Drug info - Temazepam and shorter acting Benzo's

[Fantasian]

SWIFantasian recently spoke with his doctor about taking temazepam for his severe stomach pains as a sedative and hypnotic. SWIF's doctor explained that Temazepam was the shortest acting benzo that existed apart from ones used purely for surgary.

Looking at pharmapsyche's Benzo half life diagrams this isn't strictly true. SWIF is very confused. SWIF asked that maybe lorazepam would be effective as he had used this in hospital via IV administration and it was very effective but the doc said that this was a long acting benzo.

SWIF is very confused.

What benzo's are shorter acting than temazepam and could be used well for masking pain through sedation and amnesia and also promote sleep via hypnotic route.

[Psych0naut]

Triazolam or Ketazolam are as far as SWIM knows, the shortest acting benzo's, which both have a half life of 2 hours.
After that it's Midazolam, which has a half life of 3 hours.
SWIM isn't shure if Triazolam and Ketazolam are used for surgery, but he knows that Midazolam is prescribed as a sleep-aid.

[Jatelka]

In the UK SWIF's options for short-acting benzos are: Alprazolam (in the BNF, but very rarely prescribed, only indicated for anxiety), Oxazepam (again, very rarely prescribed, and only indicated for anxiety), Lorazepam and Temazepam. Midazolam is only available in the UK as an injectable benzo to cover medical procedures (elsewhere in the world it is marketed as "Dormicum").

SWIJ has to say that she is concerned re the prescription of benzos for pain. Her comments re novel agents like Gabapentin being worth trying still stand (for atypical pain rather than sleep).

She also thinks that Vincent Van has offered some excellent advice in the other thread (particularly re acupuncture etc).

[Fantasian]

SWIJ: I recently spoke to my doctor about this, He said Gabapentin is ineffective and not worth the bother. He also recently prescribed Lorazepam which SWIF hasnt tried yet except via hospital administration. IF SWIJ has any further advice please offer it as it is most welcome.

[Benzeneringz]

So you're looking for a short-acting hypnotic to aid you in getting to sleep while experiencing stomach pain? What about a non-benzodiazepine hypnotic, such as zolpidem? It, along with zaleplon (Sonata) and zopiclone (Imovane, Lunesta), has a very short half-life. Benzodiazepines aren't true analgesics, so going with a non-BZP sleep aid would have no negative consequences. Plus they have short half-lives, which is what you are looking for. The analgesia experienced from benzodiazepines relates to the way it relaxes and slows nerve transmissions in the brain. The non-BZP hypnotics slow nerve transmissions in a way that is identical to the sedative properties of the BZP's, so you should look into these drugs.