5mg didnt seem to calm me

Greetings from a new member!

I took 5 mg of generic Valium yesterday. I was given by my DR for a fear of flying. Wondering how it would work on me I decided to do a test run yesterday.

Took the 5 mg and took about a hour before I could feel anything. Then for what ever reason I got extremely hyper. I mean bounce of the walls hyper. For about a hour this is what I went through. After the hyperness I got somewhat sleepy. That burn in your eyes when you blink kind of tired. Decided to lay down and took about a 45 min nap. Woke up and from there appeared to have worn off.

Here is my concern. I cant be that hyper on a plane and I'm not really sure that it had enough of a calming affect to keep me on a plane. I fly in a few weeks and just wondering if I should either a) take a 7.5mg dose to test b) take a 10 mg dose to test or c) call my DR and get something completely different.

I also don't want to be so messed up from the 10 mg that I waste a day recovering. My trip is not that long and going to see family I haven't seen in years. Really want to be able to get onto the plane and not have a complete melt down if the medicine isn't working.

Any thoughts?

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Originally Posted by flyingfear

Greetings from a new member!

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Welcome to No More Panic, :welcome:

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Took the 5 mg and took about a hour before I could feel anything.

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It typically takes 1-1.5 hours for diazepam plasma levels to peak.

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Then for what ever reason I got extremely hyper. I mean bounce of the walls hyper. For about a hour this is what I went through. After the hyperness I got somewhat sleepy.

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I think this was probably mostly your anxious mind, with the sedation taking over at the med took effect. All benzodiazepines can be sedating.

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Here is my concern. I cant be that hyper on a plane and I'm not really sure that it had enough of a calming affect to keep me on a plane. I fly in a few weeks and just wondering if I should either a) take a 7.5mg dose to test b) take a 10 mg dose to test or c) call my DR and get something completely different.

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5mg is only a mild dose and you may need more, however, for short flights of <=4 hours the faster acting and more potent alprazolam (Xanax) is probably a better choice. As with the diazepam, try it beforehand to test your reaction and its effectiveness.

Thanks I appreciate it. The flight is a little over 5 hours so I'm going to try to stick with the valium.

I ended up calling my Dr and she gave me a script for Klonopin. Not sure how I feel about that yet

5mg only takes the edge off me a little. The 2 glasses of wine and double vodka did the trick though last time i flew (yeah i know youre not meant to combine them - makes you rather sleepy)