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The tables below contain a sample list of benzodiazepines and benzodiazepine analogs that are commonly prescribed, with their basic pharmacological characteristics, such as half-life and equivalent doses to other benzodiazepines, also listed, along with their trade names and primary uses.
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. [189] Some benzodiazepines have long-acting active metabolites , such as diazepam and chlordiazepoxide, which are metabolised into desmethyldiazepam .
An equianalgesic chart can be a useful tool, but the user must take care to correct for all relevant variables such as route of administration, cross tolerance, half-life and the bioavailability of a drug. [5] For example, the narcotic levorphanol is 4–8 times stronger than morphine, but also has a much longer half-life. Simply switching the ...
Diazepam, sold under the brand name Valium among others, is a medicine of the benzodiazepine family that acts as an anxiolytic. [14] It is used to treat a range of conditions, including anxiety, seizures, alcohol withdrawal syndrome, muscle spasms, insomnia, and restless legs syndrome. [14]
The unchanged drug was 96% bound to plasma proteins. The blood-level decline of the parent drug was biphasic, with the short half-life ranging from 0.4 to 0.6 hours and the terminal half-life from 3.5 to 18.4 hours (mean 8.8 hours), depending on the study population and method of determination. [62]
The half-life of chlordiazepoxide is from 5 to 30 hours but has an active benzodiazepine metabolite, nordiazepam, which has a half-life of 36 to 200 hours. [31] The half-life of chlordiazepoxide increases significantly in the elderly, which may result in prolonged action as well as accumulation of the drug during repeated administration.
The elimination half-life of diazepam and chlordiazepoxide, as well as other long half-life benzodiazepines, is twice as long in the elderly compared to younger individuals. Many doctors do not adjust benzodiazepine dosage according to age in elderly patients. [137]
[46] [47] Thus, quazepam may have less side effects than other benzodiazepines, but, it has a very long half-life of 25 hours, which reduces its benefits as a hypnotic due to likely next day sedation. It also has two active metabolites with half-lives of 28 and 79 hours.