1. Tame Your Symptoms
Diazepam calms anxiety symptoms like anxiousness, tension and agitation. The drug helps during alcohol withdrawal to stop tremors, hallucinations and acute agitation. It also relieves muscle spasms by helping the muscle relax and decreasing inflammation. Oral diazepam rapidly metabolizes in the body, relieving your symptoms within one to two hours of onset. When injected, the drug relieves symptoms as soon as 15 minutes.
2. Diazepam Creates an Addiction
Most people know that Valium forms an addiction, but they fail to realize diazepam is the generic name for Valium. The drug causes physical and psychological dependence. By following your doctor's recommendations, you benefit from using the drug without creating an addiction. It only takes a few weeks of continual use to develop an addiction. Stopping cold turkey induces withdrawal symptoms like insomnia, headaches or vomiting. If you must use diazepam for several weeks, doctors recommend a gradual reduction in the dose to eliminate withdrawal symptoms.
3. Eliminate Driving and Drinking
Dizziness and drowsiness are two common side effects for diazepam. You shouldn't drive, operate machinery or do hazardous activities while taking the drug. Even if you don't feel dizzy or drowsy when you start driving, these side effects may come on suddenly. Additionally, taking drugs like antihistamines, muscle relaxants or antidepressants or other substances like alcohol that make you drowsy negatively react with diazepam. Alcohol not only increases drowsiness, but it also causes seizures in people who take diazepam to control seizures.
4. Never Take When Pregnant
According to the FDA, Diazepam is a Category D drug, which means studies prove it's harmful to unborn babies. Diazepam increases the risk of congenital malformations. If you take this drug before you realize you're pregnant, talk with your doctor immediately. Allow your body time to use the drug in your system before trying to get pregnant. Nursing moms should also be aware that the drug passes through breast milk and negatively affects infants. Even at low doses, the drug may still affect the fetus and breast-fed infants.
5. Diazepam Doesn't Share Well
Your medical history may prevent you from taking diazepam. Older individuals exhibit increased drowsiness, may lose balance and generate more adverse side effects than younger individuals taking the drug. Conditions like liver disease, kidney disease or breathing problems like asthma may worsen in people who take the drug. Even over-the-counter cough medications, antacids like Tums or supplements like melatonin may severely interact with diazepam.
