What Are The Most Common Ativan Side Effects?
Ativan is a common prescription drug offered to patients who are suffering from anxiety and other issues surrounding mental health. Created in 1977, the drug has been employed for decades - and over these years, the safety profile of the drug has been studied long and hard by researchers and medical staff alike.
Whilst 99% of the population will experience few symptoms of the drug, there are a select few who may be adversely affected to the point where they are no longer able to consume the product. In this article, we will take a look at some of the most common Ativan side effects, in an effort to fully inform you about the potential risks, and the required risk to reward trade-off that you experience if you are indeed prescribed this drug.
Most Common Ativan Side Effects
By far the most common Ativan side-effect is a feeling of sedation. Due to the way that the drug interacts with the human body, sedation can be felt as soon as 30 minutes after consumption - for as long as six following hours. Sedation refers to the feeling of drowsiness, confusion, “brain fog”, and an overall sense of not being “with it” - as usually would be.
In a recent study of 3500 people, 16% of participants noted that they did feel some sedation as a result of taking Ativan.
This is a particularly high number - and may indeed cause alarm to some people. Before we proceed further, it is worth noting that the survey’s questioning on sedation was rather arbitrary - simply asking whether or not the participants felt tired during the study. Of course, there could have been a number of factors contributing to the tiredness of the participants.
Other common symptoms which are reported following the ingestion of Ativan include:
- Dizziness
- Amnesia (sometimes prolonged)
- Hunger
- Stomach Cramps
- Suicidal Tendencies
Of the five additional symptoms listed above, the one which is worth talking about is the final one - suicidal tendencies.
Is Suicide An Ativan Side Effect
There has been much controversy in recent times over the publication and media hype surrounding the fact that in some cases, antidepressants can lead to suicidal tendencies. Unfortunately, these study results have been woefully taken out of context. In actual fact, less than 0.004% of people taking the drug are found to commit suicide.