momof4insc
New Member
Well, now my son is on new medications! Anyone have experience with Lexapro and Ativan? therapist was trying to explain that Ativan is like valium. I don't know. I've heard of Lexapro just not enough to be confident.
New medications, what now?
- Thread starter momof4insc
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smallworld
Moderator
Both medications treat anxiety (and Lexapro also treats depression). Is that what the psychiatrist is treating?
I have two kids on Lexapro. They are taking it for depression and anxiety in conjunction with the mood stabilizer Lamictal. We started low (2.5 mg) and raised the dose by 2.5 mg after several weeks. I hope your psychiatrist is going slowly because Lexapro can be activating.
We've been told by our psychiatrists that Ativan is addictive so it should not be used over the long haul.
Good luck with the new medications.
I have two kids on Lexapro. They are taking it for depression and anxiety in conjunction with the mood stabilizer Lamictal. We started low (2.5 mg) and raised the dose by 2.5 mg after several weeks. I hope your psychiatrist is going slowly because Lexapro can be activating.
We've been told by our psychiatrists that Ativan is addictive so it should not be used over the long haul.
Good luck with the new medications.
gcvmom
Here we go again!
My difficult child 1 takes Lexapro for his anxiety, and Ativan on an as-needed basis for medical procedures/blood draws (he has a needle phobia).
Before he started the Lexapro, I had to give him 1mg Ativan to get through blood draws, and he was still panicky with them. Now that he's taking 10mg Lexapro, I only have to give him 0.5mg Ativan, and he handles the same procedures with MUCH less emotion -- no tears, no hyperventilating, no breaking out in a cold sweat, no dizziness or nausea after the event like before.
As for side effects, the Ativan makes him a little sedated. When he was at 1mg, it made him pretty loopy for about 6 hours. At 0.5mg, it just seems to take the edge off his needle fear and relaxes him a bit. Sometimes he complains about feeling weird as it's wearing off -- not sure what that's about.
We haven't noticed any negatives with the Lexapro and he's been on it about 6 weeks.
Before he started the Lexapro, I had to give him 1mg Ativan to get through blood draws, and he was still panicky with them. Now that he's taking 10mg Lexapro, I only have to give him 0.5mg Ativan, and he handles the same procedures with MUCH less emotion -- no tears, no hyperventilating, no breaking out in a cold sweat, no dizziness or nausea after the event like before.
As for side effects, the Ativan makes him a little sedated. When he was at 1mg, it made him pretty loopy for about 6 hours. At 0.5mg, it just seems to take the edge off his needle fear and relaxes him a bit. Sometimes he complains about feeling weird as it's wearing off -- not sure what that's about.
We haven't noticed any negatives with the Lexapro and he's been on it about 6 weeks.
K
Kjs
Guest
Lexapro did not work well with my difficult child. Wish it would of he has so much anxiety. Could not sleep. Then added in something to help sleep and he was totally out of wack. However psychiatrist started him on 10 mg's right away. After reading hear, seems as if most start at a lower dose.
He also has prescription for ativan but he has never taken it. It is for 'as needed'. He hates taking medication.'s.
I had ativan and it did nothing. Switched over to xanax a few months ago.
He also has prescription for ativan but he has never taken it. It is for 'as needed'. He hates taking medication.'s.
I had ativan and it did nothing. Switched over to xanax a few months ago.
OpenWindow
Active Member
My difficult child takes Lexapro for anxiety and rigid thinking. It has seemed to work for him. We have taken him off of it a couple of times and it was not good at all. I also took Lexapro for a while and it was the best I ever felt (I was diagnosed with mild, chronic depression a while back). The only reason I'm not taking it is because we can't afford it.
If there's a chance there's bipolar or other mood disorders you just need to keep an eye out - ADs can cause mania and/or suicidal thoughts in some people. My difficult child may have bipolar (undiagnosed but they are re-evaluating him for it right now) and neither Lexapro nor Zoloft cause mania or suicidal thoughts.
If I remember right, difficult child was really tired for about a month when he started Lexapro, but that went away. He had tics with zoloft, but nothing with Lexapro.
Linda
If there's a chance there's bipolar or other mood disorders you just need to keep an eye out - ADs can cause mania and/or suicidal thoughts in some people. My difficult child may have bipolar (undiagnosed but they are re-evaluating him for it right now) and neither Lexapro nor Zoloft cause mania or suicidal thoughts.
If I remember right, difficult child was really tired for about a month when he started Lexapro, but that went away. He had tics with zoloft, but nothing with Lexapro.
Linda
