Why is Librium hardly used anymore?

From what I have read on bb and googled, it would seem like a good med for people struggling with valium.  I thought I was doing better but I seem to be feeling sedated again.  I by no means understand all the things about Librium I read, but it sounds like a weaker form of valium.  Anyone understand and can explain this drug better to me.    Simple terms please

Yes Librium is less strong than Valium. My doc adviced me to taper by using Librium. She said it is natural drug vs. valium is synthetic. She also told me that Librium is not as strong as Valium but body metabolizinsing it is good.  My taper went quite okay but never tried Valium so I do not have a reference. T.

It's the same poison as all of them, I had a rough taper from a "small dose" and still getting new symptoms 3 months out.

Not sure. As far as bzd's go, it is not nearly as dangerous as Xanax/Klonopin/Ativan. It's in the same class, but I've seen few people suffer on this site who had Librium as their 1st benzo of choice.

 

5 mg/day Librium for a year = some problems

1 mg/day Ativan/Klonopin/Xanax for a year = world of hurt.

 

Valium really helped me out in reducing Ativan, but it  became an apetite stimulant for me, and caused a lot of sedation and depression. I don't think that Librium makes people as sleepy as Valium does. But I think it causes a lot of depression, too.

If my body would allow, I'd gladly get rid of ativan and valium and take librium as the only benzo, and then come off of that. Wish I had a doctor that'd give that a try at some point.

Librium is the number one benzo for alcohol withdrawal, imo

Librium is the number one benzo for alcohol withdrawal, imo

 

Yes it made my withdrawal 100% better

I have experienced withdrawals from xanax, klonopin and librium. Here is how I scale them in decreasing order (of withdrawals):

 

klonopin - stopping K gave me a hundred different physical and mental symptoms. I feel this is the most sinister benzo. Very surreal and very complex.

xanax - I stopped xanax twice in my life. It gave me only two withdrawal symptoms -- depression and insomnia. I did not get any other mental symptom. I got benzo-flu and benzo-belly among physical.

librium - this i slow tapered. I did not get any withdrawals.

 

I think they are right when they say librium is the least potent. I switched overnight from 0.5 K to 20 mg librium once -- I had no problems adapting.

I agree Kpin99, i did the same but switched 0.5 K to 25mg Librium and tapered Librium down before I jumped. It went quite smoothly with Librium but I still have some symptoms now 6 months off.

I could never really confirm this with online research but my doctor told me that Librium is more water soluble than other benzos and does not store your adipose tissue (fat). Also, Librium was the first benzo ever discovered. This the story of how it was invented:

 

https://www.benzo.org.uk/librium.htm

 

From what I hear about diazepam being sedating I would think Librium would be a better choice. The taper is not that bad either if you switch to a daily taper schedule. Cut and hold was brutal. After switching to Librium from clonazepam I was stuck on 75mg for several months. I became frustrated and ordered etizolam. I dropped to 50mg of Librium and I took small doses of etizolam for two weeks. I never took etizolam again but I found it helpful for some reason but it was ridiculous taking it and doing what I did. That’s how I kicked off my Librium taper. Then it was just cut and holds until I got to 15mg. Then I switched to the daily taper.

 

I really think Librium may be a better choice.

Why isn't this more known about Librium? If I knew this while devising a taper, I would have switched to Librium from Ativan! Too late for me, but maybe many people could be helped with this drug. I agree that K is a horrible drug, just terrible.

Why isn't this more known about Librium? If I knew this while devising a taper, I would have switched to Librium from Ativan! Too late for me, but maybe many people could be helped with this drug. I agree that K is a horrible drug, just terrible.

 

I think the reason why this is not so well known is because doctors rarely prescribe librium now. I got prescribed librium because I was an alcoholic then and my doctor said -- I am prescribing you this so that you get used to it; it will come in handy when you get alcohol withdrawals; I'll increase the dose then.

 

Ativan, I think, is the only benzo that is different from all the rest insofar as it is not metabolized in the liver (it uses kidneys for clearance I think).

Thanks all you guys for your responses.  I had such an un expected horrible experience with the Valium and then started reading about quite a few others like me....I knew Ashton had to have run into this problem and had to have a plan B and she did not like klonopin, but nowhere could I find plan B.  So really thanks , I am sure you have helped the people struggling badly now with Valium and all the newbies to come.

Thanks for your answer, Kpin! You are so fortunate that you didn't have withdrawal! I wish I had done what you did.

 

Mary, it's good that you put this out there. I don't know about Valium because I didn't take it, but there are others on the protracted board that are suffering from it (only a few though). I thought that was the only option other than Valium. Knowing there's Librium is important! I wish doctors would start using this again as a crossover drug!

I was put on Librium for 3 days only in my first detox afer a cold turkey.  That did not fix things at all.  So, I was then detoxed app. a week later for 10 days on Phenobarbital which did not fix things either.  My only experience with Librium. 

Librium is just another benzo. It is not "weaker" or "natural". The dose equivalence is 2.5 x Valium per Ashton. But this doesn't make it "weaker". A benzo is a benzo and they all suck and they are all dangerous. Librium is king acting like Valium so less likely to have interdose w/d than short acting drugs like Ativan and Xanax. This is why Ashton  switches to long acting. She chooses Valium bc it comes in smaller doses- not bc it's "better" than Librium. She didn't do daily microtaper. If you're doing a DMT, then it doesn't matter what size doses the pills come in- you're going to liquefy or weigh anyway. I d never taken V. My doc switched me from K to Librium bc he just uses L. He said it has a slower onset if action than V so you don't feel it hit all of a sudden. I can't compare. I never felt K hit all of a sudden either. Bottom line- they are all equally bad and poisonous. If you are having particular trouble w/ one benzo, you could try switching to another but don't expect miracles bc they're all more or less the same. I've never been an alcoholic or on any other psych drugs.

First, I agree with everything libr said.

 

Also, we had a long discussion about Librium over on the Daily Micro-taper thread when my doctor put me on it. At that time, one member of the thread was a chemistry professor, so I trust the info. Here are some things I recall:

 

1. Data on Librium's solubility in water is very inconsistent. It is probably not safe to just use water to dissolve it.

2. It only comes in capsules in the USA, so you must dissolve to taper unless you want to try to weigh the powder (ugh).

3. It has a slightly slower onset than Valium, which is why I think it is preferred for detoxing people with addiction problems.

4. One study showed it is not stable in aqueous solutions. It breaks down rapidly into its active metabolites. So, if you let it sit in solution, by the end of the week, you are getting a different benzo than at the beginning. If you are sensitive and want to avoid this, you need to make a fresh batch of solution every day.

5. It breaks down into many of the same active metabolites as Valium, so it is a very similar drug.

 

My experience:

1. I found Librium crushingly depressing when I crossed and got no relief until I tapered down to a lower dose.

2. It is easier to taper than Xanax because I don't have to dose as often. I had to dose 6x/day on Xanax which was unbearable because my days and nights revolved around the drug. That was why I crossed.

3. I wish I had been given Valium because mixing Librium up every day and doing pull-and-pitch is a pain.

4. I still have to taper slowly and incorporate holds on Librium. It's a benzo. It's still poison.

 

Another side note, Valium is stable in aqueous solutions and has a liquid prescription form that you only have to dilute to taper.

 

 

Disclaimer: I have benzo brain and cog fog and cannot find the original posts!