Well...to prevent seizures, convulsions and other similar symptoms from alcohol withdrawal, along with other seizure-risk drugs, at detox centers Diazepam is administered. The reason for this is because Diazepam has a longer duration than Lorazepam, making it more effective. But Lorazepam is still used in detox...
I've gone to 5-10 day detoxes three times in my life and for those getting off the drink, barbs, pods or the more potent benzodiazepines they are administered 2x 10mg Diazepam every 4 hours until symptoms start diminishing, in which its administered in longer time intervals. A poly-drug abuser (addicted to more than just one drug) of those previous drugs (alcohol, opiates, barbiturates, benzodiazepines and now Soma is inlcuded) are ALSO administered Phenobarbital at a very high dose which drops every 12 hours for the first few days. Now if you DO actually feel like your going to have a seizure and tell the nurse, you are checked and then administered an injection or Lorazepam and have your legs/arms tied up for a couple hours to prevent hitting your head against stuff and causing damage. My last detox was roughly 5 years ago so things may have changed.
Diazepam and lorazepam are both used for status epilepticus, with lorazepam being the preferred agent due to it being a more powerful and quicker acting anticonvulsant.
Diazepam is preferred for detox due to it's long half life. Chlordiazepoxide and oxazepam are also used for alcohol (and benzo) detox.
As far as anticonvulsants go for benzos, it's the 3-hydroxy and 7-nitro compounds that are generally the strongest, most effective.
3-hydroxy: oxazepam, lorazepam, lormetazepam, temazepam
7-nitro: clonazepam, nitrazepam, flunitrazepam, nimetazepam
In fact, nitrazepam, temazepam, and nimetazepam have been shown to be more effective anticonvulsants than the more common lorazepam and clonazepam.
Nitrazepam and temazepam have been found to be more effective than clonazepam and lorazepam in the treatment of West's syndrome, myoclonic seizures, and other seizure disorders in children and adults. The problem with their use though is a more problematic side effect profile: over-sedation and motor-impairment.
Limited studies have been done on nimetazepam, but studies in Japan on mice have shown it to be even more effective than nitrazepam.
Flunitrazepam (a 7-nitro compound) and lormetazepam (a 3-hydroxy compound) haven't been seriously studied as anticonvulsants because they have been mainly studied and promoted as hypnotics, but I am going to assume that they are highly effective aswell since the agents closest to them in chemical makeup are known powerful anticonvulsants.
New nitro and 3-hydroxy compounds are being researched as anticonvulsants and hypnotics such as menitrazepam, meclonazepam, nitrazepate, cinolazepam, and several oxazepam derivatives.
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
