fenazepam; comparisons with other BZDs
Jamshyd said:
It is not water-soluble and actually hardly soluble in ethanol, too.
I say it is most comparable to Lorazepam but much more amnesic and longer-lasting. A mg scale is imperative.
You seem to be talking about fenazepam as a powder; what is wrong with the tabletswhich are already weighed properly? ALWAYS bring 900mg back from any trip to Russia (the max dosage allowed by Customs).
I disagree - lorazepam may be around the same strength ( one 2.5mg ATIVAN is eqivalent to 25mg diazepam) but is available in higher strength tablets, 2.5mg being most common. The big difference is that lorazepam is very short acting, fenazepam quite long acting. Lorazepam is much more sedating in a 'bad' way, making you liable to fall asleep an hour after a single 2.5mg tablet, fenazepam is not, being more like clonazepam which has an almost undetectable sedative effect while doing the right job on anxiety and panic. Only when one takes a huge dose of clonazepam (RIVOTRIL) like 4-6mg at nights does the sedative effect really come through in a big way.
I would compare fenazepam more with a longer-acting oxazepam or a shorter acting diazepam than lorazepam which also has the most uncomfortable effects on the body even after a course of only two weeks as i had a couple of yesrs ago - four x 2.5mg Wyeth Ativan daily for 14 days, and i spent the next seven feeling awful and actually craving a dose, something that has not happened with any other BZD. Clonazepam may be an even closer equivalent, but it is stronger than fenazepam.
But why is it not available in the uK, since it is so effective on an anxiety/panic disorder like mine which has been ongoing for over 30 years? It has few side effects and only when taken in doses which are not recommended causes any untoward effect? The maximum daily dosage is 10mg; in Russia most people take 1mg t.d.s. I would suggest doubling that dose for a severe and chronic problem. Tolerance is the slowest building of any BZD I have used. Tolerance to lorazepam builds in a matter of a few days. It was almost completely banned in 1982 for that very reason, but the 2.5mg tablets which are most common are too useful for a condition which requires a fast acting and relatively strong drug.
Fenazepam (as I noted elsewhere, thatis how it is spelled on the box) is more like oxazepam , diazepam or nordazepam in effect, providing you take the right dose for your own particular condition. In my case that would be 2mg q.i.d. and an hypnotic like midazolam (Flormidal is the best brand by far at a 15mg dosge) or lormetazepam 2mg at nights. Flunitrazepam would be my first choice but i have to go to Ireland to be prescribed 90 days' supply at a time, being 180 x 1mg Roche tablets , no other brand being kept by Irish Pharmacies.