Dose - Question about potency, Ativan (Lorazepam) V.S. Xanax (Alprazolam)

Swim just has a quick question about the equivalent doses of these two benzos. According to the equivalence chart, 1mg of Ativan = 10 Mg Valium and only .05mg of Xanax = 10 mg Valium. SWIM finds this to be pretty accurate in his tests, so the question is one would need 4 mg of Ativan to = 2 mg of Xanax correct? So this in theory makes Xanax twice as potent/powerful as Ativan right? Swim has never taken over 2mgs of Ativan, but he found that 2 mgs Ativan was defiantly not as strong as 2mg of Xanax.

[Jatelka]

The equivalence chart is only one of several, designed for the purposes of converting to diazepam for tapering/prevention of withdrawal

Flamingos tend to find shorter acting benxos such as Xanax more "euphoric". Therefore it is NOT an exact science

[ganja4girl20]

swim was unpacking and suddenly hit the jackpot! an old bottle of lorazepam .5mg that was lost and long forgotten! swim is used to taking alprazolam low tolerence 1mg will get swim a nice buzz and 2mg will have swim wasted. swim took 2 of the .5mg lorazepam and did nothing! swim was under the impression that lorazepam was a stronger medication than alprazolam??? the pills were expired 2 months ago, maybe that's why swim didnt notice? which one is stronger/better in swiy's oppinion or how many mg's should swim take to have the same effect as the alprazolam?

[TommyRowe]

Expiration that soon should not have anything to do with it. The recommended dosage is between 1-2 Mg. However, if SWIY has built up a tolerance to this class of drugs (benzos) then of course SWIY will have to take more.

ADVICE TO SWIY

Take 2 Mg. I advise against taking more but if that does nothing than 1. Its not enough of a dose and 2. its possible that the expiration has effected the medication.

[Jatelka]

Pharmaceuticals remain potent for far longer than the stated expiry date. Expiring 2 months ago will have NO effect on potency

Please bear in mind that different benzos will have different subjective effects, depending on speed of onset, half life etc.

The flamingo always found Lorazepam to be be deeply unrecreational (she was always a Valium girl), add in the hangover effect and it was never worth the effort

[ganja4girl20]

swim took advice and took 2mg lorazepam at about 11:30, did the trick. swim was feeling good for about 2 hours, now is eating everthing in site and verrrry sleepy. still swim has found swim much prefers alprazolam, but not bad at all.

[TommyRowe]

Glad to hear a good time was had.

[Politicalchalk]

Lorazepam is unique insofar as it has been used as an adjunct to chemo to help the nausea associated with cancer and such. The only anti-emetic benzo, if Swim recalls.

Swim's dire wolf has been on 2mg of lorazepam x3/day for quite some time (ie: swim has a tolerance). To kick out this freaky strain of night terrors (or something like it), the wolf will eat another dose in the middle-of-the-night panic attack -- what swim's getting at is that the wolf ran out early and had a few days of benzo withdrawl to deal with. It did however, sumble across some alprazolam (xanax) and found that the equivlanet dose helped with the withdrawls but really made him sleepy. He reports that .75mg of alprazolam was sufficient to hold him over for most of the day.

[JX 3000]

Hey, this is my first post here and I'm just curious what the difference between xanax and lorazepam is. Meaning, say 2 mg of xanax will fuck you up, how many mg. of lorazepam would you need?

Thanks.

[OsCarwild]

Generally .5 mg of xanax is equivalent to 1 mg of lorazepam, so xanax is basically twice as strong. Lorazepam has much stronger sedating effects than xanax does though. Lorazepam is actually the drug injected at hospitals when a patient goes into a seizure. So xanax is stronger, but lorazepam makes you more tired and your body more sedated... Here is a chart with the equivalent doses of all benzos for SWIY's future reference... http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16708

Happy swimming

[nleksan]

Originally Posted by OsCarwild

Generally .5 mg of xanax is equivalent to 1 mg of lorazepam, so xanax is basically twice as strong. Lorazepam has much stronger sedating effects than xanax does though. Lorazepam is actually the drug injected at hospitals when a patient goes into a seizure. So xanax is stronger, but lorazepam makes you more tired and your body more sedated... Here is a chart with the equivalent doses of all benzos for SWIY's future reference... http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16708

Happy swimming

SWIM has found that Lorazepam (Ativan) feels much weaker, although anxiolytic properties are still significant. If someone were to be using Alprazolam (Xanax) to get "fucked up", and takes 2mg (a "bar") to achieve the desired effects, SWIM would say that 4-6mg of Lorazepam would be required to reach a similar state. This varies from person to person, though, and what gets one person off may do nothing to another, so be safe and start low.
Note: Lorazepam IS used as a sedative at hospitals, although intravenous Clonazepam is becoming more popular for seizures in SWIM's area. Diazepam and Chlordiazepoxide are also used.

[baron samedi]

Is SWIM right in thinking that neither drug mentioned falls into the "sleeping tablet" benzo (i.e. tamazepam, nitrazepam) category anyway, and are more for anxiety than insomnia?