Headmeds fills the medicines information gaps for young people - things you might want to know about meds like will it affect my sex life? Can I still study?  Can I drink?
Headmeds does not give medical advice so this is just general information.
Each medicine has a balance of good and bad effects, and each person gets their own individual effects.
You might want to know just one thing about your medicine, but on each page we have given you the ‘safety headlines’. Please read them as they are important.
We have included lots of information about each medicine - but if you want all the details, please look at the patient information leaflet - which is inside every pack. These leaflets are also at www.medicines.org.uk - where there will be the most up-to-date information.

Safety headlines

• If you have taken more lorazepam than it said on the label, you must see a doctor quickly – even if you do not feel any different.
• Lorazepam can make some people think about hurting themselves or committing suicide. You must go straight to hospital with your tablets if you have any of these thoughts.
• Lorazepam can cause serious side-effects: allergic reactions (difficulty breathing, swelling of your face or throat, itching skin lumps), and other serious symptoms that you can find here. Go to a hospital if you get any of these symptoms, with your medicine.
• Stopping lorazepam suddenly can cause serious side-effects – go to your doctor if you want to stop, or if you are having these effects.
• You might feel sleepy or dizzy in the first few days after taking lorazepam– do not drive a car, ride a bike or operate machines until you see how this affects you.
• If you take lorazepam while you are pregnant, it may affect the developing baby. Use good contraception while you are taking lorazepam. It can also cause symptoms in newborn babies if you take it at the end of pregnancy. Talk to your doctor or midwife about this and get their help.

Basic details

Lorazepam is a benzodiazepine medicine

A benzodiazepine medicine helps to calm people if they are anxious or finding it difficult to sleep. It can also be called an anxiolytic medicine. Anxiolytic is a word used to refer to any medicine that treats anxiety.

Lorazepam can be used to help a range of conditions that involve anxiety.

Lorazepam works by binding to a receptor in the brain for a chemical messenger called GABA

• Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is one of many chemical messengers in your brain, and overall it has a ‘calming effect’.
• GABA usually binds to a receptor called GABAA, found on nerve cells in the brain.
• When this happens, this inhibits the nerve cell from sending messages to other nerve cells.
• Lorazepam, like other benzodiazepines, also binds to the GABAA receptor, but in a different position to GABA.
• When lorazepam binds to the GABAA receptor, this makes it easier for GABA to do its job.
• The result of this is to increase the calming effect of GABA, which helps to relieve anxiety.

You can take lorazepam as a tablet or it can be given by injection

The tablets contain lactose, and the injection contains a very small amount of alcohol

• The tablets may not be suitable for you if you have problems eating some sugars or dairy (milk-based) foods.
• The yellow 2.5mg tablets also contain tartrazine (E102), a food additive that can cause allergic reactions, especially if you are allergic to aspirin.
• The tablets contain a small amount of potassium, which may not suit someone on a low potassium diet.
• The injection contains a very small amount of alcohol, which would not affect your blood alcohol levels. 

Lorazepam is a controlled drug

• A prescription for lorazepam has to be dispensed within 28 days (you can keep most other prescriptions for 6 months)
• This is all because lorazepam has a calming effect, and some people might try to get it without a prescription.
• If you have to take it to school, it might have to be locked in a safe place.
• Give yourself plenty of time to get the prescription from the doctor and to the pharmacy – controlled drug prescriptions may take more time to check.
  
  

Reference sources

• Genus lorazepam 1mg tablet SPC last updated 5/9/16
  http://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/26011 Accessed 17/1/17
• Genus lorazepam tablets PIL last updated 24/10/16
  http://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/23794 Accessed 17/1/17
• Taylor D, Paton C, Kapur S. Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines in Psychiatry, 12th edition. Oxford: John Wiley & Sons, 2015
• British National Formulary (BNF) 72nd edition. London: BMJ Group / Pharmaceutical Press, 2016
• British National Formulary for Children (BNFc) 2016-2017. London: BMJ Group / Pharmaceutical Press, 2016
• WADA Prohibited List 2014. Available at http://www.wada-ama.org/Documents/World_Anti-Doping_Program/WADP-Prohibited-list/2014/WADA-prohibited-list-2014-EN.pdf
• Neal MC. Medical Pharmacology at a Glance (7th Edition). Oxford: John Wiley & Sons, 2012
• Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Medicines Ethics and Practice (37th edition). London: RPS, 2013
• www.choiceandmedication.org (accessed 30/10/2016; content usually available for free via your mental health trust)

Headmeds fills the medicines information gaps for young people - things you might want to know about meds like will it affect my sex life? Can I still study?  Can I drink?

Headmeds does not give medical advice so this is just general information.

Each medicine has a balance of good and bad effects, and each person gets their own individual effects.

You might want to know just one thing about your medicine, but on each page we have given you the ‘safety headlines’. Please read them as they are important.

We have included lots of  information about each medicine - but if you want all the details, please look at the patient information leaflet - which is inside every pack. These leaflets are also at www.medicines.org.uk - where there will be the most up-to-date information.