What Are The Side Effects Of Ativan?

Posted on Fri, 8 Dec 2017

Question: how long after after .25 mg of ativan will it start.to work? what are side effects? what other meds interact with ativan

Answered by Dr. Dr. Ashok Kumar Choudhary (29 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Excessive sedation and rebound insomnia could be a side effect

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for using HealthcareMagic.

I read your query and understand your concerns.

Ativan takes about one hour to reach peak levels.

For 0.25 mg side effects are very much limited and includes excessive sedation and rebound insomnia. The others include cognitive disturbance and falls especially in middle and older age individuals.

Regarding interaction it is one of the safe medications and no serious interactions known at 0.25 mg dose.

I hope this helps you.
Feel free to write back to me if you have more questions.
Thanks again.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vishesh Rohatgi

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Ashok Kumar Choudhary (4 hours later)

i have been taking lamoTRIgine (for anxiety) for 10 days. The first 7 days dosage was .25 mg. Dosage was then increased to .50 mg. @ questions: I have been slightly edgy(anxious) almost every day since I began taking this medicine. Is this normal? i took Ativan at 3:00 a.m. I feel asleep, but awoke with anxiety symptoms about 5 hours later. Why?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Ashok Kumar Choudhary (6 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Follow up

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for follow up.

Before I answer your question I request you to check the dose of lamotrigine as there are no 0.25 or 0.5 mg tablets for this medication. I guess you wrongly put . before mentioning the mg. I means it should be 25 and 50 mg.

Although it is not possible to speculate the cause for problem with limited information but I must inform you that anxiety is one of the side effect of lamotrigine during initial course and this could be the reason for feeling edgy.

The reason for feeling anxiety is same as 0.25 mg of Ativan is too low to handle anxiety initially although it is possible that you will have better control with anxiety over coming days.

I hope this helps you further.
Thanks and regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Ashok Kumar Choudhary (41 minutes later)

thank you very much, Doctor. for the answers and for noticing my error re the lamotrigine dosage. One more question - do any vitamins, herbs interact with lamotrigine?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Ashok Kumar Choudhary (18 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Yes

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for follow up and feedback.

There are many herbs which interat with lamotrigine. The most noticeable among them is kava kava, valerian, St Johns wort, kola and ginseng.

Always report to your doctor about the details of herbs as it is important to avoid interactions.

I hope this answers you further.

Feel free to write back to me if you have more questions.
In future, if you wish to ask any more questions, you can use the below-mentioned link to contact me.

http://doctor.healthcaremagic.com/doctors/dr-ashok-kumar/67386

Thanks and regards.

Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar