Lorazepam

Lorazepam starts to work very quickly in your body. The calming effects from lorazepam usually start after about 30 minutes.

In most people, lorazepam has not been shown to affect weight.

It can affect the appetite but this is rare.

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you are concerned about your weight, or changes to your weight, while taking lorazepam.

You may want to let your family and friends know you are taking lorazepam so they can support you and help you look out for side effects.

Lorazepam is used to help people who cannot sleep, so you would expect it to make you feel sleepy.

Lorazepam can, however, make people feel sleepy during the day which can become a problem.

If lorazepam makes it more difficult for you to get to sleep, or gives you strange nightmares, you should go back to your doctor as soon as possible.

When you stop taking lorazepam, you may experience ‘rebound insomnia’. This means your sleep might be worse and you might get more vivid dreams immediately after stopping it, but this should improve again. If it doesn’t, discuss this with your doctor.

Alcohol
Drinking alcohol if you are taking lorazepam is not recommended as this is likely to make you very sleepy. Lorazepam may lower your tolerance to alcohol and you may experience more side effects.

This will be most noticeable during the early part of your treatment, so it is recommended that you don’t drink alcohol until you know how the medicine affects you. After this you may be able to drink a small amount of alcohol but be very careful.

Taking large amounts of alcohol and lorazepam together could be very dangerous. It may affect your breathing especially if you have an existing lung problem.

If you need to drive a car, ride a bike, or use machines at work, taking alcohol and lorazepam together could impair your ability to do this safely and be dangerous to yourself and others.

Drinking alcohol every day, or in large amounts, can make your symptoms worse and may mean you won’t get the maximum benefit from your medication.

Street drugs

It is very easy, and serious, to overdose with any combination of lorazepam and drugs. Any combination could be very dangerous.
Using cannabis with lorazepam will make sedative effects worse. You could go into a very deep sleep where you do not breathe properly and have difficulty waking up.

Cannabis and other drugs may have their own side effects on your mental health, like anxiety or psychosis.

Using heroin or methadone with lorazepam will increase their combined sedative effects. You could go into a very deep sleep where you do not breathe properly and have difficulty waking up.

Using cocaine or other stimulants (like ecstasy, amfetamines, MDA, 6-APB) with lorazepam can lead to uncertain and dangerous effects.

There are many other street drugs, but we don’t know what effect taking them with lorazepam will have, so it’s best to be cautious. There is no regulation of street drugs or ‘legal highs’, so even if there are no known issues with the medication you take, the supply you receive might be mixed with other substances that could be dangerous.

Get more advice on drugs and alcohol.

Lorazepam does not mix well with some other medicines, including herbal remedies. It may affect the way in which they work or could cause more side effects.

Tell your doctor if you are taking any other medications including over-the-counter medicines for common illnesses and things you put on your skin.

You should be very careful if you take lorazepam with other medicines that can cause sedation, especially medicines for pain relief that contain opioids (for example dihydrocodeine or morphine). When combined, these medicines may make you extremely sedated or could affect your breathing. Your doctor will monitor this carefully if you are prescribed these medicines together.

Always tell the pharmacist that you are taking lorazepam if you buy any medicines from a pharmacy.

Look at the leaflet inside your medicine box for more information about other medicines that can interact with lorazepam. With some medicines your doctor may need to adjust the dose of your medicines if you take them together. Ask a doctor or pharmacist for more information if you have any questions.

Caffeine interferes with the way lorazepam works on your body, as it has the opposite effect on your body to the medicine.

Try not to drink caffeine drinks (like coffee, cola or energy drinks) while you are taking lorazepam.

Caffeine can cause anxiety and sleep loss. Stopping these drinks might help to improve your symptoms.

The tablets contain lactose and may not be suitable for you if you have problems eating some sugars or dairy products.

The yellow 2.5mg tablets may also contain tartrazine (E102), a food additive that can cause allergic reactions. Check with your pharmacist if this is important.

Always let your pharmacist know if you have any food allergies or intolerances, and always check with them if you’re concerned about any of the ingredients in your medication.

The lorazepam liquid contains a small amount of alcohol but not enough to affect your blood alcohol level (less than the amount in 1ml of beer).

If you need to avoid animal products, please note that non-active ingredients used in the production of medicines may sometimes be of animal origin. Ask your pharmacist if you have any questions about the ingredients.

Further information about practical considerations for medicines if you need to avoid animal products can be found on the Vegan Society website.

Do not drive a car or ride a bike just after you start taking lorazepam.

Taking lorazepam may make you feel dizzy, sleepy or forgetful, and you may find it difficult to concentrate. It may also cause blurred vision and muscle weakness. This could affect you if you drive a car, ride a bike, or do anything else that needs a lot of focus.

If you are not sleeping well, this could also make driving dangerous for yourself and other people.

For these reasons, you should not ride a bike or drive a car until you know how you will be affected.

It is illegal to drive with medication in your body if it impairs your driving. It is important to stick to the dose on the prescription, and to check that you can drive safely while taking it. Ask your doctor if you’re not sure if your condition or your medicine will affect your driving.

You may also have to prove that you have been prescribed lorazepam by your doctor, so you should keep your repeat prescription slip with you in case you asked. The Department of Transport website has more details.

Pregnancy

If you become pregnant while on lorazepam, you should carry on taking it and make an appointment to see your doctor as soon as possible. They can discuss the benefits and risks of continuing lorazepam and help you to make a decision that is best for you and your baby.

They may refer you to a specialist perinatal mental health team to support you with your decision,

You can find out more information about taking amitriptyline during pregnancy at Bumps (Best Use of Medicines in Pregnancy).

Untreated anxiety can also be harmful to you and your developing baby, so decision about stopping or avoiding medication when you are pregnant need to be discussed carefully with your doctor. If you and your doctor agree that it is best for you to continue taking lorazepam while pregnant, you should tell your midwife. If you are planning to get pregnant, it is recommended that you take folic acid while you are trying for a baby and during pregnancy. It is safe to take this together with lorazepam.

Post-natal

Some new born babies whose mothers take lorazepam during pregnancy can get withdrawal symptoms at birth and soon after, like breathing problems or restlessness.

Tell your midwife if you are taking lorazepam, so that they can help if the baby has any symptoms after birth.

Breastfeeding

Lorazepam is passed to the baby in breastmilk in small amounts.
If your baby was born early, then breastfeeding while you are taking lorazepam may not be recommended. Talk to your midwife and doctor about feeding options.

If you breastfeed while taking lorazepam, seek urgent medical advice if your baby becomes restless, very sleepy or develops feeding problems.

Sex

Lorazepam can have side effects that affect your sex life. These are rare but might include:

• loss of sex drive, or sometimes feeling more like having sex
• feeling ‘numb’
• feeling less inhibited about sex
• difficulty reaching orgasm
• problems with getting an erection

Untreated anxiety can have a negative effect on your sex life, so if lorazepam helps you to recover, positive effects can include improving your desire, experience and enjoyment of sex as your mood lifts and you become more interested in life and relationships again.

Fertility

There is no evidence that lorazepam affects fertility. Talk to your doctor about your lorazepam if you are trying to get pregnant or planning a family.

Lorazepam is not a banned substance in sport.

Some of the side effects of taking lorazepam might make it more difficult to play sports, such as feeling sleepy, blurred eyesight and difficulty concentrating. If you have any concerns, discuss this with your doctor.

Lorazepam may affect your concentration, give you blurred eyesight and make you feel tired.

Ideally it is best not to take lorazepam for the first time just before your exams.

It is not possible to predict how the medication will make you feel, and if you do get any side effects, there are more likely to occur when you first start taking lorazepam.

You should talk to your doctor about future exams if you are starting lorazepam. You might decide together to delay starting it until you have done them.

If they are more than a month away, however, you might find that it is better to start lorazepam to improve your sleep and your motivation and ability to study.

Most people take exams as normal while taking lorazepam, but if you have any concerns, discuss this with your doctor.