Valium Vs Xanax potency (the benzo conversion chart conundrum)

[Kallisti23]

The benzodiazepine conversion chart, and the majority of discussion in forums online always lists 0.5mg of alprazolam as being equal to 10mg of diazepam. Thing is, I have never found this to be true in personal experience and most I have spoken too haven't found this either.

My guess is that this is a medical chart that is speaking in terms of their medial anxiolytic effects and do not take into account their felt intoxication.

I have always found 0.5mg Alprazolam to feel more like taking 5 - 7mg diazepam. I am not discussing actual effects here but just strength of experience.

For example I took 2.5mg Xanax yesterday and it did by no means feel as strong as if I took 50mg of valium which is what all the information and conversion charts online would suggest, but more like 25 - 35. This isn't to do with this specific individual batch of bars as I have consistently over years found the .5 mg of Xanax to not be as strong as 10mg Valium.

I don't think it's just to do with my physical constitution as I have had this discussion with other people who also agree that the doses listed in the conversion chart seem off on this one, at least in respect to strength of 'recreational' effects.

In the interest of harm reduction does anyone else have any insight, information or thoughts on this conundrum?

It shouldn't really be a problem when converting from valium to Xanax apart from maybe being a bit underwhelmed, but if you're a Xanax user and are using the conversion chart for valium you could end upon getting more then you bargained for.

 

[Tranced]

I've noticed this too and was thinking about it after revisiting the chart recently. I was actually meant to make a thread myself but it passed me by.

To me, at face value, 1mg alprazolam = 10mg diazepam, and I've always used them interchangeably at this ratio. It's interesting because everything else on the chart seems accurate and does a good job of allowing you to convert the recreational/therapeutic effects. It seems strange that this instance alone would stand apart from the rest.

 

[Kallisti23]

It is a strange one alright. Xanax does seem to have slightly stronger anxiolitic effects than Valium, it increases what I call the 'don't give a shit' factor so I wonder if that could have something to do with the confusing conversion rate?

 

[opiatekrzy]

Just because 10mg of valium is equivalent to 5mg of valium, doesn't mean they are going to feel equivalent in terms of the effects we feel. I believe it relies more on its effect physically perhaps on the CNS.I am not a doctor however

 

[opiatekrzy]

Sorry for the bump , I meant "just because 10mg of valium os equivalent to .5mg of Xanax".
Stupid phone won't let me edit

 

[Nod Alot]

That's interesting you bring this up, because I've always felt that .5 xanax = 5 valium as well

 

[truenamebrand]

The benzodiazepine conversion chart, and the majority of discussion in forums online always lists 0.5mg of alprazolam as being equal to 10mg of diazepam. Thing is, I have never found this to be true in personal experience and most I have spoken too haven't found this either.

My guess is that this is a medical chart that is speaking in terms of their medial anxiolytic effects and do not take into account their felt intoxication.

I have always found 0.5mg Alprazolam to feel more like taking 5 - 7mg diazepam. I am not discussing actual effects here but just strength of experience.

For example I took 2.5mg Xanax yesterday and it did by no means feel as strong as if I took 50mg of valium which is what all the information and conversion charts online would suggest, but more like 25 - 35. This isn't to do with this specific individual batch of bars as I have consistently over years found the .5 mg of Xanax to not be as strong as 10mg Valium.

I don't think it's just to do with my physical constitution as I have had this discussion with other people who also agree that the doses listed in the conversion chart seem off on this one, at least in respect to strength of 'recreational' effects.

In the interest of harm reduction does anyone else have any insight, information or thoughts on this conundrum?

It shouldn't really be a problem when converting from valium to Xanax apart from maybe being a bit underwhelmed, but if you're a Xanax user and are using the conversion chart for valium you could end upon getting more then you bargained for.

This could very well be due to my YEARS of diazepam use (and abuse), but I have found diazepam to be absolute garbage compared to alprozolam. I actually never liked the latter because of how sedated it made me in comparison to other benzos. After being on large doses of clonazepam, diazepam seems even weaker to me. I need 30-40mg just to feel anything noticeable at all. Currently, for me at least, it would seem more like 0.5 xanax = 30mg Valium, but again this is just my tolerance to Valium and limited use of xanax in recent years. The conversion typically given seems to me accurate, or even opposite to what you're saying.

 

[Keif' Richards]

This is purely talking out of my ass, but I would be willing to bet that enzyme activity has a role in determining the subjective potency of many of the Benzodiazepines. For instance, Lorazepam (Ativan), Oxazepam (Serax) and Temazepam (Restoril) are pretty straightforward in-action for most folks, as they lack active metabolites and are metabolized in a similar manner to Morphine, which also has a fairly straightforward action relative to other Opiates/oids.

Diazepam (Valium) is always going to be a wildcard for folks. It's one of the earlier Benzodiazepines to be synthesized, I believe only Chlordiazepoxide (Librium) came first. One of the "issues", as you might say, with Diazepam, is that it's metabolism falls upon several different enzymatic systems to be metabolized and excreted, at least two of which will break Diazepam into further active Benzodiazepine compounds i.e. Desmethyldiazepam, Oxazepam and Temazepam are the ones I'm aware of.

This doesn't actually answer any questions, it merely posits the theory that the conjecture regarding the varying subjective potency of Diazepam could be due to the fact that so many systems are at work in breaking down the substance that the differences in physiology that uniquely define us could account for this.