy

• Thanks for the cardio advice, R25.

• R21, how many weeks? Even as little as 3 or 4?

• If you increased it, another sign of addiction by the way, then you'll be out twice as fast. Are you also juggling doctors to get extra or buying on the street? And you're overdoing the ingenuousness on the Yoga balogna. Overall, this is your least believable thread in quite a while.

• Any alternatives to yoga?

• Sometimes, darling, suicide IS the answer. Just putting that out there...

• I don't know any men who do yoga balogna. You might live in CA.

  Umpy

• Are you straight, Umpy?

• Umpy, post a pic of you and Tammy!

• OK, so i take 2mg, 3 times daily and cant go a day without this drug.

• You have to get enough of it in your system to work. You take it regularly scheduled even if you're not stressed. You need to look into antidepressants for anxiety. Paxil rocks and Imipramine is great if you're not a fan of the newer antidepressants. But it has annoying side effects like dry mouth and constipation.

• It is possible. I have been taking it and now I am experimenting because I want to know what is really going on ! It does matter how long have you been taking it ! I stopped taking them. Then I "woke up" to a different reality. I was so dizzy and lightheaded but I was 100% more aware of the world around me then on lorazepam. I still feel weird. I hadn't taken any for 5 days and then symptoms started: numbness everywhere, feeling that I am losing feeling in my body from neck down, weakness. My body feels 180 degrees differently !!! it is a chaos ! I think I shocked my system when I just stopped taking them. Now I can take it and it changes nothing. It made me feel good, super healthy, super able. I was feeling good all the time. Now I feel awful all the time but I am hoping that my brain will pick it up and realize that this is the situation, accept it and then stop sending signals that something is wrong and just accept my body for what it is and then heal it. If you were using it for years, then your initial condition may have healed but the brain knows that it was given a pill for certain conditions so it starts sending signals: chocking, unability to swallow food, inflamation, shakiness, dizziness, pain, anxiety. It can turn you into a hippochondriac quadriplegic making you lose feeling in your entire body - it craves the pill and produces original symptoms even if they are not there any more !

  Fran

• Any amount of benzo's is to much, but you already knew that op. You were just looking for justification so you could keep taking them.

• The dosage is a lot. [quote] I take it for daily anxiety, but if I'm late taking it, I freak out. You know who else does that when they are late taking their meds? Addicts

• [quote] you really need to find a new doc if yours is telling you that a benzo is a muscle relaxer That is false. Keep your day job. You're never going to have a career as a pharmacist. Valium does have muscle relaxant properties. Ativan does not, but a lot of pain control doctors give their patients benzodiazepines as a way to control anxiety. Anxiety in chronic pain patients does increase their pain and muscle tension. Muscle relaxants are actually a group of different drugs that each has an overall sedative effect on the body. These drugs do not act directly on the muscles. They act centrally (in the brain) and are more of a total body relaxant.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diazepam

• My GP keeps bringing up antidepressants but I really don't want to go there. I have been having lots of tests because I know it's not "in my head"..the last time they thought it was "just" anxiety it turned out I had gallstones and had to have my gallbladder out. I am having the same symptoms again, and I've been making lifestyle changes, but I also may need something to get me over this hump of being depressed about my health. I took lexapro a couple of years ago and hated it. Are there any ADs that don't have sexual side effects or cause weight gain? My pharmacist friend recommended Buspar.

• Instead of 2mg twice, try 1mg 3 times a day. This reduces overall intake and spreads out the pill intake. And yes it is addictive physically and mentally. When you eventually stop you have to wean off over a course of months.

• Is Umpy bumping his old threads now?

• You need to talk to your doctor about weaning yourself off this medication

• [quote]Instead of 2mg twice, try 1mg 3 times a day. Why don't try Valium, it's longer lasting.

• [quote]You need to talk to your doctor about weaning yourself off this medication Why?

• R49 this is an addictive medication

• Not true, R50. People chose to become addicts.

• Well if you don't want to be an addict, I would suggest you work with your doctor to slowly wean yourself off of it. If you want to be an addict, by all means continue using it.

• R21 speaks the truth.

• OP I'm sorry to say that you are already addicted to them. Using a benzo like that daily is not acceptable because it doesn't give you the skills that you need to deal with the anxiety, it just suppresses the negative emotion temporarily. I was on 2-3 mgs of klonopin daily (they're comparable in effects and dosage) and my life was a complete mess for four years until I finally got off them. I have some I keep around and the only time I take them is in case of a major panic attack which is rare. But I use it SPARINGLY NOT DAILY. Hopefully you will find a therapist that teaches you skills rather than someone who just lets you vent.

  Anonymous

• Why would anyone NOT ask this question of their doctor, the prescribing physician? Why would you instead seek information from a bunch of anonymous strangers on an Internet forum known for lax moderation and rampant trolling?

• 2 MGs twice a day? Im taking about 1 MG a day and Im hooked as fuck. Dont fib yourself, bro. Get off this shit ASAP. Its for the birds!!

  the%20realist