Ativan is supposedly half of the strength as Xanax. To me Ativan did absolutely nothing, even at a higher dose than you are planning on taking like 10mg when I was totally naïve to benzos, however everyones body chemistry is different and I have found this especially true when it comes to benzos, how much of what benzo different people need to feel something from it... they are very unpredictable from person to person. I would not just take 8 mg of Ativan off the bat though, that's not smart at all. See how it affects you to take like 1mg of each and go from there.