benzodiazepine half life

Half life the half life is the amount of time it takes for half of the drug to be eliminated from the body.

Benzodiazepine half life. There are two primary types of benzodiazepines. A benzodiazepine can be placed into one of three groups by its elimination half life or time it takes for the body to eliminate half of the dose. All benzodiazepines are listed as dea scheduled iv controlled substances. As with any new medication introduced there is a risk of an adverse reaction.

The shorter the half life the quicker the drug is eliminated. 11 hours 3 25 hours. The shorter the half life the quicker the drug is eliminated. Unlike opioid equipotent dosing benzodiazepine equivalence is much less evidence based and poorly described in the literature in fact most benzodiazepine equivalence estimates are based on expert opinion uncited tables in published documents and clinical practice.

While ashton recommends diazepam due to its long half life for tapering other guidelines recommend staying on the originally prescribed benzodiazepine if withdrawal symptoms are tolerable. Some benzodiazepines have long acting active metabolites such as diazepam and chlordiazepoxide which are metabolised into desmethyldiazepam. Half life the half life is the amount of time it takes for half of the drug to be eliminated from the body. 6 etizolam acts as a full agonist at the benzodiazepine gabaa receptor to produce its range of therapeutic and adverse effects.

Desmethyldiazepam has a half life of 36 200 hours and. As controlled substances all benzodiazepines have the potential for abuse addiction and diversion. This conversion tool estimates a reasonable equipotent dose between two benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepine equivalency table generic brand example peak onset hours 1 6 approximate half life may include active metabolites 1 9 approximate equivalent dose 1 4 7 9 dosage form alprazolam xanax 0 5 1 5 6 27 hours 0 25 1 mg tablet chlordiazepoxide librium 1 4 3 120 hours 10 25 mg capsule clonazepam klonopin 1 4 18 50 hours 0 25 1 mg.

The most common is a short lived rebound anxiety and insomnia coming on within 1 4 days of discontinuation depending on the half life of the particular drug.