[wickkedkitten]

I take Xanax for anxiety and ran out so took a Valium, which didn't do a thing. I'm wondering why it didn't work like the Xanax. They are both benzodiazepines; the Valium wasn't expired and is even a slightly higher dosage. Has anyone else experienced this?

[Excursor4690]

How many mg's of xanax were you taking a day? The reason the valium may not have helped you in that case was that you had built a tolerance to benzo's. You see, xanax and valium are not in proportion concerning mg's. ~.5 Xanax = 10 mg valium respectivly. I take Xanax XR 2-5 mg's a day, depending on whats going on that day, and I know that one 10 mg valium (highest dose concerning 1 pill) will not effect me to where I can detect it. As you probably know, these classes of drugs (bezodiazepines) are addictive in many ways, but what we are talking about here is tolerance. Addiction in this case means you will eventually have to keep raising the dose of xanax/valium/klonopin to achieve the feeling you got in the beginning. Hope this helps. Also xanax has a much shorter half life than valium. xanax has about a 4-6 hour half life where valium has about a 12 hour half life. This means xanax will stop working sooner than valium, when doses are proportional, and will require you to take more pills/day which contributes to tolerance/addiction.
-cheers. L.C

[Oscar_Yeager]

Originally Posted by wickkedkitten

I take Xanax for anxiety and ran out so took a Valium, which didn't do a thing. I'm wondering why it didn't work like the Xanax. They are both benzodiazepines; the Valium wasn't expired and is even a slightly higher dosage. Has anyone else experienced this?

Xanax is a faster-acting drug, but wears off much faster as well. Valium has a slow, smooth delivery, and has a calming effect for 4-8 days, as long as you take enough of them, like 40-60 MG'S should do it.

Personally I like Valium much better, take the proper dose until you are sleepy, and then it will help you sleep well for several days in a row, get you through a rough period, and then you'll be ready to rock and roll again.

Ativan is similar to Xanax, except it helps prevent siezures if you need it for that.

[Cats Meow]

The other posts are correct. Check out this table. http://www.benzo.org.uk/bzequiv.htm

[Daigaisai_Taren]

I don't know the details, but yeah, required dosage differs wildly between benzos. I learned that the hard way after doing 6mgs of Ativan, which is about the same as my usual recreational dose of Valium (I'm little though, I think it's more for most people) and I don't remember anything for about 16 hours after that.