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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by gary_m on December 20, 2003, at 18:40:34
Someone very close to me has been abusing her prescription meds for around a year now. She takes Ativan, among other things, for anxiety reasons. She recieves a weekly presciption of 21 2mg pills which dissolve under the tongue. Right from the start, she would take more than she's supposed to. Now she takes the entire bottle in one evening. Sometimes she claims that they have no effect on her and she seems very coherent. Other times (like last night), she becomes very disoriented in many ways, and it usually lasts for two to three days before she 'comes back'. I've been very supportive of her attempts to better herself in the past but now it's getting to the point where I worry for her life, because of times like these. She now gets very defensive when I try to confront her about her addictions. Right now she is sleeping. She wakes periodically and still she comes in and out of 'reality', she falls asleep while she's trying to eat and keeps asking me to repeat what I said when actually I've said nothing. I know that I can't talk to her right now because anything and everything I say is forgotten. She has no recollection of days like these. Is there any way the effects of ativan can be quickened through her system? I'm lost now and I don't know what to do anymore.
Posted by judy1 on December 21, 2003, at 20:04:05
In reply to ativan addiction , posted by gary_m on December 20, 2003, at 18:40:34
she's taking 42mg a day? or 42mg once in a while? benzos (particularly when you have a high tolerance) are fairly safe- but she is playing with fire. All you can do is call 911 when she's taken the bottle. They will pump her stomach, put her on a 72 hour hold and she will hopefully get help if you tell her doc her history. she'll probably be furious, but she will be alive. If it were my friend I would do it.
take care, judy
Posted by Lindsay Rae on December 22, 2003, at 14:28:55
In reply to ativan addiction , posted by gary_m on December 20, 2003, at 18:40:34
Hi Gary,
You're friend has developed such a tolerance for this benzodiazapine if she can take the whole bottle in a day. The drifting in and out of consciousness, well in lamen's terms, that's called "nodding out" and could be dangerous to her. My fiance, Chris, with whom I have a one year old daughter, used to take his 120 Xanax, at 1mg a pop, in one week rather than a month, which would still be excessive. Chris would mix the Xanax with Methadone sometimes or coke, whatever was readily available. It used to worry me the way it worries you; I'd see that he'd eventually snap out of it, so I wouldn't be too alarmed the next time I saw him barely coherant, shooting salad, or falling over. Four weeks ago, I was talking to him over the phone about his treatment he would be starting the following day. He had bought new clothes and was giddy about me picking him up from the airport and driving him. He couldn't wait to see the baby (I left when I was nine months pregnant because of his frightening
behavior). But he kept losing consciousness on the phone, and I would yell for him to wake up. He would come to with some kind of "You wanna know what I was thinking about..." rhetoric. Eventually he just started snoring so I hung the phone up. He died in his sleep that night.There are two deadly dangers when it comes to benzos: One is the obvious: overdosing or taking them with alchohol. When you do this, your brain can "forget" that it needs oxygen, it's in such a relaxed state. Or your heart can just slow to a halt.
The other is when you use benzos heavily then stop suddenly. In this instance, there is danger of a seizure (which also happened to Chris) and even death. You never want to take a heavy amount and then not have any to taper with. Since Ativan is longer acting, it's also a bit slower getting into your system, which can make the user think they need more or "forget" they already took some. In Chris' case, I believe he was having his last hurrah before rehab, and tested what he thought he knew to be his limits. His father slept in bed with him and watched him all night, but at 5am, when he tried to wake Chris after dozing for a little while, he was gone. His poor father blames himself entirely, and there's nothing anyone can do to reverse it. But if I could, I would recognize the signs of near coma (drifting in and out of consciousness and coherency) and insist he be taken to the ER. But I had seen him like that so many times, I could never have guessed this would happen.
I hope I didn't scare you--that's not my intention. But if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't just do nothing. By the way, Chris was 27.
Linds
Posted by krazybirdlady on December 26, 2003, at 18:44:43
In reply to Re: ativan addiction , posted by Lindsay Rae on December 22, 2003, at 14:28:55
Judy and Lindsay are right...but may i say..kick it up a notch (forgive the Emeril reference). Get her help...quick...she is fleeting with an accidental overdose. one day her body won't have the tolerance....
This is the end of the thread.
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