Diazepam Long Half Life

[[Sp...]]

Ive been taking Diazepam.

 

Can I just ask about the long half life? Because I read somewhere a longer half life makes it harder to stop the drug as a shorter half life its out of your system quicker.

[[Pa...]]

Actually, short half life life drugs are usually more difficult to quit because they exit your system faster leaving you feeling their absence.  Valium takes longer to leave which gives it a longer, gentler exit.

[[ja...]]

I'm wondering if being on Oxazepam nightly for many years can compare with the type of damage done by me, being on Clonazepam concurrently? 

 

The Oxazepam has a very short half life (4 hours) - so that means that if I take it nightly at 10pm,  it is out of my body by the time I get up the next day.  Leaving me with 16 hours of 'benzo-free' function.  It does interfere with REM cycles and no doubt does its damage in the hours it is in your system.  But you still have it out of your body for the better part of the day.

 

I am planning to cut my night dose of Oxazepam, after I finish my Valium crossover..... I have just another 1.5mg Valium to go.   

 

My doctor told me that the Oxazepam at 10mg = 5mg Valium.  But surely the half life is a factor in how hard it will be to kick it?  I have stopped Oxazepam use in the past and noticed that I had insomnia for a few weeks at most.  No other symptoms.

 

Unlike my discontinuation of Clonazepam (half life 50-200hr), that put me into a severe psychotic dissociative state. 

 

I can't wait to be completely benzo free!  But I have wondered about benzo half-life and damage for awhile.

 

I used the Oxazepam on and off for years, and it never caused dizziness or shaking, weakness etc etc when coming off it. 

 

Well I welcome any thoughts on this! 

And I guess I will be checking in here, with how it goes in a few months...... 

 

[[ja...]]

I need to correct my last post.  I just checked on-line, and I am kind of shook up that Oxazepam has a longer half life than I believed.  It is actually 8 and 1/2 +hours.  So all these years that my Mom, and my grandmother (and now me) have used this drug, it was not as light duty as I was led to believe. 

When a benzo-savvy GP told me, a few months ago, that the Oxazepam counts in my overall benzo load - I was surprised.  I thought it was so light duty that it didn't need to be considered.

 

It looks like I am not as far along in my taper as I thought.  I'm daunted.  So cutting down the nighttime dose may be harder than I thought.  When I cut it from 15mg to 10mg/night, a couple months ago, I thought - no big deal. 

 

Now I'm wondering if I should get off it before I finish the Valium?  Or, If I should change it to Valium equivalency?  Any answers from the moderators would be appreciated.  If you have had some experience with this?   

[[Pa...]]

I need to correct my last post.  I just checked on-line, and I am kind of shook up that Oxazepam has a longer half life than I believed.  It is actually 8 and 1/2 +hours.  So all these years that my Mom, and my grandmother (and now me) have used this drug, it was not as light duty as I was led to believe. 

When a benzo-savvy GP told me, a few months ago, that the Oxazepam counts in my overall benzo load - I was surprised.  I thought it was so light duty that it didn't need to be considered.

 

It looks like I am not as far along in my taper as I thought.  I'm daunted.  So cutting down the nighttime dose may be harder than I thought.  When I cut it from 15mg to 10mg/night, a couple months ago, I thought - no big deal. 

 

Now I'm wondering if I should get off it before I finish the Valium?  Or, If I should change it to Valium equivalency?  Any answers from the moderators would be appreciated.  If you have had some experience with this? 

 

A benzo is a benzo, they all have different properties and half lives but they all effect your brain the same way.  I'm sorry you've just now realized that your Oxazepam use isn't what you thought it was, but you're doing just fine in regards to your taper.  I don't feel you need to change anything if it's working for you.  You'll of course need to taper the Oxazepam when you're done with the Valium.  Or you could taper it now and then continue your Valium taper.  Just make sure you're only reducing one benzo at a time, you don't want to push yourself too hard. 

 

Of course, you can also cross your Oxazepam dose over to Valium. 

[[ja...]]

Pamster thank you so much for your reassurance!!!  I was up in the night worrying about it.  Disastrous thinking...

Thanks so much.  I will decide which route to go and then if its too harsh I can try a slower road.  Denial is an amazing thing.... sometimes good and sometimes bad.  All these years of not checking the facts.