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Does Intake Of Ativan Cause Sleep Disorder?

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Posted on Tue, 28 Jun 2016
Question: Can Ativan not give you full sleep because you don't enter deep rem.? Is this an unhealthy side effects if it's true?
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Answered by Dr. Bonnie Berger-Durnbaugh (44 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
Ativan and sleep

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,

Ativan (lorazepam) is in the family of benzodiazepines. These sedatives can change sleep architecture and they decrease Stage I sleep (sleep onset phase) and REM sleep, but increase Stage II sleep. They don't completely eliminate REM - they just decrease the amount of time spent in it.

About giving you a full night's sleep, they aren't as good as natural sleep, but if you are a highly anxious person, then the sleep you get from a benzodiazepine is better than chronic insomnia.

You might want to talk with your doctor or psychiatrist about better ways to get to sleep such as certain antidepressants. 4 mg is a high dose of Ativan, so it is probably time to revisit using this for sleep.

I am not a fan of the non-benzodiazepine medicines used specifically for sleep, such as Ambient, Sonata, Luniest, etc. These can cause all sorts of problems in people who have insomnia from agitation or anxiety. It's better to try to treat the underlying problem and then sleep will be helped too.

I hope this information helps. Please let me know if I can provide further information or clarification.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Bonnie Berger-Durnbaugh

General & Family Physician

Practicing since :1991

Answered : 3133 Questions

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Does Intake Of Ativan Cause Sleep Disorder?

Brief Answer: Ativan and sleep Detailed Answer: Hello and welcome, Ativan (lorazepam) is in the family of benzodiazepines. These sedatives can change sleep architecture and they decrease Stage I sleep (sleep onset phase) and REM sleep, but increase Stage II sleep. They don't completely eliminate REM - they just decrease the amount of time spent in it. About giving you a full night's sleep, they aren't as good as natural sleep, but if you are a highly anxious person, then the sleep you get from a benzodiazepine is better than chronic insomnia. You might want to talk with your doctor or psychiatrist about better ways to get to sleep such as certain antidepressants. 4 mg is a high dose of Ativan, so it is probably time to revisit using this for sleep. I am not a fan of the non-benzodiazepine medicines used specifically for sleep, such as Ambient, Sonata, Luniest, etc. These can cause all sorts of problems in people who have insomnia from agitation or anxiety. It's better to try to treat the underlying problem and then sleep will be helped too. I hope this information helps. Please let me know if I can provide further information or clarification.