"i was given ativan before having an mri done. i have extreme claustrophobia and was unable to get the mri done even the open mri type machine. i took 2mg. one hour before the test. right up until the test i was terrified. however, within five minutes, being in the mri machine, i was out! i mean out, in a different world. it was scarey. i had an iv placed and didn&#039;t feel a thing. the whole test (an hour or longer) went perfectly. 
here is the really scarey part. i came home and went about my usual business. at supper, read the paper, even drove in town. the next day i had absolutely no memory of the previous day. the ativan caused severe amnesia."