Special cases of population to be considered when taking Ativan
Let us go over through some special cases that were not mentioned enough in our safety page and talk about that in a bit more detail.
In general when talking about benzodiazepines in general small children age thirteen or younger and older people are usually a problematic group. This is mainly because there is not enough data as to what effects benzo drugs have on them, and many doctors have been reluctant to try, for this same reason. But still Ativan was given in some cases and has been known to help with instant seizure attacks. The doses that were administered have to be individualized and general doses should not be used. Another thing to consider is that the elderly population is known to be oversensitive to this drug and therefore the risk of overdose is somewhat greater. In any case both the children and the elderly will have average body mass a lot lower than an average human so doses also need to be adjusted. Extended using of Ativan is known to lead to impaired cognitive abilities, this is additionally true for the elderly and in some extreme cases, and these effects might not disappear after the therapy is stopped. In addition, elderly tend to require additional time to completely metabolize Ativan and if comparing to average patient, they tend to be somewhat more susceptible to some of the adverse paradox effects of Ativan. Additional risk is that senior patient are under several different therapies at once which greatly increases the risk of Ativan interacting with some other drug and causing unwanted effects. We talked previously about how Ativan is a muscle relaxant and can cause temporary loss of control over a group of muscles leading to falls, which in senior population can be a very serious thing.
Patients who suffer from kidney or liver disorders are good candidates for Ativan therapy because, unlike most benzo drugs it does not require liver oxidation and it can safely be administered to patient who has liver problems. There is no risk of enhancing the liver problems or it not working because of this. Same is true for patients who have problems with their kidneys, because kidney functions do not lower or raise the levels of Ativan in their blood. So it is completely safe to use, which is a big plus.
We talked about how there is always a risk of developing dependency to Ativan, therefore you should always be careful when administering Ativan to a patient that has had history of alcohol or drug abuse.
When Ativan is used as premedication before anesthesia the patient should sign the consent form to agree to surgery before given the first dose of Ativan, because if it is done after it can easily be disputed in a court of law causing problems for the hospital and the doctor who has performed the surgery.
How Ativan changed my life
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What should I know before taking Ativan?
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Ativan doses for IV injections in case of status epilepticus
IV administration of Ativan should only be done in hospital environment or when help for respiratory system is available and always in the presence of a trained professional.
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Dosing Ativan tablets the right way
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Effects & benefits of Ativan
Ativan has several positive benefits, some of which have come upon quite recently. This is to show that its full range of positive effects has not been discovered yet. It is highly valued because it is considered very effective at what it does.
Ativan has strong anxiolytic properties, this is [...] Continue Reading…
What is Ativan?
Ativan is a drug known under its medical name Lorazepam. It belongs to a family of drugs called the benzodiazepines. They are mostly used for anxiety disorders, but also for other similar conditions. Each member of that family varies by its effects and the way it works, and what [...] Continue Reading…
Ativan – a short introduction
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