Lorazepam

Lorazepam is a benzodiazepine used as tablets to manage anxiety, and as an injection in hospitals for status epilepticus and before anaesthesia. This guide covers lorazepam uses, how it works, dosage, side effects, precautions, drug interactions, use in pregnancy and breastfeeding and its approximate price in India.

What Is Lorazepam?

Lorazepam is a benzodiazepine. The tablets are used to manage anxiety. The injection is used in hospitals for status epilepticus and before anaesthesia. It acts on the central nervous system and has a calming effect by enhancing the action of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a neurotransmitter that inhibits brain activity.

Information in this article comes mainly from US prescribing information. Product labelling in India may differ, so follow your doctor’s and pharmacist’s instructions for the product you are given.

How Lorazepam Works

Lorazepam binds to specific sites on the GABA-A receptors and increases the action of GABA. This calms brain activity, which helps relieve anxiety symptoms, helps stop seizures and promotes sleepiness.

When Lorazepam Is Used

• Anxiety: The tablets are used for anxiety disorders and for short-term relief of anxiety symptoms, including anxiety with depressive symptoms.
• Insomnia: It is used for short-term relief of sleep disturbance due to anxiety.
• Seizures: The injection is used for status epilepticus, a medical emergency treated in hospital.

Lorazepam is not intended as a long-term treatment. The US label notes that its effectiveness beyond 4 months has not been assessed by systematic clinical studies, and doctors periodically reassess whether it is still needed.

Lorazepam Dosage and How to Take It

The doses below are examples from US prescribing information. They are informational only, not instructions for self-medication. Your doctor chooses the dose and formulation for you. It depends on the condition, your age and health, other medicines and how you respond.

Tablets

• Anxiety (adults): most patients start at 2 to 3 mg a day, divided into two or three doses. The usual range is 2 to 6 mg a day in divided doses. Daily dosage may vary from 1 to 10 mg.
• Insomnia due to anxiety (adults): a single daily dose of 2 to 4 mg, usually at bedtime.
• Older or debilitated patients: an initial dosage of 1 to 2 mg a day in divided doses is recommended, adjusted as needed and tolerated.

Injection (status epilepticus)

The injection is given only by trained healthcare professionals in a monitored clinical setting. It is given slowly into a vein. The usual adult dose in the US label is 4 mg, and one further 4 mg dose may follow if seizures continue or recur after a 10 to 15 minute observation period. This is not a home-use or self-administered treatment.

Information about one formulation does not automatically apply to another. Take this medicine only as advised by your doctor or healthcare professional. Do not start, stop, or change the dose on your own.

Side Effects of Lorazepam

Common

• drowsiness
• dizziness
• tiredness
• confusion

Serious (contact your doctor promptly)

• memory problems
• signs of misuse or addiction
• dependence with continued use

Seek emergency medical help immediately for

• slow or difficult breathing
• being unable to wake normally
• loss of consciousness

Lorazepam Precautions and Monitoring

Formal contraindications (US label)

• hypersensitivity to benzodiazepines or to any component of the formulation
• acute narrow-angle glaucoma

Precautions

• Lorazepam can cause drowsiness and impair alertness. Do not drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how it affects you.
• Physical dependence can develop with continued use, and the risk is higher with higher doses and longer use. Not everyone who takes lorazepam will develop dependence.
• Doctors periodically reassess whether treatment is still needed.
• Older adults may be more sensitive to sedation, which is why lower starting doses are used.

Lorazepam Drug Interactions

Tell your doctor and pharmacist about all prescription, over-the-counter, herbal and supplement products you use. This list is not complete.

• Opioids: the US boxed warning states that combined use may result in profound sedation, respiratory depression, coma and death. Doctors reserve combined prescribing for patients whose other options are inadequate.
• Alcohol and other central nervous system (CNS) depressants: they add to sedation, and overdose with these combinations may be fatal. Avoid alcohol while taking lorazepam unless your treating doctor gives you specific guidance.
• Valproate and probenecid: the US injection label advises reducing the lorazepam dose to 50% of the normal adult dose when combined with either. Your doctor manages this.

Lorazepam in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding

Pregnancy and breastfeeding decisions need individual assessment by a qualified healthcare professional. If you are pregnant, planning pregnancy or breastfeeding, contact your healthcare professional. If you take lorazepam regularly, do not stop it suddenly on your own.

• Tablets (US label): use late in pregnancy can cause sedation in newborns (respiratory depression, lethargy, reduced muscle tone). Patients are advised to tell their provider if they are pregnant. The label mentions a pregnancy exposure registry.
• Injection (US label): states that lorazepam may cause fetal damage when given to pregnant women.
• Breastfeeding, tablets (US label): it may cause a baby to be sleepy and have feeding problems. Clinicians are advised to monitor breastfed infants for excessive sedation, poor feeding and poor weight gain.
• Breastfeeding, injection (US label): lorazepam has been detected in human breast milk, and the label says it should not be given to nursing mothers.

Withdrawal and Stopping

Regular use can lead to physical dependence. Abrupt discontinuation or rapid dose reduction after continued use may cause withdrawal reactions, which can be serious and life-threatening. Do not stop regular lorazepam suddenly. Speak to your prescriber, who will plan a gradual dose reduction.

Lorazepam Brands, Strengths and Approximate Price in India

Prices below are listing-based and approximate. They change with pharmacy, city and date, and product availability may vary. Lorazepam is a prescription medicine. A listing is not a recommendation to buy.

An older Truemeds listing for the same pack (₹62.58 MRP, dated 13 May 2025) differs from the figure above. It is not treated as a current price. Other brands and strengths exist but are not listed because they were not verified.

How HealthPil Can Help

Medicines should be started, adjusted, or stopped only under the guidance of a qualified healthcare professional. If you have questions about lorazepam, its side effects, or your treatment plan, you can consult a doctor, such as a psychiatrist or neurologist, through HealthPil.