• Select Your Topic Then Scroll Down
    Alcohol Bupe Benzos
    Cocaine Heroin Opioids
    RCs Stimulants Misc
    Harm Reduction All Topics Gabapentinoids
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums

Would a benzo like Ativan help my anxiety and pain with getting a tattoo??

TatumAvery1991

Greenlighter
Joined
Jan 28, 2015
Messages
38
OK so in 5 days I have an appointment to get my back piece finished. I've pussed out of several appointments due to me being a baby and how horrible the pain was. Before anybody says "if you can't handle the pain then just don't do it." I already have half of it done that I had managed to get in the first session but had to stop early. So if I got super fucked up on ativan that I'm prescribed could that help with not just anxiety but pain as well? I always make pain worse than it really is with my nerves. Also how many 0.5 mgs would I need to take to get fucked up enough to not give a fuck and feel good but also be able to function? I'm 5'2 and 104 lbs.
Thanks!
 
The key is to accept the pain, to feel it 100%. Then it won't hurt. Scientists have even shown that those who don't try to "run from" the pain, metaphorically speaking, feel less pain. It's certainly true for me. You have to change your perspective from it being a sensation you absolutely do not want to feel to one that you may not desire to feel but are fine feeling.
 
Anxiety, yes. Pain, no. Two or three mg at the max is all you need. Take too much and you will start falling asleep.
 
Wrong sub-forum to be honest, probably more suited to Basic Drug Discussion. Ativan is not a psychedelic. But it will help with the anxiety and apprehension you feel regarding your tattoo. It won't effect feeling pain at all, though can change the quality and intensity of pain, or at least the mental panic that can accompany it. I recently had a tooth basically die and the pain was incredible, some of the most intense I've had and extremely panic-inducing, but I found that 10-20mg of diazepam helped me keep it together for the few hours I had to wait for my appointment.
 
The key is to accept the pain, to feel it 100%. Then it won't hurt. Scientists have even shown that those who don't try to "run from" the pain, metaphorically speaking, feel less pain. It's certainly true for me. You have to change your perspective from it being a sensation you absolutely do not want to feel to one that you may not desire to feel but are fine feeling.
Do this.

I don't have any tattoos, or piercings or want any. However, people I know who have multiple ones said how it's best to just go with the "pain" or sensation, get them done while completely sober, and you get an endorphin rush as well.

What sort of tattoo did you get TatumAvery1991? Can you post a pic of it?
 
Despite what "scientists" say, you really shouldn't be using drugs because you're scared of getting a tattoo.
 
Probably. But don't take this the wrong way - don't you think it might be better to just man up and take it without resorting to drugs for a procedure done to million of people every day?
 
Last edited:
Also in regard to your question about pain, no benzos are not painkillers. They do however cause a general depression of your brain and nervous system, so it might change your perception of it - ie it will still hurt, but possibly make it more tolerable. If you want a drug that both reduces anxiety AND can help with pain, you're best off with Gabapentin or possibly Pregabalin. Both are nervous system depressants and also target neuropathic pain.
 
The key is to accept the pain, to feel it 100%. Then it won't hurt. Scientists have even shown that those who don't try to "run from" the pain, metaphorically speaking, feel less pain. It's certainly true for me. You have to change your perspective from it being a sensation you absolutely do not want to feel to one that you may not desire to feel but are fine feeling.

Wow, this is very interesting. I wonder exactly how true it is, but it does make sense logically. Anxiety can certainly be "converted" into pain, and it makes absolute sense that the more you dread something, the more you're thinking about it. The more you're thinking about it, the more you perceive it. It's like when I tell myself I'm gonna be sweating and exhausted, having to climb 7 flights of stairs, it's always much worse than if I simply do it without thinking about it or analyzing it.
 
Best plan: learn to 'go with' the pain. Tattooing isn't just about having cool art to show off, it's about the experience of getting a tattoo. If your skin is too sensitive to do this, or you don't have the right relationship with pain, you shouldn't be getting ink.
But, failing that, if you need to go forward with reduced pain: lidocaine cream is a topical anaesthetic that is pretty effective. You can buy it from chemists. You'll still feel something, but at least you won't be so trashed on benzos that your artist refuses to tattoo you.
 
May I suggest that the real 'agony' is in the waiting, tension and anticipation - not the actual event? I was going to suggest some benzocaine containing anaesthetic skin cream, but on second thoughts, it might possibly have adverse effects on the tattooing process, make the ink run or something - I have no tattoo experience, so that's just a precautionary guess?
I would suggest you work on the psychology of this, rather than the pharmaccology. True, benzos will do you no harm in reasonable doses, as a one off remedy to overcome your dread, but IMHO it would be better (and far more 'satisfying' perhaps?) to avoid the dread if you can.

There are many ways of doing this. I mean, you could have a general anaesthetic, treat it as an operation, but that is patently absurd, unnecessary and (to be rather mean) cowardly? My personal solution would be to use that well tried, very traditional method that is not only the anaesthatising remedy for the pain, but the very root cause of many tatoos - i.e. the best part of a bottle of Captain Morgan rum... but of course, no decent, responsible tatooist nowadays will touch any customer who staggers in reeking of booze and singing sea shanties! Tranquillisers in small doses are really just the modern, scentless equivalent in a way?

What I'd suggest, if it is posible, is that you employ the help of a couple of trusted friends, get them to explain your problem to the tatooist, who will no doubt understand if worth their fee, and at some unexpected time, suddenly get picked up by surprise, delivered, and before you have time to panic, it will be over. This is the way amputations and dentistry were done with no anaesthetic in the good 'ole days, and though I appreciate you don't want a work of art rushed likethe surgeon's knife, once underway I think you'll be fine - and proud of yourself!

Whichever way you do it, very best wishes and good luck. And don't forget, it is a thing of beauty you actually want - not some torture you are obliged to endure!
 
Dentists & doctors give some patients xanax before they go in for a procedure.......but it won't alleviate any pain.

Benzos alleviate stress/anxiety, & some have muscle relaxant value.
 
Top