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diazepam duration

qwe

qwe

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i know diazepam is a long acting benzo (relatively). and that despite its longer half life than clonazepam, it has a shorter duration of therapeutic action

i haven't come across exactly what the difference in duration is, though. how long does it last compared to clonazepam?
 
Very interested to hear as well if anyone has any good info on this. I has posted a similar question about half-life vs. duration of action in OD not to long ago, but didn't get any totally sound answers.
 
sorry, BA? bioavailability? like it's in your bloodstream 150h due to crazy halflife/metabolites but subjective effects are 6-8?

i assume you took the 6-8 figure from a chart.... does that chart have clonazepam's duration for comparison?
 
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I just acquired the physicians desk reference from my local library which has tons of info on any Rx-ed med. Next I have some spare time I'm going to see if it has any insights on this, and then I shall post the findings.
 
Well, I just got prescribed it earlier today (20mg) to help me taper off 1mg of Klonopin. I take my first dose tonight but I will pass out early because I take Seroquel along with it. Tomorrow morning I will count the hours. Personally, throughout 10 years of benzodiazepine addiction, diazepam is the one benzo that I have very little experience with.
 
A benzo chart.
Its not formatting all that well, got it from here

From: Clinical Handbook of Psychotropic Drugs, 4th revised edition, Bezchlibnyk-Butler et al. editors (Clarke Insitute of Psychiatry, Toronto), Hogrefe & Huber:


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Benzodiazepine Comparative Time Half-life
dose to peak
plasma
level

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alprazolam .5 1 - 2 9 - 20
Bromazepam 3.0 .5 - 4 8 - 30
Chlordiazepoxide 25 1 - 4 24 - 100
Clonazepam .25 1 - 4 19 - 60
Clorazepate 10 variable 1.3 - 120 * (unreliable absorption)
Diazepam 5 1 - 2 30 - 200 *
Estazolam 1 .5 - .6 8 - 24
Flurazepam 15 .5 - 1 40 - 250 *
Halazepam 40 1 - 3 30 - 96 *
Ketazolam 7.5 3.2 30 - 200
Lorazepam 1 2 4 8 - 24
Nitrazepam 2.5 .5 - 7 15 - 48
Oxazepam 15 2 - 3 3 - 25
Prazepam 10 2.5 - 6 30 - 100
Quazepam 7.5 1.5 39 - 120 *
Temazepam 10 2.5 3 - 25
Triazolam .25 1 - 2 1.5 - 5

* metabolites
 
qwe said:
sorry, BA? bioavailability? like it's in your bloodstream 150h due to crazy halflife/metabolites but subjective effects are 6-8?

i assume you took the 6-8 figure from a chart.... does that chart have clonazepam's duration for comparison?
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can't remember where i read it (maybe my doc told me this), but i think it was a reliable source.... i would imagine clonazepam having a duration of about 12 hours
 
phatass said:
can't remember where i read it (maybe my doc told me this), but i think it was a reliable source.... i would imagine clonazepam having a duration of about 12 hours
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12 hours?? Diazepam is told by doctors (at least the ones I've seen) to have a shorter duration of clonazepam. The reason why clonazepam is preferred. But thats just what I've heard. Could be doctor bull$h!t
 
phatass said:
^^i dunno... a lot of people are prescribed for exaple 0.5mg in the morning and 0.5mg at night... wheras i get the impretion that diazepam is taken 3 times a day, morning, lunch and before bed
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That's why I don't think they last anywhere near 12 hours if they must be taken 3 or 4 times daily versus just 2 times with Clonazepam. I figure that it lasts roughly 4 hours but that is a complete guess. I'll find out tomorrow.
 
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my starting clonaz dose was 3x a day .5mg

recently switched to 5mg diaz 3x a day

i ask about duration because you can't really tell when you switch, with the incomplete cross tolerance and needing to get used to the med etc
 
K'd-OUT-in-AZ said:
That's why I don't think they last anywhere near 12 hours if they must be taken 3 or 4 times daily versus just 2 times with Clonazepam. I figure that it lasts roughly 4 hours but that is a complete guess. I'll find out tomorrow.
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i did originally say tha i thought diazepam lasted 6 hours and clonazepam lasted 12 hours...; i think u missread
 
Did some researching on this, still didn't find anything conclusive, but perhaps this will help some.

Diazepam reaches maximum plasma concentration within a range of 1-3 hours. Its elimination half-life is up to 48 hours. (The reason the half-life is usually listed as being much higher is because active metabolites associated with diazepam take much longer to be removed from the body.)

From PDR:
The initial distribution phase is followed by a prolonged terminal elimination phase (half-life up to 48 hours). The terminal elimination half-life of the active metabolite N-desmethyldiazepam is up to 100 hours. Diazepam and its metabolites are excreted mainly in the urine, predominantly as their glucuronide conjugates. The clearance of diazepam is 20 to 30 mL/min in young adults. Diazepam accumulates upon multiple dosing and there is some evidence that the terminal elimination half-life is slightly prolonged.
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Clonazepam reaches maximum plasma concentration within a range of 1-4 hours. Its elimination half-life is 30-40 hours, and no active metabolite is discussed.
 
This is from a Doctor who ran a benzo withdrawal clinic in Britain. It seems that there are a lot of variation in benzo equivalence and half life charts as well as opinions about their relative attributes. http://psychmedaware.org/HistoryBenzodiazepines.html
All these equivalencies are of course approximate. There is considerable individual variation in how people react to benzodiazepines. In addition, there are subtle differences in the pharmacological profiles of different drugs, and the equivalences do not always work at higher doses. For example, in my clinical experience diazepam is rather more sedative than lorazepam (Ativan) which is more anxiolytic. So if you abruptly change someone on say 6mg Ativan to 60mg of diazepam, he is likely to become very sleepy but may still be anxious. However, you can accomplish a changeover if you do it gradually and stepwise, dose by dose, titrating each dose to the clinical response. People also have differences in the speed at which they metabolise drugs, but on the whole the equivalences apply generally, except possibly in the case of benzodiazepines which have active metabolites such as diazepam where the half-lives of these can vary from 36-200 hrs.
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