Diazepam question

[Ffaiers]

What mg of diazepam do people take for severe anxiety?

Does it take a couple of days to start working properly?

Thanks x

[jessiejakes]

Hi I take 2 mg of diazepam to help me to sleep and half to one tablet for anxiety as and when needed.it works within 15 minutes for me and last around 6 to 8 hours.they are excellent for severe anxiety.but only take when you really have to as you can get to relay on them.but trust me they act very quickly and really calm you down.

[TheHistoricalPresent]

You should feel the effects almost immediately. It does not have to build up over time like an antidepressant. Side effects when you start are pretty much non-existent, you just feel better. Take as infrequently as possibly ONLY when you absolutely have to. If not you will build up a tolerance so they won't be as effective when you do need them (don;t just take them every day). Also taking them infrequently will result in less chance of experiencing withdrawal.

[stix]

They are a relaxant, I am 6ft 4, 15 stone and 2mg takes about 30 minutes to work on me, and I am sitting here waiting for mine to kick in as I have a migraine and feeling very stressed because of my health.

Don't take more than prescribed because you think it's not working, trust me I have been on these since the age of 11 and I'm now 54 so had plenty of experience in this drug.

I take mine and just sit still and try to drop of to sleep, that helps it work quicker, and if you have someone with you just get them to talk to you slowly and take your mind of anxiety, that all ways helps.

It's a very good drug, but don't take it unless you really need to, because people become to reliant on it and it is addictive. Me personally have been able to always get it, but my doctors have always kept an eye on usage.

Good luck, hope it calms you soon.

[Clazzy78 in reply to stix]

Hello. I have 5 mg tablets for severe PMS/PMDD. I get physical symptoms like tense muscles that give me headaches. I also get extremely irritable, aggressive and angry, some of it directed at my family which is not good.

I use it sparingly, on an as needed basis. Usually the couple of days before. It really helps alleviating headache/tension, and all the nasty aggressive traits that develop. It works quickly, never had side effects from it. It helps my muscles relax and generally calms me down a bit.

It starts working as soon as you take the tablet, within about half an hour I'd say.

Best of luck with it, it's a very useful medicine if used correctly by prescriber and patient.

[dave1960moreton in reply to stix]

I think it is a wonderful drug but my GP won't prescibe it the miserable thing. They won't prescribe anything that is helpful. May change my GP as they were killing me off.

[CARTERKC]

I take 10mg at morning and 5mg at night. They usually act immediately unless my anxiety is sky high.

[Ffaiers in reply to CARTERKC]

My doctor told me to take 5mg twice a day for one week to eradicate severe anxiety. Should I take it not?

[Agora1 in reply to Ffaiers]

Ffaiers, please take what your doctor prescribes. Your doctor knows what is best for you. One tablet a day may not be enough to break through the severe anxiety. Work with your medication and you should feel the difference. Good Luck x

[Ffaiers in reply to Agora1]

Thanks Hun I'm going to do that, I don't get addicted after a few days I'm sure x

[Agora1 in reply to Ffaiers]

No way Ffaiers. This is necessary for you right now in order to bring down your anxiety level. x

[dave1960moreton in reply to CARTERKC]

How come your GP prescribed it mine won't the nasty beggers

[missymo in reply to dave1960moreton]

They try to get people off diazapam these days. Ive been on them 28 years.addicted or not.i dont care.if they give me quality of life i.l take them!! Good luck dave

[Ffaiers]

Thank you, I'll keep you updated x

[Ohtobepainfree]

Years ago was prescribed 10mgs 4 times daily , now I take 5 or 10 mgs as needed, for anxiety and to help relax muscles for pain x

[Ffaiers in reply to Ohtobepainfree]

Did it take a while to settle your severe anxiety? X

[Ohtobepainfree in reply to Ffaiers]

Was given an antidepressant and Busperone as well, started to feel much better after a week, insisted on seeing a psychiatrist, was worth paying. x

[missymo in reply to Ffaiers]

Yes but i also had to go on paroxatine for dreadful panic attacks which i hate but if it helps me get on with my life i dont care. Ive had some very bad health things happen to me& they help me cope.x

[Jeff1943]

I've been taking valium/diazepam very occasionally as needed since 1975. Sometimes many weeks go by without taking any and I avoid taking it for more than 2 consecutive days. I'm prescribed 5mg tablets but I always break them in half and take 2.5mg. Since growing older and increasing my body weight I find 2.5mg less effective: the one thing doctors rarely consider is to match the strength of the tablets to the body weight of the patient, they will give the same strength to soneone weighing 9 stones as to someone weighing 18 stones.

As everyone says they are fairly instant acting, about 15 minutes and you're wondering what all the fuss is about. Under doctor's supervision some people may need to take them several times a day for longer periods ie up to a month or so.

As I've said before, valium was first derived from the rawalwulfa root that grows wild in India by 2 Swiss chemists working for Roche in 1948. It had been used as a natural tranquiliser in Indian medicine for many hundreds of years. Mahatma Ghandi started each day with a bowl of porridge msde from the grated rawalwulfa root hence his peaceful nature.

[Marguerite2013 in reply to Jeff1943]

The origins of diazepam are very interesting Jeff... I was surprised to learn that these drugs were identified by Hoffmann La Roche as early as 1948! So I presume that for 15-20 years they researched this drug before it was accepted by the medical profession - and yet they still damaged many people's lives in so doing..

I was prescribed diazepam 30mg daily since 1972 by a very irresponsible GP as well as 5-10mg nitrazepam for anxiety and insomnia... One does become "dependent" on these drugs and some people become "addicted" and require higher doses when tolerance occurs in order to achieve the same effect. The long-term side effects are not good insofar as damage to the brain does kick in eventually by way of forgetfulness, word-hunting problems etc.

After on these drugs for 20 years and realising that I was starting to become forgetful (a bit like an alcoholic does), I myself asked my then GP for a referral to the top man in psychopharmacology, and he started me on a reduction programme, which caused THE most horrendous and painful withdrawals, and also interfered with my career as I had many migraines, panic attacks, painful joints and muscles and found stress impossible to cope with, so had to do temping so as to stay in work. However, over a period of a further 20 years I managed eventually to get down to 5mg daily a couple of years ago, and am still reducing these but at the rate of 1mg annually. (I am now 73)..

I would love to change GPs, but nobody will accept me on their list because of my so-called addiction to BZs.

I would therefore advise anybody considering taking benzodiazepines to take as low a dose as possible and as infrequently as possible, regardless of your GP's advice. It sounds to me that Jeff in all probability had some medical knowledge when first prescribed this drug and has taken it very responsibly - as in '72 doctors were handing them out like Smarties. However, it seems that the respondents here are aware of the dangers these drugs can produce, which is good and I hope that my experience of the BZs, which was not a happy one, will make you guys realise how important it is to take these only when absolutely essential. Good luck!

[Jeff1943 in reply to Marguerite2013]

That's very interesting Marguerite2013, as you say they were handed out like Smarties in the 1960s and 1970s, I started taking three 2.5mg doses 3 times a day (halves of 5mg tablets) and after about a year decided I should come off them and stopped taking them, this was before it was recignised that they were addictive. I felt absolutely awful, dreadful, and so I went back on them and then started to cut back by one 2,5mg half tablet each week. In fact ut took me about a year to arrive at thehappy stage where I could do without them without withdrawal symptoms and just take half a tablet occasional as needed.

Shortly after this the medical profession suddenly realised they were adductive and the pendulum swung the other way and doctors became very reluctant to prescribe them and trued to palm patients off with propranolol which wasn't nearly so effective.

I think valium is helpful as a fast acting anti anxiety medication but should be used very sparingly where necessary for just a couple of days at most then a longish gap must be left. Some very disressed oatients can be given three a day but for a maximum of one month only under strict supervision by a dictor.

I never noticed any side effects, sometimes it takes me time to remember names but I had that problem even as a teenager, like youMargeurita2013 I'm in my 70s.

[Marguerite2013 in reply to Jeff1943]

Thanks very much Jeff for your interesting response.. I am also hoping that any long-term effects like memory probs will eventually clear up and that long-term diazepam use has not have caused irreversible damage. What gives me hope is that prior to asking my GP to refer me to Prof Lader, I had "blackouts" from time to time and a problem recognising people i.e. the doctors or secretaries with whom I worked after chatting to them for half an hour the previous day?! This experience really terrified me - and that forced me to get help fast! After dropping 10mg gradually, I never had any "blackouts" again, which I was told were similar to alcoholic damage.

You were very sensible in the early days of your taking BZs to only take them only when feeling really rough and then on a prn basis. Congratulations! Good chatting to you. Thanks..

[missymo in reply to Marguerite2013]

30 mg?? Omg!! Thats powerful stuff!! Ive never gone over 5mg!! You poor thing!!

[dave1960moreton]

No if it is prescribed it should work within a couple of hours of taking it. My GP won't predcibe it as he says too addictive. Really bad as it is so helpful.

[missymo in reply to dave1960moreton]

In that case i.d buy thrm of a reputable site off the internet.dave1😢😢

[FoggyMoggy]

I am prescribed 5 mg but don't take them every day. Take them some night to help sleep, usually half a tab and then another half if necessary. You will find they work best if you don't take them every day because you build up a tolerance. I've been taken different tranx on and off for years in this manner!

[Jeff1943 in reply to FoggyMoggy]

You're right, FoggyMoggy, you can build up tolerance of them if you take them too long. In my last posting here I made a mistake I wrote "I started taking three 2.5mg doses three times a day" What I meant was I took one 2.5mg doses three times a day". As far as getting your Doctor to prescribe them is concerned you have to win their confidence that you are a responsible user so you start by telling them what they already know that if you take too many they can become addictive so you only take them sparingly on an as needed basis etc. My doctor gives me one prescription of 28 5mg tablets every 6 months which I break in half giving me 56 doses. But I hate it when a new GP takes over but I've been lucky so far and five consecutive GPs have been happy to prescribe them (but I always keep one box of 28 tablets in reserve just in case)!

[FoggyMoggy in reply to Jeff1943]

Hi Jeff, yes, my GP (usually the same one!) knows I don't ask for a repeat prescription very often so she's happy to prescribe them. It is as you say down to how you use them and they will have that in their notes.