Drug info - The Benzodiazepine World

[pharmapsyche]

Benzodiazepines: Half-Life (hours)
Alprazolam (Xanax), 6-12
Bromazepam (Lexotan, Lexomil) 10-20
Chlordiazepoxide (Librium) 5-30
Clobazam (Frisium) 12-60
Clonazepam (Klonopin, Rivotril) 18-50
Clorazepate (Tranxene) 36-200
Diazepam (Valium) 20-100
Estazolam (ProSom) 10-24
Flunitrazepam (Rohypnol) 18-26
Flurazepam (Dalmane) 40-250
Halazepam (Paxipam) 30-100
Ketazolam (Anxon) 15-30
Loprazolam (Dormonoct) 6-12
Lorazepam (Ativan) 10-20
Lormetazepam (Noctamid) 10-12
Medazepam (Nobrium) 36-200
Nitrazepam (Mogadon) 15-38
Nordazepam (Nordaz, Calmday) 36-200
Oxazepam (Serax, Serenid, Serepax) 4-15
Prazepam (Centrax) 36-200
Quazepam (Doral) 25-100
Temazepam (Restoril, Normison, Euhypnos) 8-22
Triazolam (Halcion) 2

Different Benzodiazepines are used for different reasons. Therapeutic Uses for benzodiazpines consit of:
Anxiolytic- which is relief of anxiety and is most commonly prescribed for Anxiety, Panic Disorderes, and Phobias.
Hypnotic- which is to promote sleep, and is most commonly prescribed for the treatment of Insomnia.
Myorelaxant- which is to help stop convulsions, and is most commonly prescribed for "fits" due to drug poisoning and some forms of epilepsy.
Amnesia- which is to impair short-term memory, and is most commonly prescribed during Premedications for operations and sedation before minor surgical procedures.

Benzodiazepines react with a booster site on GABA receptors. This action enhances the inhibitory effects of GABA, the ongoing nerve impulse may be completely blocked.

As a consequence of the enhancement of GABA's inhibitory activity caused by benzodiazepines, the brain's output of excitatory neurotransmitters, including norepinephrine, serotonin, acetyl choline and dopamine, is reduced. Such excitatory neurotransmitters are necessary for normal alertness, memory, muscle tone and co-ordination, emotional responses, heart rate and blood pressure control. These are the effects people are looking for when they use benzodiazpines at recreational doses.

[MrJim]

I have a couple of questions here.
Benzo's reduce serotonin levels - Wouldn't that reduce the overall pleasure one feels if taking at recreational dosages?
And - The half life spread can be quite large - some are 36 - 200 hours. Is that solely based on individual metabolism, or do other factors, such as the concentration already in the body play a big part in that as well?

[pharmapsyche]

The half life's I put up there, are based upon the half life of the drug in hours, and how long the active metabolite will be in the body. Ofcourse, some of the benzodiazpines have a large range upon the hours, depending on the person's body, if they have ate recently before taking the medication, and how fast there metabolism works.

As I showed all the different range of benzo's in the first post, you can tell there are a large number of benzodiazepines are available. There are major differences in potency between different benzodiazepines, which is a part of why some have a shorter half life than others. For example, 0.5mg. of Alprazolam is approximately equivalent to 10mg of Diazepam.

Benzodiazepines also differ markedly in the speed at which they are metabolised, in the liver and eliminated from the body, in the urine. For example, the "half-life" (time taken for the blood concentration to fall to half its initial value after a single dose) for Triazolam is only 2-5 hours, while the half-life of diazepam is 20-100 hours, and that of an active metabolite of diazepam is 36-200 hours. This means that half the active products of diazepam are still in the bloodstream up to 200 hours after a single dose. Clearly, with repeated daily dosing accumulation occurs and high concentrations can build up in the body, usually in the fatty tissues of the body.

I hope this helps you understand benzo's a little better!

[rideburton56]

this should be a sticky, im always refering to this in one way or another and i always have to go searching for it.

[adzket]

what effects would this have on some one who had been takeing them for years not recreationaly but medical doses swim has been perscribed several differant ones over about the last 4 yrs are these likely to have a long term effect? if so what?