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health advisory Hospital Mental Health 2007-11-15 19:01:47

My mother in law was recently in an inpatient mental facility. The doctor they had on call was ignorant and was going to release her even though she was suicidal. We convinced him that it was not a good idea. Anyway, to summarize my question--he prescribed Ativan & Lexapro as well as a few other things. I thought that the two meds. had a counter-effect on each other, but was wondering if anyone had any ideas on this. Thanks!

Answer:

They do not counteract one another. They complement one another. One is an anti-depressant and the other is an anti-anxiety medication. But if you are concerned over the quality of care and/or the appropriateness of the medications prescribed, it's probably a good idea to make sure she sees another psychiatrist upon release from the facility.

I am a little frightened that one of the people answering here is (or claims to be) an MD and they don't know that Ativan is one of the *least* addictive of all of the benzodiazepine family as far as the literature is concerned, not the *most* addictive :)

What concerns me more is that the doctor gave your mother in law a medication that she could overdose on. Please have someone in the family keep possession of her medications if they have any reason to suspect that she is still suicidal, because you can die of Ativan overdose.

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If you want to become a statistic like Anna Nicole then yes.

Get a second opinion and keep the medications away from her.

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no i do not think so. they work different ways.

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dr knows best sometimes it takes more than one med. to help solve the problem

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lexapro is an antidepressant, ativan is an antianxiety medication. Many people take both. Ativan is given routinely to calm the nerves