Posted by yxibow on August 25, 2006, at 3:28:35
In reply to why isn't Valium prescribed more???, posted by qbsbrown on August 25, 2006, at 0:34:58
> I've seen that it has just as high as rating for anxiety on remedyfind.com, it's been around forever, has a very long half-life, and less affinity for depression like klonopin has, and less interdose withdrawals than xanax.
>
> Is this just the case of a good old drug getting lost to the newer ones w/ more marketing money behind them?
>
> I was depressed as hell on klonopin, and had horrible interdose withdrawals.
>
> Opinions?
>
> Brian
Well there are a set of possible reasons -- one, for whatever reason psychiatrists have gotten used to prescribing clonazepam for anxiolytic relief because only small quantities are needed, it has a 16 hour + half life, so 1-2 times a day are all that are needed and its been ingrained in those who don't practice with other methods. The other possible reason is that it might carry a little extra anti-convulsant potential than Valium for use adjunctive to say Wellbutrin although thats debatable.But mainly I think that people, including doctors, have gotten the impression that Valium is the forever 60's "mother's little helper" that it was in the past. It has a higher street value and so some people are reluctant to prescribe it. But truthfully they're about the same in terms of long term use benzodiazepines, its just a question of how the patient reacts or prefers the medication. Myself, I think, Valium works better for my purposes but of course one could never say for sure, there are always placebo thoughts.
I'd weight in on the street value, and the old "mother's little helper" on why its not perhaps prescribed as much in some places. Otherwise, its a perfectly good long term benzodiazepine. In fact its excellent because it has 24+ hour half life and less likely for a patient to immediately withdraw and need supportive care thus, plus there isn't a "reward" factor for long term use being that once you accumulate it for several days basically or so, you've got a steady state in you.
- tidingsJay
poster:yxibow
thread:679860
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060818/msgs/679887.html