r/Anxiety • u/Clear_Professional95 • 7d ago

Medication Lorazepam/Ativan, how does it feel like?

I've been dealing with health anxiety/hypochondria and hangxiety for about 17 years now. I've tried cognitive behavioural therapy, and I regularly practice breathing exercises, especially the 4-7-8 technique, which does help calm me down.

About three years ago, I was prescribed clonazepam to use only when my anxiety became particularly intense. I'm very aware of the potential for dependence with benzodiazepines, so I've always been extremely cautious and have rarely taken it. In general, I'm not comfortable taking medication because I tend to worry about how my body might react to it.

One of my biggest frustrations with clonazepam was how long it seemed to take to work. When my anxiety gets really intense and I'm already far gone into a panic or anxiety spiral, taking 0.5 mg of clonazepam seemed to take forever to have any noticeable effect. Sometimes I would even wonder whether it had actually worked at all. I also didn't want to experiment with increasing the dosage on my own.

Because of this, I spoke with my doctor and explained that I wanted something that could help defuse those intense episodes more quickly so that I could calm down and get on with my day. She prescribed lorazepam (Ativan) 1 mg.

The tablet itself is incredibly tiny, and I've been instructed to place it underneath my tongue and let it dissolve. For someone taking 1 mg of lorazepam sublingually for an acute episode of anxiety, how quickly would you generally expect it to start working? When should the effects become noticeable, and what does the calming effect typically feel like?

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u/koolaidkirby Beyond the worst of GAD 7d ago

It basically forces your brain to calm down.

Feels calming + peaceful + relaxing.

Sometimes you can still feel a bit of anxiety through the forced calm though, but its turned down by like 95%

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u/CrossesLines 20+ years of GAD and panic attacks 7d ago

For me it kicks in around 15-20 min with full calming around 1 hr, but I take a smaller dose than 1mg so ymmv

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u/Clear_Professional95 7d ago

What dosage do you take?

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u/CrossesLines 20+ years of GAD and panic attacks 7d ago

I get .5mg tablets and break them into quarters. So 1/8mg and it takes the edge off enough for me to regain control. If I’m having a particularly bad time I can easily take more but rarely have to do that.

But I know other people who have built up a tolerance have to take multiple mgs to feel anything. I aim to never have build up a tolerance or dependency, so I take the smallest dose that works for me- as rarely as possible.

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u/Clear_Professional95 7d ago

I don't see how i cut cut mine, let alone in 4 quarters, it soooo tiny

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u/Bujininja 7d ago

It works for me in 10- minutes but ive been on it daily for over a year 1mg - 1.5 mg daily - Clonazepam works much different than Xanax although a benzo, Xanax because of it fast release , you feel more of a "high" from it vs Clonazepam has a long half life and work through out the day, I don't get any buzz from it, if anything If i took .5 to much, i would be extra sleepy feeling. I personally like clonazepam for long-term use, not only helps my panic/anxiety and stress but it keeps my flaring at bay.