ativan and my dad.....not for the elderly

Chronological order:
Friday my dad was fine. He drove to the barber for a hair cut. My parents house is a two story with all bedrooms upstairs. He climbs the stairs daily. My dad talks without a problem and knows where he is and is totally coherent.

Saturday he feel at home. My mom could not get him up and he was hurting. Ambulance too dad to the hospital. CAT scan, cbc, and a barrage of tests all came up negative. He was released from hospital ER. We tried to get him up but his back was hurting him. He was totally with it mentally. Dr decided to re-admit dad to hospital. Dad was standing next to his ER bed but hurt to much to walk. We got him back into bed. He was in pain but talking without any trouble.

Saturday 3:00 I asked for pain meds for my dad.......they gave him ativan. Not knowing what ativan was, I was happy to see my dad doze off. I told him to enjoy this, the pain will eas up and you can rest now.

Sunday 8 am the Dr gave him another dose of ativan. When my dad finally woke up he could not speak. I was told ativan will wear off in 12 hrs, then 24 hrs, then 48 hrs. It has been three weeks. My dad cannot stand up, he cannot feed himself, he is wearing a diaper. His speech is slured at best. He is confused, he is not sure where he is, he asks about his father and brother as if they were still alive.

I read up on ativan.....it is NOT for the elderly, it is NOT for an elderly that drinks daily. it is not for anelderly with liver problems, it is not for the elderly with high blood pressure.

The Drs have not answered my questions about ativan, or why they prescribed it to my dad.

On May 14, we will put my dad into a nursing home. Hopfully he will get better.

From a vibrant, self supporting old man who drove daily, fed himself, negotiated stairs, paid his own bills, loved crosswords and working in his backyard TO a helpless near vegetable old man without a clue to where he is, or how to feed himself.

Sorry for rambling, but I had to get this off my chest and this forum seemed to be a good place to start.

Hello Kx_dad,

I am so sorry to hear what has happened to your father; is he any better now? I came to this forum because my mother was taken to the hospital by my sister for pain in her stomach.(I live in a different state)

It turned out to be a problem with her pancreas; she is 83 and in great shape. Her mind is as sharp as a tact. She was getting a little restless and couldn't sleep so they gave her Ativan 1.5 mg. When she woke up, like your father, she was talking strange, slurring her speech, seeing things that weren't there, talking to people that weren't there and so on.

She was on ativan for 2 days and I told my sister to have them stop the medication at which time they did. She has been off of it for one whole day now and is still acting very strange. She is at home with my sister and everything is ok with her pancreas but she is all messed up in the mind.

Anyway I was just hoping for your sake and mine that your father is getting better? If anyone else on this forum has anything to say please do so.

Thank you all!

Semper Fi

my dad was in the er because he had a few beers and he decided to go for some reason they kept him for alcohol withdrawel he calls this am and he is fine i called this evening and they said he attacked 5 nurses and a phlybotomist he has never even raised his voice in his life the nurse said he was given ativan in the er 3 times for alcohol withdrawel he is 81 and was restrained and bruised from elbow to finger tip i dont know what to do i hope he is fine tommorow gosh he only had 6 beers why would you give a 81 year old ativan does anyone know if i have something for a attorney to handle i hated to see him all bruisede up and restrained

My father was admitted to the hospital three weeks ago for congestive heart failure. He was having trouble getting comfortable so he was given ativan. We could not wake him for all most three days. He could walk before... now he is bed ridden and having trouble swallowing. He is also 81 years old. This has been a nightmare for our family. The hospital sent him home in this condition. It seemed they really wanted to get him out of there. We are considering taking legal action.

i transferred my dad to a new hospitl the new md said he was overmedicated and our family psychiatrist said i wasright it was a paradoxal reaction the first hospital was going to send him to long term acute care hell no my dad only took a aspirin a day and functioned like u and me the new hospital stablized him he had the feeding tube catheter and iv s taken out and the dr said he was in good health one thing he was transferred to a nursing home for rehab he can no longer walk or write he is p off i have called a few lawyers but they said call back if he has any long term effects well he cant walk.... i am still trying different law firms any suggestion i heard the nurse at the home on the phone also talking to another family he mentioned they did not want ativan for their loved one any comments please reply

vwent51 wrote:

My father was admitted to the hospital three weeks ago for congestive heart failure. He was having trouble getting comfortable so he was given ativan. We could not wake him for all most three days. He could walk before... now he is bed ridden and having trouble swallowing. He is also 81 years old. This has been a nightmare for our family. The hospital sent him home in this condition. It seemed they really wanted to get him out of there. We are considering taking legal action.

see my comment below

My Dad died January 14. He never walked again. I feel Ativan started this whole thing. I wish there was some way we could stop the use of ativan on the elderly.

i m sorry yes this is true i have no idea what to do since i am familiar wth these type of meds i knew right away what was causing my dads delerium i do know it is widely prescribed by the drs at the rewhab center

if u ever find any attorney to handle this please contact me i will be glad to help my email is sylvia300@yahoo.com

It is considered a chemical restraint Drug.
Thank you.

my dad is home with me he can walk now but no longer remmbers how to drive and does not remember my mom who died 4 years ago and married 50 years he does understand that his medication of ativan caused this and said he just does not understand he will never be able to live alone again he is not the same person he was on dec23 rd 2008 and i told him he will never be i am going to look for an attorney look up this website about elder drug mis us http:www.eldersubstancemisuse. org/medication.php
it gives a lot of insight as to what to expect my dad has all the side effects of the drug

I am glad your Dad is back home and can walk. It is sad what a toll Ativan did on his memory though. Thanks for the website. I will check it out. If you find something please let me know. vwent51@yahoo.com .... We have contacted a few attorneys here, but it seems no one wants to take our case. I don't know if it is because my father was 81 or because they don't want to take on a large hospital. We just want to make sure that the elderly are protected from this drug Ativan. It won't help my Dad or your Dad but it might help others. I wish you and your Dad the best.

To the people whose elderly relatives were affected negatively:

these are some the most radical reactions to a benzodiazepine i've ever read, and i'm sorry for your loss. ativan is one of the most powerful benzos (i partially speak from personal experience).

i wish you luck in your legal endeavors. thank you for spreading this information -- my elderly grandparents are dear to me, and i will make sure they don't take Ativan.

I am not elderly, but I can tell you Ativan took out 5 months of my life. I was given Ativan for anxiety in my throat. This was a reaction to an allergic reaction from penicillin. I was on the lowest dose for 45 days, and I was hooked physiologically. Getting off Ativan was a NIGHTMARE. And if I was not determined to get my life back, I don't know if I could have.
Never take ativan at any age.

My 90 year old mother was taken from assisted-living to hospital due to increasing confusion. An MRI was ordered and Ativan (I don't know what dosage) was administered to keep her calm during procedure which was on Thursday. Friday she was alternately violent or completely non-responsive. Saturday morning she seemed nearly comatose and was hard to awaken. Saturday evening she again became violent (all 108 lbs. of her)! Sunday morning she was taking swipes at everyone but by Sunday afternoon seemed to come back to appropriate behavior and responses. She walked with the use of a walker prior to entering hospital, but is now in need of "maximum assistance" to even get out of bed and grasp the walker properly. There will be no more Ativan for her!! Sorry I didn't know about this reaction prior to giving the OK. This is a fine line we walk trying to help our parents hold on to a decent quality of life without drugging them into oblivion.

My 88 year old father fell and broke his hip. He was fine the day after surgery, then that night he was given Ativan because he was restless. He has been horribly agitated and has had to be restrained since then. I told the staff at the hospital not to give him any more morphine or ativan. He was better yesterday, just very sleepy, then he became restless again last night. They called the doctor and he told them to prescribe Ativan! We're right back to the nightmare today. I think it's time to notify the FDA about this drug!

I am with you..I hate ATIVAN. It is so bad for the elderly and for that matter anyone. It is because the medical personal don't want to be bothered. It is sad. I have read where it is the drug of choice in nursing homes. What can we do? Prayers for your Dad.

My 84 year old grandmother was admitted to the Hospital in SC for Pneumonia. She has heart trouble, high blood pressure, and COPD. She is a calm, sweet little ole lady. Mentallly, she is still sharp until this next event. She complained to my mom about being uncomfortable and unable to rest. You guessed it; she was given Ativan .5mg. She feel right off to sleep. My mom exhausted left for a shower and change of clothing. The hospital called and reported she had swung at 3 staff. Mom went back to find a Mother who did not recognize her and was verbally abusive to everyone. She got so violent they had to restrain her. She was sent home with a Script of Ativan. I found this information out and told mom not to give her anymore. Within a few hours, she was back to her mild natured self. It has taken her two months to get her mental status back to normal. Also, it took her 3weeks to be able to walk with a steady gait again. She still gets confused where her bedroom is located (She has lived in the same house for 60 years). I work in a mental hospital and Ativan is used only in small doses and not on our elderly patients, ever. I wonder why regular hospital still think is the standard treatment for the elderly or anyone. They are so many new and wonderful drugs without the side effects of Ativan. My mother is considering suing the doctor. I told her it was not worth it but to change doctors.

Hey, I went through this exact thing with my mother. She was independent, lived to cook, vibrant. Her doctor put her on Lorazepam (Ativan) as needed and my mother couldn't walk, talk, and she became very depressed. I did research and she was off that drug and placed on Mirtazapine and she is like her old self. I saw it happen right before my eyes and in 1-2 days I noticed the changes. Please email me at cmania1@cox.net if you have any questions.

I came to this site looking for information about Ativan and I definately found what I was looking for. I just turned 19 about three days ago I started having problems breathing. I couldn't get enough air in and it felt like someone had knocked the wind out of me. It had been two full days when I finally had my boyfriend drive to the doctor because I was having such a hard time getting air in all the way. The doctor told me I was having a panic attack and that he wanted to put me on Lorazepam/Ativan. I knew about this drug because I am currently in the nursing program going for my RN and I knew what it had done to my mom and my grandmother. It was horrid. I said I didnt want to take it and that I didn't think I was having a panic attack and that something else was wrong that was causing me to not feel I was getting enough air in. That was yesterday. I took one .5 milligram ativan because I didn't know what else to do and have had absolutely no change at all. I still can't breathe and I feel like I have not taken anything. I am afraid to take any more because it is not the dosage that causes addiction and problems, but the drug itself. I would like to say that I do not feel that Ativan should be given at any age and it seems to me that the doctors and nurses I have seen have been giving out Ativan like candy and like candy, Ativan can have very poor effects.

On another note, does anyone know what would be causing me to feel like I am not getting enough oxygen into my lungs? My vitals seem to be normal, and apparently my lungs sound ok, but I know something is wrong and I fear that any doctor I go to will hand me a prescription for Ativan and send me on my way without diagnosing the real problem.

Nikita, 19, Washington State.