Is it safe to take Ativan? The whole benzo addiction thing scares me!

[RevolutioN2013]

I'm a pre-nursing student so I'm pretty ignorant about drugs. My grandmother died in September and I had a really traumatic experience at the hospital the night she died which ended in a panic attack. Since then I have had a few mild to moderate anxiety attacks. They occurred in situations that really don't seem like they should cause anxiety. The first one I remember clearly was when my husband and I were taking a new used minivan on a 2 hour trip. A customer (husband is the GM of a used car place) had traded it in and we were driving it for the weekend. I remember being very anxious about the safety of the vehicle. Throat wanted to close up which made the panic feelings rise. I tried to read and focus my thoughts on something but my mind just did NOT want to slow down and focus. After about an hour or so it went away. During that weekend I had a few "moments" but nothing sustained like that drive. Then during my first CNA class meeting I had the same thing occur again. It was very annoying because I was antsy and anxious at a completely inappropriate time and felt there was nothing I could DO about it. At least with my husband I could have asked him to stop the car and let me get out and walk around or something. Anyway, now I'm worried that I'm going to have this anxiety at other inconvenient times so when I was at the doctor getting my Hep B shot I asked her for something. She gave me a Px for Ativan - .5 mg and gave me a talk about SSRI inhibitors versus Benzo drugs and how the former would not help me but the latter are addictive and to be very careful and to come back and see her if I find myself taking them too often. So now I have this Px in my pocketbook but am not sure I want to have it filled. I don't even like taking Tylenol if I have a headache so I'm just very leery of this. Is it safe for me to take this stuff?

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

We can't give medical advice here--the best person to discuss your concerns with is your physician.

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

as mentioned in the previous post as per terms of service, which you agreed to when you joined the site, we can't give medical advice, you really need to speak to your own doctor

this is not a medical advice bulletin board

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