The Tranquilliser Recovery and Awareness Place
Welcome to the tranquilliser recovery and awareness place. We offer advice and support for those who wish to safely withdraw from benzodiazepines or the non-benzodiazepine Z drugs or have withdrawn but are still suffering withdrawal symptoms.
If you have got unexplained symptoms such as agorophobia, unnatural anxiety, depression, social phobia, memory and concentration problems, muscular problems for no earthly reason, it may very likely be the benzodiazepine pills! Or if you are experienced bizarre and severe withdrawal effects when you try to reduce your dosage you have found the right place. The Tranquilliser Recovery and Awareness Place is a place to free yourself safely and as comfortably as possible combined with mutual support from others who have gone through the same experience as you. We look forward to meeting you on The Tranquilliser Recovery Awareness Place support forums.
Benzodiazepines and Z drugs are extremely potent drugs which effect the GABAa receptors in the brain and body. These drugs should only be taken for 1-2 weeks as they have very high addictive and toxic properties. Many people find themselves taking benzodiazepines for a prolonged period of time and this in turn causes a tolerance effect requiring increasing doses to achieve the original effect of the drug. This will cause your body to have withdrawal symptoms when reducing the dose. Some people may even experience withdrawal symptoms even though they are still taking the drug as the body craves more and more of the drug to feel normal which can lead to dosage escalation. Withdrawal symptoms come in many forms and can be very unpleasant and are typically worse than the origional reason that you went on the pills in the first place. The withdrawal symptoms can include both physical and mental health type symptoms and may resemble medical conditions and can lead to a misdiagnosis of a medical or mental health disorder.
Benzodiazepines should never be stopped abruptly due to the risk of severe and potentially life threatening withdrawal symptoms. If you wish to stop your benzodiazepine drugs you should taper slowly in gradual steps off of them. This will help minimise the intensity withdrawl symptoms. Here on TRAP we recomend a slow taper by using valium and done over a long period of time which makes the withdrawal process much more tolerable. This has been proven to be a very sucessful way to withdraw and we will offer help and advice on your personal dose taper.
It is very possible to withdraw from these drugs and here on TRAP we will help you every step of the way. We are a very friendly forum where you will find sound advice, support and reassurance.
Benzodiazepine Equivalent and Half life Table
Below is a benzodiazepine equivalence and half life table by Professor Heather Ashton including common benzodiazepines and the nonbenzodiazepine Z drugs which have similar effects to benzodiazepines.
Benzodiazepines, 1 Half-life (hrs), 2 [active metabolite] Approximately Equivalent Oral dosages (mg), 3 Market Aim, 4 Alprazolam ( Xanax ) 6-12 0.5 anxiolytic, 4 Bromazepam ( Lexotan ) 10-20 5-6 anxiolytic, 4 Chlordiazepoxide ( Librium ) 5-30 [36-200] 25 anxiolytic, 4 Clobazam ( Frisium ), 5 12-60 20 anxiolytic, anticonvulsants, 4 Clonazepam ( Klonopin, Rivotril ), 5 18-50 0.5 anxiolytic, anticonvulsants, 4 Clorazepate ( Tranxene ) [36-200] 15 anxiolytic, 4 Diazepam ( Valium ) 20-100 [36-200] 10 anxiolytic, 4 Estazolam ( ProSom ) 10-24 1-2 hypnotic, 4 Flunitrazepam ( Rohypnol ) 18-26 [36-200] 1 hypnotic, 4 Flurazepam ( Dalmane ) [40-250] 15-30 hypnotic, 4 Halazepam ( Paxipam ) [30-100] 20 anxiolytic, 4 Ketazolam ( Anxon ) 30-100 [36-200] 15-30 anxiolytic, 4 Loprazolam ( Dormonoct ) 6-12 1-2 hypnotic, 4 Lorazepam ( Ativan ) 10-20 1 anxiolytic, 4 Lormetazepam ( Noctamid ) 10-12 1-2 hypnotic, 4 Medazepam ( Nobrium ) 36-200 10 anxiolytic, 4 Nitrazepam ( Mogadon ) 15-38 10 hypnotic, 4 Oxazepam ( Serax, Serenid D ) 4-15 20 anxiolytic, 4 Prazepam ( Centrax ) [36-200] 10-20 anxiolytic, 4 Quazepam ( Doral ) 25-100 20 hypnotic, 4 Temazepam ( Restoril, Normison, Euhypnos ) 8-22 20 hypnotic, 4 Triazolam ( Halcion ) 2 0.5 hypnotic, 4 "Non"-benzodiazepines with similar effects 1, 6 Zaleplon (Sonata) 2 20 hypnotic, 4 Zolpidem ( Ambien, Stilnoct ) 2 20 hypnotic, 4 Zopiclone ( Zimovane, Imovane ) 5-6 15 hypnotic, 4 Eszopiclone ( Lunesta ) 6-9 3 hypnotic, 4 All these drugs are recommended for short-term use only (2-4 weeks maximum).
Half-life: time taken for blood concentration to fall to half its peak value after a single dose. Half-life of active metabolite shown in square brackets. This time may vary considerably between individuals.
These equivalents do not agree with those used by some authors. They are firmly based on clinical experience during switch-over to diazepam at start of withdrawal programs but may vary between individuals.
Market Aim: Although all benzodiazepines have similar actions, they are usually marketed as anxiolytics, hypnotics or anticonvulsants.
In the UK clobazam (Frisium) and clonazepam (Rivotril) are licensed for use as anti-epileptics only.
These drugs are chemically different from benzodiazepines but have the same effects on the body and act by the same mechanisms.
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