Lorazepam/Ativan dose to stop clusters?

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Hi Folks,
New around here and new to epilepsy:
Recently diagnosed in my mid 40s after a hospital admission with a series of partial cluster seizures that left me dazed and confused for a week.
Been started on lamotrigine, and still titrating up.
I'm living in dread of another cluster and briefly discussed with GP having lorazepam tablets on hand to stop a cluster again, but didn't prescribe at this point.

Said we can revisit if I have another cluster; well I've had two episodes so far this morning, milder than previous (it's like being in a dream and recalling snatches of a terrible nightmare and thinking "I've had this nightmare before" then a feeling of raw terror, and confusion). But last time out they escalated over the course of the day until minutes apart, and I could barely bbe understood I was slurring my words that badly.
So I'm currently in dread of another seizure today and want to speak to GP about lorazepam, but wondered if anyone can tell me what dose they would be on to stop their partial seizure clusters and how they take it? For example, Xmg then wait then take Xmg or whatever?
I'm in the dark about a lot of things, and felt a bit abandoned after leaving the hospital with very little information!
Thanks very much
 
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It is very typical for my seizures to cluster every once in a while, and it is often with a tapering pattern similar to yours. Over the last few years I have used lorazepam (1 mg tablet) to treat the clusters, especially those that occur very close together (just minutes apart), as seems to be the case with you. This small amount of lorazepam is usually effective for the next few hours at least. Occasionally it can be to where the seizures return several hours later that day; however, if they do, I can take a second one if I choose. I use it only on an as-needed basis. If you need it only occasionally, and not daily, lorazepam might be useful for you, as it has been for me.
 
I get it. The partial clusters you seem to describe are my feelings exactly. For two decades or so I only had this condition until it escalated to tonic-clonics. I keep a lorazepam in a little bit on my key chain which I try to get quick if I feel an aura. But doc said don't even do that very much. Very addictive benzodiazapines for me. After a cluster of big, long tonic colonics we upped my lamotrigine from 150 to 200. And success! Ever since. No seizures since July fourth. I like to think of that as (closing in on 3 months in October 4) I did pill out the capsule for a lorazepam when I felt an aura (so I thought.) Sometimes I have an aura but no seizure follows. Welcome thanks for your story
 
Thank you very much folks! Well, I ended up calling NHS 24 yesterday, and the nurse said as the seizures were getting closer and closer together they wanted to see me, so off I went to hospital again.
Definitely going to discuss lorazepam with doctor as a rescue treatment until the lamotrigine is dialed in (hopefully) spoke to the doctor in hospital and she thought using a rescue was a great idea as the seziures seem to present in clusters.
Janus, was it 1mg you take as well? Lisa & Janus, how long does it take to stop the cluster after ingesting it?
Sorry for all the questions, I'm struggling a bit at moment. I was agoraphobic as a teen and it took a long time to get over that, but even to this day that tendancy towards thinking like that is there, so I'm pretty worried that I'm going to end up agoraphobic again.
 
The seizures cease within a few minutes after taking the lorazepam, and I remain free from them for several hours at least. If a second tablet is taken too soon after the first one it can cause drowsiness. I never seem to need a second one until at least 5 or 6 hours later that day, if at all, so that’s usually not an issue.
 
Thanks! I'm just back from doc, and he prescribed 6 X 1mg lorazepam to help with clusters. Just reading online now you can get ones that dissolve under to tongue that work faster, so may go back again and ask for those (or try crunching one of these up when I need it!)
 
i got horrid memory loss from ativan. I was in the hospital unconscious and was given 2mg every 2.5hr.....

After 4 days and 1.5 days tapering down every 4hr I lost a good 4-7 years of memory.

I remember things i do every day, but not someone i met just once, etc.

Ever since February i've been re-learning my life from posts on forums like this, photo albums from prior vacations, things like that.

when i finally got a cell phone in the hospital i called into work to say i wouldnt be in and I asked to speak with a boss of mine who was fired years ago.

Look up memory loss ativan or lorzapam. jus wait for your findings
 
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