Which one is better in your opinion for medication: Ativan or Ambien?
I seriously think that they have the same effects, but Ativan is a benzodiazapine and Ambien is just a sleep aid right? I would love too know which has the least side effects. Thank you for your answer.
Chosen Answer:
Ativan is for anxiety and Ambien is for sleep. One isn’t a substitute for the other. They both have lots of side effects, as do all medicines. You really just have to find out for yourself under a doctors care. People don’t always get any or all of the side effects and the medicines affect everyone slightly different. Some people can’t tolerate certain medicines. You need to be asking your doctor these questions.
by:
on: 23rd December 09
Well, considering that they are prescribed for completely different reasons I couldn’t really advise you which one is better. If these medications are being prescribed to you, ask the prescribing doctor. I can tell you this, they are both addictive and taking one or the other should not be a decision you make without a doctor’s advice.
Good question, here’s the skinny:
Ativan is a Benzodiazepine tranquilizer with sedative-hypnotic, anxiolytic (anti-anxiety), muscle-relaxant, and anti-convulsant properties. This means it can be prescribed for anything from insomnia to panic disorder and many other things.
Ambien, or zolpidem (generic) is structurally similar to the benzodiazepines and shares a few properties with them. Ambien is mainly a hypnotic agent, meaning it is conducive to sleep but doesn’t necessarily “knock you out”. It will put you on your ass though if you are tired, but interestingly ambien has a few odd side effects not usually seen with benzos. I have experienced LSD-like hallucinations after taking 20-30 mg of ambien and staying up on the computer. This is widely reported on the net as well, so I know it wasn’t just me.
Similar to benzos, people have been known to “black out” on ambien and report driving, cooking, cleaning, even going to work while in an unconscious state. This is called anterograde amnesia where memory for an event is not recorded in the brain. This happens on benzos when enough is taken.
In total, ambien is really a benzo derivative that is lacking most of the major effects except for sedative/hypnotic properties, making it practically unsuitable for anything but sleep or possibly psychedelic experimentation. Ativan, along with xanax, valium, klonopin, halcion, serax, temazepam, etc is a much more versatile drug suitable mainly for relief of anxiety. Depending on the benzo, some have more of one effect than others, as well as having different half-life elimination rates from the body. Short-acting benzos such as xanax and ativan are used for rapid relief from panic attacks, etc and have relatively little sedating effect. In other words, they are ok to use while awake. In my opinion the Ativan is a more useful drug all around, but ambien would be the choice if you’re looking to sleep.
Ativan is for anxiety and Ambien is for sleep. One isn’t a substitute for the other. They both have lots of side effects, as do all medicines. You really just have to find out for yourself under a doctors care. People don’t always get any or all of the side effects and the medicines affect everyone slightly different. Some people can’t tolerate certain medicines. You need to be asking your doctor these questions.