Posted by yxibow on March 2, 2007, at 23:42:41
In reply to Ativan v. Xanax v. Valium, posted by Dan Perkins on March 2, 2007, at 21:55:04
> Hello Folks,
>
> Can anyone give me a rundown of the difference between Ativan, Xanax and Valium? My pdoc was planning to put me on Ativan to help deal with some anxiety in addition to my depression (for which I take Parnate). I wanted to make sure that this was the right benzo to go with.
>
> Thanks!
Valium has more than a 24+ hour half life and in my opinion is the best choice for long term benzodiazepine management because its easier (relatively, don't get me started..) to come down off of.Ativan and Xanax have a more immediacy effect than Valium (which still has a bit more than Klonopin which is generally very subtle). They're generally used for short term management of extreme anxiety.
But some people find that only one of the three "works" for them; in which case if it was Xanax I would depart from my loath of patent extension and say that Xanax XR (24 hour half life approx) would be better.
Ativan has about a 12 hour half life, give or take, it would be a twice daily agent typically.
Xanax can have as little as 2, maybe up to 4-6 hours of half life, making it a 4x a day drug for some people, which is why managing it is hard because there can be interdosal withdrawal with long term use.
poster:yxibow
thread:737838
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070302/msgs/737871.html