Does anyone have experience with Ativan as a calming medication?
Our son has such anxiety anytime he have any medical procedures, especially with needles.
We try today and were unsuccessful.
It was so hard watching him tell the doctor "I'm sorry, I just can't do it". Over and over with tears in his eyes.
This journey is so stressful! What a child without these issues has to endure, he just can not.
It's really been a long day..
Thanks for any advice about the medication.
No experience with Ativan in children but took it for a period of time beginning with a trip to the ER for an anxiety attack followed by a prescription from doctor. It certainly helped me remain calm during stressful times. Hope this helps
Thanks.. we are hoping it will help him get through procedures. I appreciate you reaponding!
No experience in children but I personally have Ativan as a PRN for anxiety and it's wonderful. It's been life changing as I have pretty sever anxiety attacks. I think it would be worth a shot to try it out for him especially if you think it'll help with those situations. Good luck to you and hope this helped!
My only experience with Ativan is when I had to have a bone marrow biopsy and I was literally sobbing in the doctor's office terrified of how much it would hurt to have a biopsy of my hip bone!!! The doctor asked if I wanted some Ativan and I said yes. Five minutes later I was sitting there laughing telling the doctor to go ahead and do it. I did not have a care in the world. It was almost frightening how fabulous it made me feel and how fabulous the whole world looked even while having a bone marrow biopsy done.
This helps a lot. Our son is terrified of medical procedures so we are hoping this helps. I just also don't want this to be a "gateway" to him wanting it a lot. So scare of drug addition. His thearpist discussed focusing this attention away from the procedure on something else. I will bring his airpods and music and hope we get thought it.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
He won't have an addiction if it is only used for those few and far between anxious situations. I use a similar benzodiazepine Xanax before airline flights. My doctor is very conservative and only prescribes 4 at a time. As your son matures, he may not have as much anxiety. I know it's hard to see your child like that. Hang in there and hugs to you.
Thank you for your post..And hugs..
Hi. Sorry for the delayed response. Giving low dose Ativan before a medical procedure (or before an MRI for a patient with claustrophobia) is extremely common and is quite effective. I understand the addiction concern, but the way the Ativan is given before a procedure is as a one time dose- you don't leave the facility with it- so the risk of abuse, overuse etc which would be necessary to develop an addiction is non existent. Even if it is provided to you to give in advance (which is not how I believe it is commonly given) you could lock it with other medications (we even lock up the stimulant ADHD meds, not to keep them from my son, though that has value, but because sometimes repair people, painters etc may be in the house unsupervised). As you well know, every new med can cause us to worry, but this particular recommended use of Ativan is both extremely common and low risk. I hope this helps. Be well.
I really appreciate your insight on this issue. It is unbearable for the doctor, myself and our son to endure the suffering while attempting to "gently" force a necessary medical procedure with out the assistance of something to calm him down. Yes it will only be for an occasional procedure. I also love your great insight on locking medications up so they are not accessed by anyone.
We once had our car broken into with our luggage stolen. We made a police report including all of the medications that was taken and I was not allowed to refill a necessary medication when needed, even with a copy of the police report.
This is another struggle of dealing with managing of medications.
I am hopeful using this medication is a solution to a long standing issue we have been struggling with. I will share our upcoming experiences with everyone in so maybe someone else doesn't have to suffer like our son.
Thanks again for your great insight.
This is really good to know about. My daughter refused shots too. She would hide under the examining table and it took us 45 minutes to get her to calm down and then she still wouldn't do it and we had to just leave, wasting everyone's time. Then one doctor told us about a numbing cream that you can get a prescription for - it is made by Akorn with a lidocaine and prilocaine mix. You put it on 30 minutes before the procedure and she didn't feel a thing. Now, even though she is high anxiety about so many other things, needles are no longer one of them.
I can't even share ALL of the horriable experiences we have had! I will share the worst. He was scheduled for an endoscopy so he escaped into our backyard and tried to run away. I had to hand carry him, while I was covered in sticks and berries to the car. Once in the car I had to put the baby locks on.
I could go on and on..
So he has 2 medical procedures coming up so we will try it and if it works.
Managing non-medicated teen
Medication not working? 
At a complete loss
