"i have acute panic disorder. i was on ssri&#039;s for a while but they did not work for me to stop the attacks. my doctor decided to put me on lorazapem. it did stop my panic attacks very well and i started to feel good for a while, i was taking 0.5mg every day. about a year after i had developed a faster heart rate during my panic attacks and i started seeing my pulse pounding on my neck.  i still used it and thought that it was probably a new health condition. after going to several cardiac test, nothing was found wrong with my heart.
i read a message at a discussion board one day.
ativan may cause rapid heart rate, a pounding pulse on the neck and chest. i stopped taking it and switched to xanax. all my symptoms went away."