Skip to content Six days of ativan uno63 posted: Tried to go to
work without it. But have the shakes, came home took a .5 mg
just to try to calm, need 1 mg per day.... It seems Fiacra
responded: Ativan is extremely effective at suppressing anxiety,
but the problem is that it has a very short half life, and you
can feel its effects come to an abrupt end within a matter of
hours. It doesn't take long to become physically (and
psychologically) dependent on it, and the withdrawals are
terrible. If you are suffering from anxiety, then you probably
need to go on some longer term medication, such as an SSRI.
That's no picnic either, but with time, those meds can help you
get past the anxiety, whereas the benzos like Ativan are just a
quick fix. If you need a benzo to control your symptoms in the
short-term, while waiting for the SSRI to take effect, diazapam
(Valium) is much better than Ativan - it has a much longer half
life and therefore you can taper off it gradually. Again, it's
no picnic, it will make you feel