"it all started with the death of my fiancee and the father of my kids back in 1999. i started with mild anxiety, poster traumatic stress disorder and panic. it got a little better and i was off medicines from 2000 to 2006. then in october 2006 i woke up and i thought i was going to die and was in the er a lot, for like 3 weeks finally went to psych doctor and they started giving me ativan. i am very medicine-phobic and have only taken ativan for the last 5 yrs, 3 mgs a day. some days it feels the ativan doesn&#039;t work at all and other days i get good relief fast. i have been prescribed numerous ssris and am always scared to take them because of all the side effects ativan gives me no side effects. recently i was told my blood pressure may be high as a result of the severe anxiety/panic. i&#039;m scared. "