# Does anyone have experience with sublingual Ativan?



## maggie2009 (Sep 28, 2009)

I've never been prescribed a benzo type medication before. I have taken clonidine and a few different betablockers in the past for my social anxiety issues which I only take a few times a month at most. My anxiety is okay on a day to day basis but I cannot do anything such as public presentations, being the centre of attention and have issues with things like staff meetings where I may have to speak in a group.

I'm getting married this year and as happy as I am about being married, I'm having terrible anxiety about the actual wedding ceremony and wedding. Being the centre of attention causes me to feel faint, that I can't breath, have trouble moving my lips and speaking, feel shaky, can't concentrate on what is going on around me and what I need to say and I also get red blotches on my chest/neck/upper arms when very nervous (or with any type of strong emotion).

My doctor has prescribed me sublingual lorazepam (generic Ativan) for the wedding day. These are 0.5 mg and he told me I can take 1 or 2 every 6 hours as needed the day of the wedding, but to avoid alcohol (which I will be sure to avoid with these pills). I've only been given 10 pills so will try 1 before the wedding to see how it effects me.

Just wondering if anyone has experience with sublingual Ativan?

How quickly does it work? 
How long before the ceremony should I take it? 
Will 0.5mg likely control the type of anxiety I have (I'm 110 lb female)?
Am I likely to appear drunk or have any other undesirable side effects?
Has anyone taken this with propranolol and/or clondine?

Any advice you can provide is appreciated. Thanks.


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## arth67 (Aug 6, 2009)

all meds work faster if disolved under the tongue, google 'sublimngual' and read up

they still work but slower if swallowed with water, all your meds will help but clondine isnt a beta blocker

a big dose of your meds early on wedding day and more during will help a lot 
agree re no alcahol

the anxiety involved will overcome any sedation, remember you must eat before the ceremony or you can faint from low blood sugar
breathe deep and slow, relax the muscles and dont tense up, put make up on areas that go blotchy, have a wheel chair nearby just in case you start to wobble


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## meyaj (Sep 5, 2009)

They start working in under 5 minutes, so take them when you feel you need to take them.

Sublingual is great though. Unfortunately, here anyways, ativan sl doesn't have a generic yet. I take my clonazepam the same way even though it's not actually "meant" for that kind of use.


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## maggie2009 (Sep 28, 2009)

arth67 said:


> all meds work faster if disolved under the tongue, google 'sublimngual' and read up
> 
> they still work but slower if swallowed with water, all your meds will help but clondine isnt a beta blocker
> 
> ...


Thanks. My doctor did tell me the sublingual ones are generally prescribed for panic attacks and work quickly which is why he said he was prescribing it - for the fast onset before the ceremony. I just have to find out how soon to take it so it works for the half hour ceremony but doesn't wear off before it is over.

I also have an ongoing prescription for clonidine (alpha blocker) and 40 mg of propranolol. I take these as needed and 0.1 mg of clonidine with 40 mg of propranolol helps a lot with the red blotches. Hopefully they don't have a bad interaction with the Ativan since I've heard it can also lower blood pressure, which would mean 3 blood pressure lowering drugs at one time.

Thanks for the advice - good tip to remember to eat - I might not have bothered due to nervousness if you hadn't mentioned it. Hopefully I don't need the wheelchair



meyaj said:


> They start working in under 5 minutes, so take them when you feel you need to take them.
> 
> Sublingual is great though. Unfortunately, here anyways, ativan sl doesn't have a generic yet. I take my clonazepam the same way even though it's not actually "meant" for that kind of use.


Thanks.

If there's no generic sublingual Ativan where you are, then I would be them same. I'm in Toronto. I haven't filled the prescription yet, but he wrote on it 0.5 mg Ativan sublingual and at the bottom wrote generic: lorazepam. I just assumed it would be generic since that is what the pharmacy usually provides, but if there's no generic it will likely be the Ativan they give me.

5 minutes is fairly quick. Have you taken sublingual Ativan before? I'm just wondering how long it is effective for. If I have a 2 p.m. ceremony, I'm thinking of taking it at 1:45 and hopefully it kicks in before 2 and lasts until 2:30 since someone told me the sublingual ones also wear off quickly. Thanks for the advice!


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## meyaj (Sep 5, 2009)

maggie2009 said:


> Thanks.
> 
> If there's no generic sublingual Ativan where you are, then I would be them same. I'm in Toronto. I haven't filled the prescription yet, but he wrote on it 0.5 mg Ativan sublingual and at the bottom wrote generic: lorazepam. I just assumed it would be generic since that is what the pharmacy usually provides, but if there's no generic it will likely be the Ativan they give me.
> 
> 5 minutes is fairly quick. Have you taken sublingual Ativan before? I'm just wondering how long it is effective for. If I have a 2 p.m. ceremony, I'm thinking of taking it at 1:45 and hopefully it kicks in before 2 and lasts until 2:30 since someone told me the sublingual ones also wear off quickly. Thanks for the advice!


Yeah, it will definitely kick in on time, and it should last around 2 hours I would think, which is fairly short acting for a benzo, so you should be fine. I HAVE taken the sublingual ativan a bunch of times before, and the last time I was prescribed it was about 2 months ago, so I imagine it's still not generic. That being said, it's still not an expensive medication. It's just that usually the generic benzos literally cost pennies per pill.

Just make sure to let it dissolve under your tongue and try not to swallow the er.... juices... for a while. It has a nice sweet taste so it's not difficult, unless you're the kind of person who normally produces a lot of saliva.


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## maggie2009 (Sep 28, 2009)

meyaj said:


> Yeah, it will definitely kick in on time, and it should last around 2 hours I would think, which is fairly short acting for a benzo, so you should be fine. I HAVE taken the sublingual ativan a bunch of times before, and the last time I was prescribed it was about 2 months ago, so I imagine it's still not generic. That being said, it's still not an expensive medication. It's just that usually the generic benzos literally cost pennies per pill.
> 
> Just make sure to let it dissolve under your tongue and try not to swallow the er.... juices... for a while. It has a nice sweet taste so it's not difficult, unless you're the kind of person who normally produces a lot of saliva.


Thanks. Hopefully it works well enough to at least make the wedding day enjoyable instead of a nervous day...


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## miminka (May 10, 2009)

maggie2009 said:


> Just wondering if anyone has experience with sublingual Ativan?
> 
> How quickly does it work?
> How long before the ceremony should I take it?
> ...


It works very quickly, almost instantly for me. Give or take, maybe about 15-10 minutes to get the full affect. I would take it the morning of the ceremony, and I'm on the same dosage as you are so I'd probably take two for you. Increase it's potency. I don't think 0.5 will do the job for you. I'm 85 lb and it doesn't for me.

You won't appear drunk at all and I have never experienced any undesirable side affects aside from muscle relaxation which can range from minor to extreme in my experience. That was proably because I took it with Celexa and Effexor XR as I was weaning myself off the Celexa. I have never taken it with propranol or clondine so I can't tell you anything about that. Hope I helped (at least a bit)

Hope your wedding is nice!


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## maggie2009 (Sep 28, 2009)

AudreyHepburn said:


> It works very quickly, almost instantly for me. Give or take, maybe about 15-10 minutes to get the full affect. I would take it the morning of the ceremony, and I'm on the same dosage as you are so I'd probably take two for you. Increase it's potency. I don't think 0.5 will do the job for you. I'm 85 lb and it doesn't for me.
> 
> You won't appear drunk at all and I have never experienced any undesirable side affects aside from muscle relaxation which can range from minor to extreme in my experience. That was proably because I took it with Celexa and Effexor XR as I was weaning myself off the Celexa. I have never taken it with propranol or clondine so I can't tell you anything about that. Hope I helped (at least a bit)
> 
> Hope your wedding is nice!


Thanks a lot. That is helpful. I am also going to try it on a day before the wedding when I actually am in a stressful situation to see how it works. The doctor did say I could take 2 if 1 didn't work and every 6 hours if necessary. I'm crossing my fingers it has some effect. Thank you!


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## bluebluesplayer (Jan 16, 2009)

maggie2009 said:


> Thanks a lot. That is helpful. I am also going to try it on a day before the wedding when I actually am in a stressful situation to see how it works. The doctor did say I could take 2 if 1 didn't work and every 6 hours if necessary. I'm crossing my fingers it has some effect. Thank you!


This is an old thread sorry but I'm interested to see how your wedding turned out with Ativan. Congrats by the way.


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## maggie2009 (Sep 28, 2009)

bluebluesplayer said:


> This is an old thread sorry but I'm interested to see how your wedding turned out with Ativan. Congrats by the way.


Actually the wedding turned out really well. Surprisingly, in the end I didn't actually take the Ativan the day of the wedding. I tried it a few times before the wedding (actually I tried a few different combinations of different things to find out what worked best).

Everyone is different, but for me I found a combination of clonidine, propranolol and an anti-histamine worked better for me than the Ativan. I did take a higher dose of the clonidine/propranol than is prescribed to me for everyday use and I took it in the morning as well as about 1 to 1.5 hours before the ceremony. I brought some with me for later in the day if necessary, but didn't need to take those.

So, the wedding actually turned out to be enjoyable and the medication really did help me to relax and enjoy the day!


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