How long does .5mg give you that calming feeling?

I find I feel best about 2 hours after taking it. By the 6th hour mark I'm starting to get anxious and have to take another one.

I'm trying to only take 1mg a day as prescribed by my doctor, .5mg in the morning (I wake up incredibly nervous, I take a pill about 9am then fall back a sleep for a few more hours) by 3pm/4pm I'm getting really anxious again so I take another .5mg. Usually does me good until around bed time 11pm/12.

My anxiety is really bad that if I wait to long to take an Ativan mostly by trying to calm my anxiety myself, I spiral and it takes me a lot longer to come out of my attack. I'm trying really hard to avoid that.

I've only been on Ativan daily for about 3 weeks now. Doctor gave me 28 tablets to take twice a day for two weeks but I feel like I need 3 a day.

Is this normal or is 1.5mg a day a lot?