Diazepam

[shazy]

Doctor has prescribed me 2mg x2 a day, but worried to take it or not, what are your guys views on it or experiences with it?

[SLA]

What are your concerns?

[shazy]

Side effects, withdrawal symptoms..

[YouRemindMeOfTheBabe]

As long as you don't take anymore than prescribed you'll be fine. I take them for sciatia, they do no harm as long as you don't abuse them. 2mg isn't much so don't worry.

[eternally optimistic]

I got prescribed these for flying. Don't take for longer than advised. I felt calm and in control. 5mg didn't make me snoozy or anything.

[Phill2]

Been on 5mg 2 x day for over 10 yrs
No probs

[Dan43]

it depends how sensetive you personally are to the Diazepam. I thought they were great at first because they relaxed me well but after taking them for a while i realised they were damaging my memory and simply just getting me high. its better to try and find anything natural if you can. Everyone knows about the problem with addiction to these tablets aswell and if your doctor refuses you any more, what kind of anxiety will that produce?. At the end of the day its your journey so try to listen to yourself and your body and what thats tellin you and youll be doing the right thing for yourself.

[Phill2]

St Johns Wort and brown snakes are natural but neither of those are good for you

[panic_down_under]

its better to try and find anything natural if you can

Diazepam is natural. You've been exposed to it all your life, even in the womb. It, its metabolites and lithium are the only naturally occurring psych drugs.

Benzodiazepine receptors in the brain require benzodiazepines to activate them. There are no known processes within the brain capable of producing them, and while there has been much speculation about how they might be synthesized in the body - gut flora was thought to be the most likely source - no internal mechanism has been found despite much research. So it is now generally accepted that we derive all the benzodiazepines we need exogenously, i.e. from food.

It has been known since the 1980s that plants make benzodiazepine compounds, and that it is also found in animal flesh and organs [1]. Diazepam (Valium) and its metabolites such as lorazepam (Ativan) seem particularly prevalent in plants. My guess is that benzodiazepines are a plant poison to which most life forms, including Homo sapiens, have become so adapted to that we can no longer function without them.

While the quantities we get from food are small, they are not insignificant. Benzodiazepine levels can reach pharmaceutical levels in patients with some liver diseases [2]. Levels may become so high that medical intervention is necessary [3].



References:

[1]
Muceniece R, Saleniece K, Krigere L, et al. (2008)
Potato (Solanum tuberosum) juice exerts an anticonvulsant effect in mice through binding to GABA receptors.
Planta Med. 2008 Apr;74(5):491-6. (Abstract)

Kavvadias D, Abou-Mandour AA, Czygan FC, et al (2000)
Identification of benzodiazepines in Artemisia dracunculus and Solanum tuberosum rationalizing their endogenous formation in plant tissue.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun Mar 5;269(1):290-5 (Abstract)

Sand P, Kavvadias D, Feineis D, et al. (2000)
Naturally occurring benzodiazepines: current status of research and clinical implications.
Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci vol 250(4): p 194-202 (Abstract)

Kotz U, (1991)
Occurrence of "natural" benzodiazepines.
Life Sci;48(3):209-15 (Abstract)

Unseld E, Krishna Dr Fischer C, et al (1989)
Detection of desmethyldiazepam and diazepam in brain of different species and plants.
Biochem Pharmacol Aug 1;38(15):2473-8 (Abstract)

Wildman J, Ranalder U. (1988)
Presence of lorazepam in the blood plasma of drug free rats.
Life Sci. 43(15):1257-60. (Abstract)

Wildmann J. (1988)
Increase of natural benzodiazepines in wheat and potato during germination.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. Dec 30;157(3):1436-43. (Abstract)

Wildmann J, Vetter W, Ranalder UB, et al (1988)
Occurrence of pharmacologically active benzodiazepines in trace amounts in wheat and potato.
Biochem Pharmacol. Oct 1;37(19):3549-59. (Abstract)

Sangameswaran L, Fales HM, Friedrich P, De Blas AL. (1986)
Purification of a benzodiazepine from bovine brain and detection of benzodiazepine-like immunoreactivity in human brain
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Dec;83(23):9236-40. (Abstract | Full text - PDF)

[2]
Baraldi M, Avallone R, Corsi L, et al (2000) Endogenous benzodiazepines. Therapie Jan-Feb;55(1):143-6 (Abstract)

[3]
Als-Nielsen B, Gluud LL, Gluud C. (2004)
Benzodiazepine receptor antagonists for hepatic encephalopathy.
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;(2):CD002798. (Abstract)

Zeneroli ML, Venturini I, Stefanelli S, et al, (1997) Antibacterial activity of rifaximin reduces the levels of benzodiazepine-like compounds in patients with liver cirrhosis. Pharmacol Res , Jun;35(6):557-60 (Abstract)
[Note: despite the speculation in this paper, no benzodiazepine synthesizing gut flora has ever been isolated in any animal species and they almost certainly don't exist in humans]

[MyNameIsTerry]

St Johns Wort and brown snakes are natural but neither of those are good for you

I thought Brown snakes were good for stress relief in Australia, shottie owning ones that is...