Yep it's hard to always know if what you got is a superior pill or sub-standard pill. In general Ativan/Lorazapm is a great Benzo. I took it for years after my injury. Remember it comes in 2mg also. If I stop taking Xanax I'd take Ativan as my next choice, or maybe Clonazapam. Ativan is good IMO cuz you can use it sublinqually. Ativan has little if any taste and does well dissolving under your tonque. I would recommend this route of administration. Always worked wonders for me, but I developed some panic features to my depression and Doc felt Xanax would work better and he's correct. Some find little difference b/n various Benzos but if you are really treating something severe then you'll see there can be quite a difference. Try increasing your dosage. If that doesn't work, find a different pill

oh and don't be fooled by generics. IMO a generic Xanax, for example, rarely works for me, though on the other hand I've had generic Clonazapam that was just fine. Note: I can't accurately vouch for Benzo's from overseas (and don't really think anybody can for practical purposes). I've never 'ordered' Benzos*
My Benzo use is strictly up to me and my family doctor -- these are serious meds. How can I stress that enough? There have been a couple of exceptions: on one occassion* I did order some Bentazapam from an IOP from which I needed, sought and obtained a different kind of medicine (a hard-to-find med). I added the Bentazapam to my order just to see what they were like since hardly a single person has had much of anything positive to say about them. And true they cannot be compared to my U.S. made Brand name Xanax -- not in the least HOWEVER I found them useful during the day. See I don't use any Benzos during the daytime cuz of obvious reasons (to be effective they usually make me too sedated to accomplish my job tasks efficiently) , however the Bentazapam didn't 'know' I don't take Benzos during the daytime and they worked like a charm without adverse side effects. They , like all meds just about, are highly dose-dependent in terms of efficacy.

So the message is that one 1mg Ativan may not treat a symptom(s) but 2mg may make all the difference in the world as far as symptom reduction. But results are highly variable depending on your condition, symptoms, metabolism, unique physiology, other meds taken, diet/exercise/sleep patterns blab blab blab.

[But this is not to say I'm not one heck of a wiley Chef at night-time -- when I want to be

]

This is only one person's advise: stick to Wyeth Brand Ativan (I think that's the right mfg name for the original Brand Ativan/Lorazepam). Again, just an opinion. But I've taken all kinds of Benzos for many reasons: divorce, chronic pain; grief and other but more 'psychologically oriented' psychic anquish; and, insomnia, muscle tension and muscle spasticity; also, for depression with or without panic features, blah blah.....
I've heard that Benzos made in India aren't that good, but I'm pretty sure this is a very subjective determination
Ah but wait I remember I did order Ativan made by one of Wyeth's U.S. labs located in Mexico (an order from pharmico or pharmamex I forget which one). Wanted to see if they still worked. They did!
Much more smooth than Xanax -- just as warm but not quite as fuzzy feeling (warm and fuzzy are the only descriptors I can think of for Benzos unless you're talking about whether the Benzo thwarts or prevents, or treats panic on some level or not (w/ or w/o the adverse effect of sedation). One is just as good as another as far as sleep-promoting-properties, w/ the exception that Valium/Diazapam always ensure a better nights' sleep if my muscles are spazed out very badly (which is a common occurance)
But frankly I find it confusing and difficult to make sense of (trust) all the diverse opinions on all the diverse types of Benzos, whether from overseas vs non-overseas vs
brand vs generic etc etc. Sorry if I'm only adding to
confusion about quality issues/questions concerning Benzos, and Lorazapam specifically.

Finally (sorry for lengthy post) -- I have found a dependable source for a hard-to-find medicine (which I found at rx-sale). I see they have Temazapam and I happen to trust the meds from this IOP. If I decide to try Temazapam, I was wondering does anybody know of a reliable source for this Benzo? rx-sale generally has high prices for just about everything, and although I would personally trust their Temazapam, I haven't a lot of experience with this Benzo, but I believe it is shorter-acting (not as short as Halcion, but I think it runs a close second to it?)
I have a need for something short-acting and somewhat hypnotic (like Halcion, or Ambien, Soma, etc which are most often toooo hypnotic for me). Again please forgive the length of this post, but I needed to process some thoughts and sources concerning Benzos. I don't think I've really discussed Benzos in any detail and probably will not do so again, unless my interest/need for something like Temazapam creates any meaningful comments, sources, etc. Feel free to PM me if you want to just chat about this subject.

MT aka Foxfire48