lorazepam and driving

For tips, tricks and secrets on good health, beauty, fitness and sport join this forum.
teralin
Resident
Posts: 409
Joined: Sat Mar 04, 2006 8:48 am

lorazepam and driving

Postby teralin » Thu Oct 01, 2015 4:07 pm

Does anyone know if you can buy lorazepam (Orfidal) over the counter in Spain and also whether Spanish law allows one to drive with moderate amounts of this in your blood?

User avatar
knowal
Resident
Posts: 1911
Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2010 9:35 pm
Location: England

Re: lorazepam and driving

Postby knowal » Thu Oct 01, 2015 6:56 pm

Last year I was prescribed lorazepam by my doctor in Spain, as I was having problems sleeping.
I took half a tablet, 0.5mg at night which certainly helped me sleep.
8 days later I accidentally reversed my wife's car into a wall. (May or may not have been connected).

A few days after that I realised that I could not remember which foot was on the clutch and brake and I was forgetting the "automatic" actions of driving.
I immediately stopped taking the drug.

A few months later, after moving back to England, I saw my new GP and explained to him what had happened with the lorazepam. He raised his eyebrows and asked me if I still had the pills, which I did.
He told me they are "best flushed down the toilet".

For me, it was more important to drive than sleep well.
I would strongly advise against self-medication using this drug and I would never take it again.
Have a look at the known side effects of the drug on the Internet!
http://www.drugs.com/sfx/lorazepam-side-effects.html

To answer your question, it is only available on prescription and the lorazepam packet advises not to drive if adversely affected, so the judgement call is down to the driver. It definitely affected my driving. Forgetting how to drive is a known side-effect! Read this:
Lorazepam and driving impairment


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 16 guests