Personally I stay away from anything that could be addictive. I have always been honest with my physician and any time I've needed medication, we've looked at alternatives.
The exceptions have been with my surgeries, the last one requiring 7 days in the hospital, and I was on a morphine pump for 5 of those days. By the time I was discharged, I was on tylenol only.
I have an addictive personality, and I was far too fond of abusing prescription drugs back when I was also drinking.
May I ask what it was prescribed for?
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"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguements and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance-that principle is contempt prior to investigation."
~Herbert Spencer
Thanks for replying. This is my first time here. I tried to stop drinking a while ago and ended up with migraines and if I didn't have a migraine I had a headache and the shakes. I'm trying it again so my doctor gave me 7 days of Ativan to help with the shakes and headaches. It's helping a little but I still have the shakes, and of course want to drink.
Valium, Xanax, Ativan, etc are prescribed to help 'detox' from alcohol. If the physician is not well versed in alcoholism, usually (almost always) one addiction is traded for another especially if one hasn't gone through the appropriate rehab, AA, counseling, etc.....You may want to look into a detox facility or rehab center. The odds of trading one addiction for another, I'm sorry to say, are well in **your favor.....
Prayers for you, hun.....and lots of (((hugs)))
**as in alcoholics in general - not singling you out personally
-- Edited by Doll at 07:16, 2007-11-18
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Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... It's about learning to dance in the rain.
Thank you. She only gave me a 7 day supply and I'm waiting to hear back from a counselor who specializes in alcohol addition. Hopefully I'll be able to get an appointment in the next week. I hear you on trading one addition to another. I already want to take more Ativan than I am suppose to. Thank you for kind thoughts.
Welcome to MIP, Anna. I hope you get through the next few days ok. We'll be thinking of you & here for you if you'd like to come back & share how it's going? I had a relatively easy escape from drinking physically. I'm working on sorting out the emotional, spiritual & mental stuff now. Coming here really helps me & sharing with others with the common purpose of staying off a drink 1Day@aTime is really useful for me. I hope you gain something too. Keep coming back! Danielle x
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Progress not perfection.. & Practice makes Progress!
Well done on six days without a drink! That is great!!! It isn't always easy, but it does get a lot easier and life changes so quickly for the better. Just hang in there. It really is worth it.
Good luck at work tomorrow. Please let us know how it goes for you, won't you?
Take care,
Carol
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. ~Dr. Seuss
I have a lot of experience with Ativan and it is not a nice drug!! I ended up overdosing on it a year ago and was in a coma for 3 days!! Alcoholism does not discriminate other drugs. We are sensative to all chemicals therefore should take care. I say this from experience. I just got over the shingles and it was the worst pain in the world. The doctors would not give me a narcotic and I really wanted one, but now that it is over I am so glad they didnt give me one cause I would have to start the withdral from it. Trust and rely on God in everything and you cant go wrong!! Allison
Thank you. Today went well except I'm getting headaches which happened last time I stopped drinking. Hopefully the Ativan will help with that. My doctor gave me a prescription for 5 more days and told me that would be it. Thanksgiving has me a little stressed out because my family drinks alot and it is going to be really tempting not to have anything.
Thanks for your input. Pretty scary. Can I ask if you were drinking when taking Ativan? My doctor told me not to, of course, but I notice the pamplet that came with it only said that alcohol would intensify drowsiness.
