Valium's True Half Life

[[In...]]

I've been abruptly forced to take valium for about two days while I wait for the doctor to fill Klonopin instead. I had asked him to switch me to valium because I thought it would be easier to come off of but I'm having so many negative side effects (bradycardia being the kicker) that I had gone back to my Klonopin reserves to get me through to the point where the doctor was willing to refill. Well I fell two days short and I was forced to take the dreaded valium in my drawer and, sure enough, I feel like crap and my hr is is hovering around 54. Now I know all the benzo charts say that Valiums half life is 100 hours but I honestly think this is crap when you base it on a young healthy person. I only feel the anti-anxiety effects of valium for about two hours and then the sedative effects for roughly a day. I'm concerned about going back to Klonopin because of the cross of the drugs if the 5 mg twice a day of valium I'm gonna be forced to take for two days will still be sitting happily in my system when I go to take my Klonopin.

[[Re...]]

Hello.

 

The half life of diazepam can be as short as 48 hours, but it's plasma distribution is fairly quick, within a couple hours.  The kick is that it takes about 7-9 days minimum to reach the steady state equivalency of the shorter acting benzos.  So, if you took a valium, you're not going to feel the 'quivalent' dosage effect until it reaches a steady state in your blood plasma.  As I said, this takes about 7 to 9 days minimum (depending on dosing schedule), with other averages in studies suggesting closer to 14 days.  It's the same when you reduce, if you have been dosing valium for a long time, it will be at a steady state in your blood plasma.  That is to say your body reaches a point where the clearance rate becomes steady relative to your dosing rate.  But Valium is highly liphophilic and distributes into fat cells as the active metabolite methyldiazepam.  Methyldiazepam has a half life of up to 100 hours.  This is why people like to taper long term benzo users with diazepam because it can reduce the "shock" to the system of the cuts.  The situation is even more exaggerated for an obese person. A person with a high body-fat index will take longer to get to steady state both up and down.  And, an obese person can end up storing a lot of valium in fat tissue.  So, well after the last dose, that person can have a lot of valium to process out of his or her system.  Now, getting back to the original point, yes, the therapeutic 'feeling' of it's effects are very different than the pharmacokinetic activity of the diazepam and it's active metabolite (methyldiazepam).  For some people, they will still be eliminating methyldiazepam even 6 to 7 hundred hours after the last dose (trace amounts).  This is often why long-term benzo users have difficulty when they get to lower doses of valium.  The relationship between the actual cut you do and the time it takes for the diazepam concentration change to be felt, in addition to the methyldiazepam concentration change to be felt results in a lengthy feedback mechanism that can be very tough to manage.  For some people, at low doses it can be analogous to trying to juggle chainsaws blindfolded.........

[[fr...]]

  Can weight loss affect a taper of Valium?  I started tapering 20 mg. and got down to 13 mg. and hit a horrible wall.  I lost so much weight, about 60 lbs.  I was very heavy so it was actually a good thing that I lost but who wants to lose it like that.  Now I still have around 20 extra lbs. on me but my appetite is almost nil, have burning neuropathy, nausea and a ton of other symptoms.  Could the rapid weight loss have made things alot worse and is there any hope of me stabilziing if I keep holding?  I updosed per Dr. but only 1 mg. and it did nothing.  I am so sick I fear I cannot continue.  I just wish I could get a handle on this so I could move forward.  Thanks for any info you might have.  I realize you aren't an expert but any info is  better than none. 

[[In...]]

I finally filled my Klonopin and I don't feel great. How long till my Klonopin blood levels stabilize?

[[Jo...]]

I am a little dubious about the reality of any discernible effect from body fat. 

 

Heres why: I weigh 200 lbs and probably have 20% body fat.  That means that I have 40 lbs of fat cells in my body. 

 

Even an extraordinarily fit man (<10 % body fat) who weighed the same as me, would still have 20 lbs of fat cells.  Strikes me that either way, if the valium metabolites do bond to fat cells, that there is plenty of fat to go around for most of us. 

 

 

I would need to see some peer reviewed references that actually show the relative blood levels of people, as they withdraw from valium, and the variation between body types. 

 

So I am skeptical but open to being proven wrong. 

 

As to your K. question: a few days.  Obviously, each person is different. 

[[fr...]]

  Thanks for the answer.  I just wonder since I went downhill fast the more weight I lost. 

[[Jo...]]

  Thanks for the answer.  I just wonder since I went downhill fast the more weight I lost. 

 

I ran a search for valium storage in fat.  So what did I get.  A couple really obscure papers that really had no conclusions either way.  And several benzo buddies threads on the topic from 3 to 6 years ago.  The opinions were all over the map.  One comment struck me as interesting.  This poster suggested that the body generally will maintain homeostasis.  That is, as the levels of benzo in your body drop the levels being stored in your body will also drop proportionately.  It makes sense I suppose.  Of note, in my reading, I learned that benzo metabolites are stored in muscle and the heart as well.  At least the dont get stored in bone like Cadmium, Lead, or Arsenic. 

 

I guess one could make the argument that losing alot of weight would release a whole bunch of V, metabolites, into your system, but then one should feel,better, not worse, No?  And if you felt better than your appetite should return and the weight loss should stop.  But that is not whats happening.

 

Obviously, fast weight loss is alarming, and anxiety provoking, even when it is a positive outcome.  Like you said, losing the weight is a good thing... its the method that's a little disturbing. 

 

I suspect the most damaging effect from the weight loss from your taper has more to do with the anxiety its creating than any tangible changes in the bodies storage of metabolites.

 

I dont suppose we will ever know, and it probably wouldn't make any,difference if we did. 

[[Ca...]]

Thanks Jorges...

 

[[fr...]]

  Yes, thanks for that info.  I still wonder though since I feel worse and worse.  My appetite has improved a little and weight loss has stabilized but I have not.  Feeling worse.  Who knows with these drugs.  Thanks again..

[[bu...]]

The amount of body fat, or changes in weight, will NOT effect the rate at which the body stores/absorbs benzos.

[[Re...]]

For those who don't think obesity affects things:  "During chronic dosing with diazepam, obese patients may experience a much slower onset of maximal drug effect compared to normal-weight patients because of the greatly delayed accumulation of diazepam and desmethyldiazepam.  Determination of diazepam and desmethyldiazepam plasma concentrations during the dosing period and for a withdrawal period indicated that accumulation half-life for both diazepam (7.8 days in obese vs. 3.1 days in normal subjects, P less than 0.05) and desmethyldiazepam (30.3 vs. 7.2 days, P less than 0.05) was markedly prolonged in obese subjects."

 

Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 1983 Aug-Sep;23(8-9):369-76.

Prolonged accumulation of diazepam in obesity.

Abernethy DR, Greenblatt DJ, Divoll M, Shader RI.