Posted by yxibow on May 17, 2006, at 0:43:18
In reply to Re: Benzo with lowest side effect profile?, posted by jealibeanz on May 16, 2006, at 17:03:09
> So, you're saying daily benzo use is fine, just not daily Xanax in particular?
Some swear by daily Xanax, but because of its short half life (as little as 4 hours), the serum level will be constantly going up and down during the day as one has to swallow around 4 doses a day.
For long term benzodiazepine treatment, the drugs with the longest half life have the best efficacy and generally the least likely to form habituation.
These would include Valium (24+ hours), Librium (chemically similar to Valium but hardly used today, it is very low potency and more unpredictable dosing), and Klonopin (16+ hours). Ativan comes in at around 12 hours, and is more suited like Xanax for immediacy of effect for acute breakthrough anxiety rather than long term use.
poster:yxibow
thread:643911
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060515/msgs/645028.html