From: "Asper Oggus" Subject: Re: benzos Date: 1997/10/26 Newsgroups: alt.drugs.hard In theory, benzos are all the same, but in reality, their subjective characters are somewhat different. The subjective state produced by alprazolam (Xanax), for example, is different from that produced by lorazepam (Ativan). The differences are qualitative and can't be accounted for on the basis of kinetics alone. There are at least three different benzo receptor subtypes, but I'm not aware of any work characterizing the relative affinity of various benzos for each subtype (of course, that doesn't mean that such work doesn't exist, I just don't follow this stuff as closely as I used to). ==================================================================== From: (Samson) Newsgroups: alt.drugs.hard Subject: Re: how many xanax to get high? Date: 8 Apr 1998 16:13:07 GMT (ROXANOL) wrote: > I'm not sure what the web address was, but I know that it came out of > > : Clinical Handbook of Psychotropic Drugs, 4th revised edition, > Bezchlibnyk-Butler et al. editors (Clarke Insitute of Psychiatry, Toronto), > Hogrefe & Huber. And it's all good (if over-condensed, viz half-lives). Except the equivalent dose of 0.25 mg clonazepam to 5 mg diazepam. I've seen that in other sources as well. I don't know how they came up with that number. Other sources (eg., Lowinson, et al. _Substance Abuse: A Comprehensive Textbook_) give 1mg clonaz =~ 5 mg diaz, which I believe is closer to the truth. Somewhere between 0.5 and 1mg clonaz has about the same effect as 5mg diazepam, in my extensive experience. Here's a little song I wrote, information gathered from Lowinson, et. al, Goodman & Gilmans, Julien's _Primer_ ,and L. Guttmacher's _Somatic therapies in psychiatry_ (APA Press, 1988): [NB: These are all the benzos available in the USA] ==================================================================== From: (Samson) Newsgroups: sci.med.pharmacy Subject: Re: Benzodiazepines Date: 18 Jul 1997 10:19:07 GMT [...] Drug (Trade name) Half-life (hours) Comments/Indications Dose equiv to (Active metabolites) 10 mg diazepam alprazolam 10-14 Withdrawal may be (Xanax) (none) especially 1mg severe, anxiety/panic. chlordiazepoxide 8-24 Long acting and self-tapering (Librium) 50-100 due to active metabolites, 25mg various indications. clonazepam 18-50 Tolerance develops to (Klonopin) (none) anticonvulsant effects 2mg oral anticonvulsant/anxiety/ panic/mania. clorazepate 1-3 Prodrug: activity due to (Tranxene) 50-100 production of nordiazepam, 15mg anxiolytic/oral anticonvulsant. diazepam 20-50 Short onset latency, long half- (Valium) 50-100 life due to production of 10mg nordiazepam, various indications estazolam (-) Action due to metabolite (ProSom) 13-35 hydroxyestazolam, hypnotic. 1mg (?) flurazepam (-) Action due to metabolite (Dalmane) 70-160 desalkylflurazepam, hypnotic 15mg halazepam 10-20 Long action due to metabolite (Paxipam) 50-100 nordiazepam, anxiolytic 40mg lorazepam 10-24 Longest onset latency, anxiety/. (Ativan) (none) panic/parenteral anticonvulsant 2mg midazolam 1.5-4.5 Most rapidly inactivated, (Versed) (none) used as preanaesthetic ? oxazepam 5-15 Anxiolytic (Serax) (none) 10mg (?) prazepam (-) Action due to (Centrax) metabolite 10mg (?) 50-100 nordiazepam, anxiolytic. quazepam 25-50 Active metabolites accumulate (Doral) 70-160 with chronic use, hypnotic 15mg temazepam 8-35 (mean=12) Hypnotic (Restoril) (none) 15mg (?) triazolam 1.5-5 Most rapidly inactivated BZD (Halcion) (none) used for insomnia. May cause 0.25mg paradoxical stimulation. In general, shorter-acting agents are used as hypnotics, intermediate- and long-acting agents used for anxiety (exceptions should be obvious). Clonazepam is approved only as an anticonvulsant, but widely used for anxiety/panic. Shorter-acting agents tend to pose greater risk of severe withdrawal symptoms. --