Drowsiness as a long term symptom or maybe withdrawal symptom?

[Amani]

I know it's common for Valium to make you drowsy but have been on it for a couple of weeks and have never felt particularly drowsy with it. Then today when I was on the bus back home I became conscious that my eyes kept closing and I felt like I needed to sleep asap, which is very unusual to me as I'm someone who can't even nap. I even had to stay on the bus longer so it could take me nearer home and skip my food shopping because I was feeling so out if it and drowsy I was scared I would black out if I did to much, and just wanted to rush into bed. But what's weird is the drowsiness happened in the afternoon and my last Valium was 8pm last night (I hadn't taken one yet at this point). It was also suggested to me that it could actually be a withdrawal for not taking Valium for 20 hours. Other than feeling drowsy I felt very zombie like and weird and over sensitive to noise/other sensations. I also started panicking a lot on the way home because I felt like I wasn't going to make it for feeling so drowsy/out of it. Can anyone make any sense out of this? Thanks

[unfitwellhappy]

It's unlikely to be withdrawal. The active metabolite of Valium is longer than 20hrs.

It's a well known effect that Diazepam can make you sleepy the next day - it might be worth dropping your dose slightly..

I wouldn't really overthink it - just don't drive or operate heavy machinery!

A

[Amani]

Thanks for the the response. I am weaning off currently and the day I felt drowsy was the day after the lowest dose I've had yet, so it seemed odd for me to experience drowsiness then for the first time when I hadn't before. But yes, I probably shouldn't over think it, but was just another thing that made my panic at the time because I felt quite out of sorts

[sandie]

If you have started another med, it could be a side-effect. I think you have just started Sertraline ? it is possibly due to this ......

[MyNameIsTerry]

Maybe a drop in blood sugar? Dehydration?

I've just noticed you're weaning off Diazepam, I thought you were just going on it so the side effects issues are not quite what I was saying as you would know by now.

But with the Sertraline having similar interactions, it could be too much combined? Maybe? Out of that and Diazepam in terms of sedation effects you would expect the Diazepam to be the stronger of the two. But combining all these together could increase this from the Diazepam perhaps so worth asking about this event too in case they can spot anything.

[Amani]

Well I have only been on Diazepam for about 2 weeks so I'm new to it in a sense. I was given another week's worth of Diazepam with the intention of weaning off now. And this episode was actually before I started the Sert, I took my first Sert yesterday afternoon and this episode was a bit earlier. It was weird because other than extreme drowsiness I sort of felt feelings of derealization and was sensitive to sight/sound, so it felt to be some sort of side effect.

Also annoyingly I wasn't able to get hold of my doctor today so will have to wait another day

[unfitwellhappy]

Well I have only been on Diazepam for about 2 weeks so I'm new to it in a sense. I was given another week's worth of Diazepam with the intention of weaning off now. And this episode was actually before I started the Sert, I took my first Sert yesterday afternoon and this episode was a bit earlier. It was weird because other than extreme drowsiness I sort of felt feelings of derealization and was sensitive to sight/sound, so it felt to be some sort of side effect.

Also annoyingly I wasn't able to get hold of my doctor today so will have to wait another day

It's worth starting to taper the Diazepam now before you potentially build tolerance (especially if you don't need it)..

It could have been anything to be fair (blood sugar etc etc)... Really, I wouldn't worry about it

[Amani]

I have been tapering down on my Valium the last few days, I think I may have failed to mentioned that in my original post! The same sort of thing happened today and it seems to get better when I take my first Valium in the afternoon (though a lower dose now) so I feel it's related to me coming down

[unfitwellhappy]

I honestly don't think it's related to the Diazepam - unless you have been abusing them or taking a larger dose regularly (10mg+ per day)

If that's the case then your taper needs to be really really slow (no more than -2mg per week)

I would expect you to have perhaps a bit of rebound anxiety which is completely normal.

[Amani]

Okay my drowsiness is getting a lot worse now, though I'm now only on 2.5mg a day (but took 5mg yesterday). I keep falling asleep before midnight (I used to sleep a lot later) with my make up still on and my head in my laptop, lights on. This morning I woke up at about 10.30 but felt like it was impossible to wake up fully, I felt sedated. When I finally was fully awake it took my 5 hours to get the energy to get out of bed. Now it's 8pm and I can feel myself wanted to fall asleep again, this is very unusual for me as I'm normally a late sleeper. Bear in mind I also take a high dose of antihistamines every day which could be interacting, but I find it weird that I had no drowsy symptoms in my first 2 weeks of valium, even at a higher dose. This is now affecting my university work cause I can barely get anything done. I'm planning to come of the valium tomorrow.

Also I'm slightly worried, can anyone reassure me?