My DH is very compliant and doesn't have behavior issues but he jerks and does a slapping motion against the sheet with his hand during the night. Also talks in his sleep and moves around in bed. He gets up every 2 to 3 hours to pee but doesn't have to go near that often during the day. He can't find the bathroom or the commode. This keeps me awake off and on all night. I tried sleeping in another room but I have to set the motion detector alarm so I will know when he gets up to use the bathroom. I took him to the doctor today and he prescribed Lorazepam. I thought this was an anxiety medication. He is very calm and cooperative during the day. What are some of your experiences with this medication. Would it actually help him sleep better? Also, how long does it last? I'm hoping it will last all night if it helps but don't want him to be a zombie during the day.
Dazed, this is my most adored medicine for DH when he is ansy or have the jerks! I think its worked well with many of our spouses here with the exception of a few it made them more anxious. in our case, I call it the med from heaven:) one tiny .5mg pill -it makes my DH late stage sleep well, keeps him not too drugged he can still function and smiley next day. I was hesitant to use any of them too but this was a godsend for us. I use as needed. esp during full moons! by morning my DH is ok enough to sit and eat and then dozes more. as dr says try it an hr before bedtime. it should help. if you can get it to dissolve under tongue it works very well and faster..:) or in mouth without food. mine will try to spit it out so I have to use a syringe with a TINY tad of water to dilute and squirt under tongue. good luck divvi
I use it, too. Sometimes, it does seem to make him MORE agitated, but works well most of the time. I've had to play around with the dosage and how often I give it and it's all trial and error, but it's the best thing for DH. I can't give him too much, though, because he needs help getting in/out of bed and chairs and he's so much heavier than me, if I increase the dosage above .5, I can't get him up. Didn't know about putting it under his tongue. I've been giving it with applesauce - he just can't swallow it with water, but I suppose it would finally dissolve in his mouth?? I'm also giving him Risperdal along with Ativan at bedtime.
Dazed. my DH is one of the people that Ativan sometimes makes him more anxious. I use it like divvi when he gets antsy (0,5 mgs). Sometimes it works to calm him and sometimes it has the opposite effect. I've learned that if I wait until he is very anxious to give it to him, it makes him more anxious, so I give it at the first sign. The Ativan at night worked only for a few hours and then he was up again. We've been fighting the sleeping battle for at least 3 years and he is now on a high dose of Neurontin plus other meds at bedtime which is finally working.
yes Vickie it will dissolve quickly. I find it works quicker if dissolves in the mouth under tongue where its absorbed quickly. my rn even said if all else fails you can stick in rectum for faster action. uh. I prefer the tongue! hah. just make sure they don't spit it out before it dissolves. LFL the Neurontin also worked well for my DH for control and agitation too but since we use the Ativan and hes not too bad I dropped the Neurontin unless the jerks get really bad. usually the Ativan takes care of it.
Ativan- really more often the generic lorazepam was the go-to for my husband. I take it also. For myself I take 0.5 specifically to help me sleep. Sometimes if I wake up in a 4am panic I will take another 0.5. Always under the tongue. It absorbs very quickly and does not have any taste, at least not to me. It is very short acting- I don't know the actual half-life. I had read some time ago that docs switched from Xanax (alprazolam) to lorazepam because of half life concerns but I don't understand it well enough to explain it.
H took lorazepam both at home and at facilities. Never took Neurontin as far as I know. Took levitracetam (Keppra) at home but that was discontinued at the facilities where he was given rispiradol (sp).
His lorazepam dosage was higher than posted above. At the least it was 1mg qid and up to 2mg qid.
Oh my, I was hoping this would be our magic pill. I gave him one last night 0.5 mg. It did help with the jerking but he still talked all night in his sleep and was still up every 2 or 3 hours to go to the bathroom. Worse still, he fell for the first time at 3:00 AM. He either fell out of bed or fell getting up out of bed. We have one of the high beds and he landed with a thud that woke me up and over to the floor on his side of the bed in 2 seconds. It took forever to try to get him up without hurting my back again. He couldn't understand that he had to get up on his hands and knees and pull himself up on the bedpost. He just kept scooting on the floor. We do have carpet in the bedroom but he must have landed on his foot. His ankle, foot and toes are swollen and black and blue. He also says his back hurts. I don't know if this was related to his new medication or not but I put another one under his tongue (like Divvi suggested) before he went to bed tonight. I didn't want to give up after only one pill. Need good thoughts, prayers and hugs tonight.
I have a motion detector alarm by the bedroom door to wake me if he starts out of the bedroom. Has anyone tried placing one so it goes off if they sit up in bed and start to get up? The way he moves around in bed, it would probably be going off all night. I just don't know what to do next. Have many of us have said that? - Common problem around here, I know.
dazed can you push his side of bed up to a wall to keep him in? wow still getting up with .5mg Ativan. my DH barely moves with that amount and its a tiny potent pill. give it a few days like you say and see how he adjusts. could it be time for a hospital bed maybe with rails to keep him in? or would he try to crawl over them? of course the first meds can make them drowsy and so does Ativan. if it helped with the jerks that's a start. maybe talk to the dr about something to help him stay down now if the Ativan doesn't help with sleep. hope hes ok after the fall. ps if his foot or ankle hurts he can fall again. :(
I've used .5 mg Lorazapam for dh for the past 3 years to calm him. Early after DX he was aggressive until he was put on Celexa and lorazapam. I've used the lorazapam to calm him many times and when he was in the hospital I urged the nurses to give it to him more often than they wanted to. They finally did see things my way and gave him what I told them to. For us, I thought that drug was simply wonderful. However, when I asked the neurologist to refill his RX this time he told me that most dementia patients have a paradoxical reaction to lorazapam. That was not our experience. Anyway, I have quit giving it to dh except on a as needed basis if he gets aggressive for any reason. He sleeps well (Tarazadon at night and melatonin) and doesn't seem to need the lorazapam.
Dazed, his falling out of bed may be directly related to the lorazapam. DH's dr told me to be very careful when first giving it to him because they are often confused and unstable until the body adjusts. Divvi's suggestion about pushing the bed against a wall is a good one and probably safer than bed rails which he could climb over.
I too have the motion alarms and have now positioned it so it will go off when he puts his legs over the side of the bed. That way we can get to him before he's out of bed so he doesn't fall (he still has a broken knee). It does go off if he gets too close to the side of the bed, so you really have to find a position that doesn't have you up all night.
Keep an eye on the foot and ankle...sounds like its a very bad sprain or possibly a break based on the coloration you describe. Maybe an elastic foot/ankle brace may help give him some support until it heals.
I hope last night was better and you both got some much needed rest.
Update on second night with Lorazepam - First night I gave it at supper along with his other pills. Last night I waited until bed time and did the 'under the tongue' thing that Divvi suggested. Worked like a charm. He slept for 10 hours. No jerking, very little talking, no getting up. I got 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep, which is more than I've had in months. But..... when I was in the kitchen this morning making coffee, the motion detector alarm went off. I hurried in the bedroom and he was standing beside the bed looking very confused and peeing all over my just cleaned carpet and on the side of the bed.
After washing him up, getting him dressed, stripping the bed, sopping up the carpet with towels and sprinkling baking soda, I was wondering if the good night's sleep was really worth it.
The carpet smells. May have to start another thread or bring up some old ones (if I can find them) to ask how to clean and deodorize. He also fell again today. Just sat down where there was no chair. Trying to get him up without hurting my back again seems impossible.
Hi Dazed, seems like every little victory always has a downside. Glad you gave it to him at or close (w/i an hour) of bedtime...that should work. But it still sounds like he's adjusting to the med, hence the confusion, or as our resident expert divvi says, he could be unstable due to the ankle and foot injury.
Since DH has become more incontinent, he will also get up of the bed and just pee on the carpet before getting to the bathroom. Several of our veterans here have recommended Nature's Miracle spray (in pet stores) to help remove the urine smell. Of course if you have wall to wall carpeting it's important to get it clean out of the carpet/padding before it soaks to the subflooring because then it will never come out. My routine is take several dry bath towels, put them over the area that's been peed on and stomp on them until you get all the urine out of the carpet. Then pour about a quart of water (can be in increments) over the pee spot and continually lay down bath towels, stomp on them until you get all the pee out. Then spray liberally with nature's miracle, repeat the towel/stomping routine a few times. Let the rug dry completely. Then sprinkle liberally with baking soda. Let stand an hour or more then vacuum. So far that has worked for us, but I envision needing a professional carpet cleaner at least 2/3 times a year to really remove the smell. My goal is to make sure it doesn't get into the subflooring...it's much cheaper to replace just the carpet and padding without the subflooring. This past week my sister suggested getting laminate in the bedroom but I'm not so sure that is a good alternative.
Lorazepam hasn't really done much for my DH. I asked his neuro for it back in July when he was walking outdoors constantly. It really didn't slow him down very much. I recently used it before a dental appointment, but I think I should have given it to him sooner because he was still very impatient in the chair and the dentist couldn't really complete the cleaning. Of course, when it was my turn, he was dozing in the waiting room! Maybe better luck next time.
LFL, the laminate might not be a bad idea. My sister, who is mentally handicapped, lives in a 100 bed facility which replaced the hallway carpeting with laminate about two years ago. It has been much easier to maintain and has really cut down on the odor, since some of the residents have incontinence problems.
DW took Lorazapam for the past several years and until recent it controlled her Sundowning. Over the last 3weeks she's transitioned from easily manageable to totally inmanagable even with aides 12hrs a day She's now Inpatient at Hopice in an attempt to regulated her meds. She must be attended 24x7 by a sitter, or volunteer She is battling inoperable cancer and late stage Alzheimer's. Her cancer pain in minimal. she"s now been receiving every drug in the armory in various combinations and doseages -Morphine Ativan, Haldol, Seroquol & Restoral. net result She s catatonic days and paces incessantly all night. she's incredibly restless, but eatin and consuming fluids which had stopped for four days prior to admin. and has lost all recognition of our children and myself in this nonstop decent into oblivion This far no success regulating her meds at all and Hospice is recommending a locked down nursing home(snake pits)
Oh Marty, how in the world does your DW have the energy to pace with all those meds in her system? So sorry she and you have to go through this. Makes my problems seem minor although this may be down the road for us.
LFL, thank you so much for your suggestions. I'm afraid I didn't get the urine soaked up enough because I also had to take care of DH - get him cleaned up, dressed, fed, etc. I'm going to call the professional cleaners back today and also try to get some of the spray you suggested from the pet store. Then decide what to replace the carpet with or what to put over it to prevent this from happening again as he progresses. I did see the doctor about his foot. He didn't do x-rays. He thinks it's just bruised and strained/sprained. He didn't complain about any pain yesterday but he did fall again.
I didn't give the Lorazepam last night so we had another restless night. I've been reading that antidepressants might help. He takes 30 mg of Cymbalta in the morning. Others here have said they experimented with medications on their own so I may try another 30 mg. at night.
Elaine K, a laminate floor in the bedroom might be a good idea. I wonder if he might slip and fall in the urine, though. Don't know what I'd do without all of you wonderful people here. Thank you so much for responding with help for my problems.
dazed well yes a tradeoff:) if he (you) finally stayed down 10hrs its normal his bladder would be full. and hewould have to pee asap if up. esp since you say hes trying to go every few hrs. a rubber mat by the bed with a couple cheap rubber backed floor rugs to trap pee would help. thin rugs so he doesn't trip. and aren't you using the depends with him yet? maybe a porta potty chair next to his side to use quickly? this stage is so hard. the inbetween ones where they aren't totally incontinent but misfiring into odd areas! I w know another member was asking how to keep them without peeing and I could suggest one of the zip back jumpsuits at night where he cant get it off. at least he wont be peeing anywhere but in the depend. then you change frequently and he should adjust. the urine smells yes are an issue. many older posts about cleaning. the best way is to deter before they can do it. like I say keeping them intact where they cant get to the apparatus:) to do damage. at this point its time for the transitions in recognizing that incontinence is on the way. being prepared is going to help when its full blown. so transitions are necessary. many want to see them using depends and clothing they cant get out of as demeaning. well in our minds yes, but if its going to work to keep us caregivers sane while dealing with incontinence its something we must consider. and the damage they can to to our homes is great. the foot pain may be the cause of his falling along with a bit of adjustment to the Ativan. the body does adjust eventually to deal with the med. I have a sprained elbow and it hurts like crazy if I stress it. so yes his ankle would be a concern when standing. good luck. you are working thru the issues at hand.
Arrive at Hospice inpatient floor at 8:45AM and there is DW bright eyed and smiling, She leaps from behind the food tray to hug me and plants a kiss on my lips. I take over from volunteer who was feeding her and she ate a fair amount. Next in a soft voice "take me home." I got her dressed, and out of bed and walked the halls out into the sunlight terrace and then back to bed where she fell into a catatonic sleep. Redefining a rollercoaster ride.
mary your guess is as good as mine. after so many years the body parts tend to wear don't they! pulling on DH or lifting I would guess. its better with a bit of exercise and ice. went to doc and he says more muscular. so it could be the way I was typing here too:) you are sweet to ask.
marty this disease never ceases to amaze. good you got some quality time before the sleep attack.
marty, they do change from day to day, don't they? Seems we all want a timeline and there isn't any. I don't know which stage of this disease is the worst - but none of them are easy.
Divvi.....No, No, No, I don't want to join..... - hear me screaming and crying while being dragged into the pee and poop club? I'm on my way to Buck & Buck to look for proper clothing and will start looking at Depends, (yuck). Also some rugs or something to put down beside the bed. Didn't someone suggest puppy pads? I know I should have gotten him up during the night but the sleep was so wonderful, I just couldn't. I've been working on the carpet today using suggestions by LFL and my carpet cleaning guy who said to use vinegar and water. I mixed it up and poured it all over the stain, let it set for a few minutes and then did the stomping dance using a whole pile of towels. Now our bedroom smells like pickles.
There goes the image of star spangled tights and Divvi's preformance on the high wires. Divvi, Voltaren Emulgel might help. It's an anti-inflammatory (Diclofenac) gel. Rubbed in gently, it is absorbed by the skin into the blood stream, thus bypassing the gut, which for some people is the chief knock against using an anti-inflammatory. I've just convinced myself I'll try some on my swollen and aching jaw, result of the extraction of a large molar whose root had cracked.
Dazed, the stomping dance CAN be therapeutic after a difficult day. I was advised not to use vinegar because it would set the stain (I always use gallons of vinegar for cleaning just about everything.) Hey pickles are better than pee!
Puppy pads are good but you should tape them down on the carpet because they have the slippery underside and with your spouses bad foot/ankle, he could slide and fall on them. Maybe puppy pads taped to the floor under a rubber bath mat? They can catch the "run-off" from the mat. I'll have to try that myself.
Oh, I forgot to mention that once I got everything up that I can after the baking soda and vacuuming, I spay the no scent febreeze as an extra measure.
Now to go work on the rug in the family room that just started mysteriously smelling of pee...DH or dog?
Dazed: When you said "they" do change from day to day.... in this case not only does DW change which I am accustomed to, but the specific meds, the strength of the dose, oral or IM and time between doses has been changing trying to find a balance. The only definite in the equasion is the anxiety attack that hits me when I pull into the hospital parking lot not knowing what to expect. Last night I was ready to campaign for Euthanasia, This AM 180 difference.
Marty, maybe you need some of this Lorazepam. I think it's actually prescribed for anxiety. I know that feeling, though. I get it every time I take DH somewhere. I never know how he's going to act, what he's going to do, or what he's going to say. You're further along in the journey than we are and it must be heartbreaking every time you visit.
....For some reason, I can't keep from reading these woeful stories. I wish there was some way that I could help. It's been several years since I was having the same ....pee on the carpet....problems, but I can tell you what I did. ....At the Home Depot store, I bought a roll of clear plastic carpet protector. It was about 30 inches wide, and had sharp little bumps on the bottom to keep it from sliding around on the wall to wall carpet. I put it down all the way from her side of the bed to the potty, about 18ft. Then I cut some cheap carpet into 3ft. by 6ft. pads, and placed them over the plastic. ....Every time she soiled a pad, I would take it out into the patio and hose it off with the garden hose and hang it on the patio wall to dry. I had extra pads to replace it. ...............................GeorgieBoy
Dazed if you go ahead and get with the issues at hand BEFORE you are thrown into the hayhem then its not that bad! its when you are floating in denialland and then your carpets are covered with pee and furniture in poop and you unknowingly follow your nose to the surprise of your life. if you start some of the necessary steps now you may never get to where some of us have been. the outer limits! haha. I was naïve and so overwhelmed I had no idea what to do to help with our issues when it was happening but survival kicked in and I found ways to deter and detest:) now my wisdom of poop queen says deter before it gets too bad with any and all products and ideas to get in control early. remember I had white small garbage cans all over my house and used them many many times to catch it before it made a mess. but I was 24/7 chasing mine as he was always getting into trouble. if I had it to do it over I would definitely use the back closure clothing to keep them out of messes. and the clothing looks really decent now, like a regular 2 pc leisure type suit or jogger outfit. ok kick and scream and get used to the idea sooner than later. like miss bama says we just have to pull up those big girl panties and move on.:))) hugs, yes nobody wants to join this club. I used the puppy pads and they slip around so be careful and tape them down. I found the rubber type carpets better and throw in washer.
Thanks Georgieboy for your suggestion. I'll try it. Did she trip on the carpet pads? That's my major concern since DH's walking is a bit unsteady due to his broken knee cap.
Divvi, it's OTC and usually with the liniments and muscle rubs, such as Ben Gay and Absorbine Junior. Well, Voltaren didn't work for my jaw and have just got back from an emergency visit to my dentist. He packed the socket with oil of cloves dressing and am on an antibiotic. So, upward and onward.
The carpet I cut into pads was quite stiff and the same on both sides. Although it came in a roll, and if it had a tendency to curl I would just turn it over. I didn't need to tape it down.
georgestreit, it's hard to believe you're 92 years old. You have a mind as sharp as a 20 year old and much wisdom and caring to go with it. Thank you for your suggestion. I think the plastic carpet protector would be an excellent idea. I probably will not use the carpet strips. I wouldn't be able to cut them and he would trip for sure. I finally got the stain and smell out with vinegar and water. It didn't set the stain, LFL. Maybe it depends on the kind of stain. My temporary solution is rubber backed bath mats covered with a bath towel beside his bed.
Taking divvi's advice, I did go ahead and buy Depends but he is OK, for now, since I stopped the Lorazepam. I do know it's coming, though. Hope your elbow is better, divvi.
His doctor said there is a whole list of drugs we could try to help him sleep better. Could someone suggest what I should try next?
My husband is urinary incontinent, so during the day he wears Tena for men. They cost a bit more but he is comfortable and they feel more like underwear. I wasn't happy with the Depends brand. Nighttime is a whole other story, but I won't get into that here.
He also takes 1 mg of ativan in the morning and can have up to 2 more pills during the day if needed. They do not make him sleepy at all but have helped with his pounding on things/himself. He takes 75 mg of seroquel at bedtime and that helps him stay in bed at night and no drowsiness the next day. I don't have to deal with the talking....he is pretty much non-verbal.
dazed I think now is the time to get him into the depend friend. when its not necessary. it makes the whole stress a bit less:) the new depend briefs that feel more like underwear are soft and not diaper like now. they have come a long way in urinary issues! thank goodness. glad to hear hes better. you may can try a half an Ativan to work up to the whole .5mg pill, they are soooo tiny to be so powerful! I halfed it at first too my DH couldlnt tolerate even one. now I am up to a whole dose. but in the beginning I used half under the tongue. try and see if its better on him. they do work up to more as needed. it should help with the sleep at least. if it were me, most here have had good results with the added Seroquel. glad to hear you are moving forward and using those biggirl panties! (DAZED))) its really not as bad as we think - we are our worst enemies in thought.
Dazed, we've used many different meds to get him to sleep, but I believe many have had good luck with Trazodone or Seroquel. If you haven't tried melatonin (OTC) that might be a more "natural" way to help him sleep. I know how disturbing it is if they don't sleep...it ruins your ability to effectively care for them because you're tired on top of the additional stress.
Ativan was the key to dealing with my person's agitation for the past 3 years. In fact, when the Dr. they insisted I used at the nursing home took him off it three weeks ago, that is when his behavior got outrageous, which caused our eviction there. He is now in the hospital to adjust his meds (they had also added Depakote, which caused mood swings and aggression with him). The first thing the psychiatrist at the hospital did was put him back on the Ativan and take him off the Depakote. Today they had to up the Ativan due to unmanageable behavior. So I do know, for some it is helpful.
I commented on this upthread, as I usually try to comment on topics related to lorazepam. As with your person, it was my H's go to for probably more than 12 years. Unlike your situation, he was never taken off it. However, he was put on Depakote but it was only briefly.
Similar to Aricept @ 23 mg as opposed to 10 mg (?), the Depakote caused immediate delusions. A radical departure for him- he dressed and was demanding to go to the local library so he could start writing a book. Very sadly, this was after he could no longer read. Nevertheless, he was convinced he had read every book written and the only answer was to write one.
I hope you are both doing better. In H's case, he used generic Ambien specifically for sleep. I am pretty sure it was the 12.5 mg ER rx.
The only time Lloyd ever got Ativan was when he had to go to the ER in an ambulance. I would allow 2mg Ativan to calm him. His last visit to the ER (5 days before his death) the paramedics gave him the usual 2mg. When they took him back for a CT scan, the technicians had difficulty with him and gave him 4 more mg of Ativan without my knowledge. I am convinced that attributed to his death. He was standing up in the bathroom when the ambulance came to get him, but was so far gone that another ambulance had to be called to bring him home from the ER the same night. I was angry, but it was inevitable. Better sooner than later after a lot more torment and suffering, I guess.
Linda, considering how 0.5 mg of that medication affected my DH, I think the amount given to your DH would have taken him out. It probably did contribute to your DH's death. At least you didn't have to go through the terrible end stages of this disease.
Hospitals frequently give Ativan to people with dementia and I agree that I think it can be dangerous. When DH was hospitalized in 2012, he was agitated so they gave him 4 mgs of Ativan. Guess what? It made him more agitated and uncontrollable. The geriatrician on call called me the enxt day asking why I allowed them to give him such a large dose of Ativan and then Haldol. I told him no one ever informed me that they had given him the large dose of Ativan or the Haldol. This is an exact quote from the geriatrician "You know they're going to kill your husband with these drugs." Fortunately he worked with me and the staff to provide other medication for controlling DH's behaviors for the balance of his stay.
Too much Ativan can have what they call a "rebound effect" - it can make them more agitated and uncontrollable, not less. It happened in our case.
Dazed, we were in the end stages. LFL, I got to the point that I carried my medical POA in my purse at all times. But when they wheel them into a room where the technicians haven't had the experience of you flapping a POA in their faces and saying how it is going to be, things go awry. Yes, I do believe they killed him with the Ativan. Was it a mercy killing???? Maybe.
Linda, the DPOA was on file, they did what they wanted to do. It's the old adage "ask for forgiveness, not permission." I apologize but they are not smart enough to do a mercy killing. They are idiots and because they have a medical degree they dismiss your input. But they are stupid. And we and our loved ones suffer. I hired a geriatric care manager who is very placid, looking for a common goal and shared outcome. I pay her and when I disagree with her collaborative approach which doesn't benefit my husband she tells me I am the problem. After 6 years of advocating for him and paying someone to advocate for him (and doesn't because I don't fit into her model of collaborative care) I am very distrustful of the medical professionals and those that I pay for.
My DH is on .05 Ativan at breakfast and dinner and as needed. He is in LTC and will get aggressive and yell at staff if things don't go as he thinks they should. He was dx with Vascular dementia, Frontotemporal with behavioural Variant and AD about four years ago. He went into LTC as he was sure I couldn't care for him as I wasn't a professional. He knows to go to the nurse if he gets to antsy and ask for his Ativan. It just calms him and then he goes on with what ever he was doing. It works great for him right now but who know for how long. I just wish they had put him on it when he was at home. With this disease it's hit and miss and you do the best you can.
I posted on another thread, but will repeat it here. My DH was on a small dose of Lorazempam (.05mg) at bedtime, to help with sundowning and sleep. It made him dopey, and I took him off it and he was much better without it. Since he has only the occasional night of restlessness, I am not going to give it to him until I sense that he is too agitated and might require it again. Everyone reacts differently and meds need to be adjusted to suit the situation.
Ativan made DH's agitation worse. There was a new resident at the NH who had extreme aggression and Ativan worked wonders for him. Different people and different dementias?
My DH, who has AD, also did not tolerate Ativan well. My theory is that, rather than certain diseases reacting one way or another to this med, it's more that each person reacts in their own way to all of these drugs. Just one more example of how frustrating it is to understand, diagnose, and treat this disease.
Ativan in a small dose helps my husband calm down. I just learned from his geriatrician 2 weeks ago that Ativan is fast acting and will control behaviors (if it works for him) quickly. Clonazepan is in the same genre of drugs but acts more sowly over a longer period of time.
Actually we've had good success with Ativan when needed.
I've had mixed results using Ativan for my DH. I used two 0.5 tablets for him back in February before he had an ultrasound and it definitely helped to calm him. But I have found if I use it for evening agitation it doesn't help at all or makes him more agitated. I've decided not to use it anymore.