Help needed with diazapam please

[HollyM]

Hi I have been prescribed diazapam 5mg I'm very scared of taking them and only took half of one on sat I was surprised at how relaxed they made me feel I was so calm and when I was thinking I might have a panic attack it just didn't happen I now totally understand why people get addicted! Now I'm unsure as to how often I should be taking these I'm feeling quite anxious (my citalopram hasn't kicked in yet) so today I have taken 1 whole 5mg tablet but half in the morning and half just now. How many can I take a day? The doctor never told me exactly how many and I don't have an appointment until Thursday morning thanks x

[kittikat]

Diazepam are prescribed for short term use, usually to help you through a bad time or at the start up of new meds to help with side effects. I would say that if you felt ok on the half tablet, save what you have to use as and when needed ie. when you are feeling at your worst.

You can build up a tolerance to them and they are very addictive but occasional use and 'as & when' emergency use should be fine to help you at the moment.

Good luck. Kitti

[HollyM]

Diazepam are prescribed for short term use, usually to help you through a bad time or at the start up of new meds to help with side effects. I would say that if you felt ok on the half tablet, save what you have to use as and when needed ie. when you are feeling at your worst.

You can build up a tolerance to them and they are very addictive but occasional use and 'as & when' emergency use should be fine to help you at the moment.

Good luck. Kitti

Thank you x

[steveo]

100% agree with kittikat here. They are fantastic for short term use and really do work well.
Please don't take them for longer than 2-4 weeks. Thats when problems happen. I was in exactly your shoes at the start of January. I was starting back on an SSRI and it was sheer hell. Diazepam helped me nicely but unfortunately I continued to take the diazepam as I was still suffering. 5 months later, despite being on no more than 4mg a day I am now going through a terrible withdraw from the medication that wouldn't of happened if I stopped after a month. It's a very slow and nasty process I'm in that feels worse than it did back in January but now I don't have the benefits of diazepam to help me through. Just a friendly warning

[HollyM]

100% agree with kittikat here. They are fantastic for short term use and really do work well.
Please don't take them for longer than 2-4 weeks. Thats when problems happen. I was in exactly your shoes at the start of January. I was starting back on an SSRI and it was sheer hell. Diazepam helped me nicely but unfortunately I continued to take the diazepam as I was still suffering. 5 months later, despite being on no more than 4mg a day I am now going through a terrible withdraw from the medication that wouldn't of happened if I stopped after a month. It's a very slow and nasty process I'm in that feels worse than it did back in January but now I don't have the benefits of diazepam to help me through. Just a friendly warning

Hello thanks for that, so do you think I should just do as I'm doing now take 1 5mg a day half in morning half at night and then stop after a month?

[AlexandriaUK]

Hi yes Diazepam are great for short term use but to be honest try not to get into the habit of taking them every day, I am sure the Doc gave you them so that if you were really struggling you could take one, usually they give you 2 mg that's quite a good dose for some one with anxiety, try to go without if you can and only take when you have a bad spell, think of it this way, diazepam is not a wonder drug, they just calm you, so if they only calm you and don't cure any of the imagined diseases we think we have then you could do that with relaxation your self.
They are a marvelous safety blanket, I have carried them with me for years but I am lucky that I have a little more control of my Anxiety Ha Ha

[steveo]

Don't just take it as a daily medication. Take is as and when you need it. And by that I mean, not just at the first raised heartbeat or drop of sweat. I mean if you are really struggling.

You should be able to stretch a packet out for a long time just like AlexandriaUK does. As soon as I'm off my diazepam, I will then go back to carrying out a small amount on me for emergencies.

Please don't end up in my position though. I only took 4mg a day for a few months and now I really am in a whole world of sheer hell trying to come off! I never EVER thought this would happen to me on such a low dose and for a fairly short term use. I am 100times worse than before I took the medication! I wish I saved them for emergencies only and didn't start taking them as an every day medication.

Personally, I would split the 5mg tablets in half. For someone who has only just started taking diazepam, 2.5mg is enough to calm even the strongest panic attacks. I took 1mg to start with and that worked for me and I'm a 6foot guy!

It's not even the addiction that's the problem. I'm not 'addicted' so to speak. I don't even want to take the damn things anymore. It's just that if I stop then I could potentially die!! People can die from cold turkeying off diazepam.

Please only use them really really carefully. I can't stress that enough. If I can stop just one person from being in my situation then I will have made a big difference!

[Hologram]

Reading this post and reading how low a dose some people are taking has worried me. I also have been taking diazepam for a number of years now but not everyday, maybe every five days or so when needed. I carry them with me all the time just as a safety net. If I take one 10mg pill I don’t feel anything in a very stressful situation and a panic attack does come on I have seen myself taking 30mg which does calm me down. Now I am worried my tolerance to the drug has become very high without me noticing. Can you be addicted if you are not taking them everyday ???

[steveo]

They have a very long half life, up to 200hours which is over 8 days. So taking a tablet every 5 days can keep the drug in your system which will slowly build up tolerance.

Even if not taken daily, if you're taking the medication for years on an average of every 5 days, then yes you can easily build up tolerance. They are for 2-4 weeks use only or real one off emergencies. They are not for 'stressful situations' or every panic attack. All of us experience many many many frightening panic attacks but we can't take a tablet each time we do. Plus... diazepam doesn't peak in our system until 30-40minutes by which time the panic attack has normally subsided.

If I took 30mg, I would be knocked out for half the day and I'm a 28 year old, 6ft guy.

You need to be REALLY careful. You need to start spacing out when you take the drugs or look into reducing them. They are a seriously dangerous drug if not taken as advised.

Hologram are you on any other medication for your panic attacks or stress management? Have you undergone any sort of therapy? These are the long term solutions to this. Diazepam is a short term mask.

[HollyM]

I'm really worried about having them now. Originally I wasn't going to buy them in with my prescription of citalopram but the person working in the chemist said its important to take them when you first go on citalopram because of the side effects and heightened anxiety