Can Ativan Be Used To Treat Anxiety And Insomnia ?

Posted on Sat, 27 Aug 2011

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 Answered on

Last reviewed on

Question : I
was prescribed by my internest to take ativa n.5 2times aday for anxiety depression i HAVE TAKEN IT FOR 2 Days and have seen some improvemen t but not very much and I guess I expected miracles Is this natural

Answered by Dr. Dr. Rakhi Tayal (1 hour later)

Hello,

Thanks for writing to us.

Ativan contains Lorazepam which is used for the treatment of anxiety and insomnia for short term. It produces its optimum effect after at least 5-7 days of continuous use as till then a steady state plasma concentration is reached.

For short term insomnia it produces the effects earlier also. Anxiolytic effect is late to manifest. It does not have much anti depressive properties. You need to wait for at least five more days to say that you are not getting an optimum relief in which case you can request your physician to increase its dosage.

I hope my answer and recommendations are adequate and helpful. Waiting for your further follow up queries if any.

Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Ashwin Bhandari