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To understand addiction and the struggle that goes along with particular drugs is to know their withdrawal symptoms. All addictive drugs have specific withdrawal mechanisms, which are a big piece of why addiction forms.
So, we will look at Valium withdrawals in this article, giving insight into what they are and how they work.
Hopefully, the information below can fill you in on the ins and outs of Valium so that you can avoid any substance abuse or make your way out of addiction. Let’s get started.
Benzodiazepines, also known as “benzos”, are depressants. All depressants slow down some central nervous system functions and reduce the intensity of specific experiences.
Those experiences could be thoughts, pains, anxieties, symptoms of stress, and more. In the case of benzos, the nervous system is subdued in a way that reduces pressure, physical pain, and alertness.
As a result, benzos have been used as prescriptions for anxiety, insomnia, and even seizures. Benzodiazepines were discovered in the mid-fifties and have advanced significantly since then.
The subject of our discussion today, Valium, was created in 1963 and was one of the most popular medications in the world before new advancements and drugs entered the scene. Valium was used to treat anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses. There are numerous other applications for Valium as well. Valium prescriptions dropped in the wake of the introduction of SSRIs.
SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are a different class of drugs that approach mental illness from a long-term, serotonin-based approach. As you’ll see, benzodiazepines approach things from a different angle.
Valium operates in a way that is fast-acting and effective at affecting the central nervous system. Anxiety.
Subduing those experiences for the short term might help for some time, but the root neurochemistry won’t be impacted very much. Valium greatly helps with panic attacks, seizure reduction, and some pain relief.
It also allows dopamine to flow, producing a very pleasurable experience. We’ll look into why that contributes to addiction in a moment. Also, note that understanding the background, mechanism, and function of Valium is essential to understanding its withdrawals.
You should also note that Valium is the popular brand name for the substance called “diazepam.” We will use both of those names interchangeably below.
It’s essential to understand the action that benzodiazepines like Valium take in the body. In the case of these drugs, you need to know a little about the neurotransmitter “GABA.”
GABA is a neurotransmitter released after we exercise and often when we feel calm and relaxed. This is because it inhibits the function of the nervous system and produces a feeling of calm and well-being.
That’s why we feel relaxed after an intense workout routine. Dopamine and endorphins are also released to provide more effects, but GABA is an essential factor.
If we had GABA flowing through us unregulated, though, our bodies wouldn’t be able to use the advantages of the nervous system. We need the nervous system to excite in instances to produce fight or flight responses, respond appropriately to complex stimuli, and more.
As a result, GABA is inhibited by other neurotransmitters until it’s time for GABA to release. Valium inhibits that inhibitor.
We can use cars as an analogy. Think of the brakes of the car as an inhibitor of acceleration. Without brakes, the car would keep rolling, and we’d run into whatever was in our way.
Sometimes, though, we need to add some gas for long periods, and the brakes don’t have any role. Imagine sticking a water bottle underneath your brake pedal to prevent the brakes from doing their job.
Acceleration is GABA, the brakes are GABA’s inhibitor, and the water bottle is Valium. Valium plugs receptors to prevent GABA from being inhibited, leading to a flood of that neurotransmitter.
Substances that moderate neurotransmitter function in this way are called “allosteric modulators.” These things bind to receptors in the nervous system and interrupt the normal flow of neurotransmitters, producing a particular reaction.
Valium impacts several areas, though. This is a result of the fact that GABA receptors are different in different parts of the body.
Benzos can help to reduce the intensity of seizures, calm anxiety, reduce pain, and have numerous other impacts. The receptors on our neurons might allow the same neurotransmitter but prompt different results because they’re situated differently.
It gets very complicated, but let’s simplify the idea and think about receptors having “top” and “bottom” receptors. We’ll say that the top receptors lead GABA to impact the brain, while the bottom receptors affect the central nervous system.
We’ll also say that there can’t be a bottom receptor when there’s a top receptor. More top receptors are concentrated in the brain, leading to the psychoactive and sedative effects you experience when taking Valium.
Alternatively, the body holds many more bottom receptors, allowing the drug to work to treat pain and seizures.
The effects also depend on the dose. You will experience more 100 mg diazepam effects than on a 50 mg dose. After a while, though, those receptors lose sensitivity to the drug, and you develop a dependence.
Withdrawals occur when an individual develops a tolerance to the effects of the drug. The use experience is less intense, meaning that the person’s internal system has adjusted to the presence of the drug. Receptors are less receptive to it; it takes more Valium to produce the desired effect.
The reality of withdrawals is complex. The explanation given in most cases is that “your body gets used to the drug, and it craves it to get back to a normal feeling.”
This is true in a fundamental sense.
After using a drug like Valium, you may be left in a slight state of disrepair. You used up a lot of dopamine, your GABA is running low, and you don’t have enough of those neurotransmitters to maintain a regular, healthy feeling.
The side effect of that lack is a combination of numerous things. All you know is that you feel awful. It’s like the feeling you get when you’ve had too much to drink the night before, but nuanced based on the drug you used.
Depending on the neurotransmitters you burn through, you might feel depressed, anxious, paranoid, or have other psychological effects. In cases of prolonged drug abuse, though, there’s also an enormous reserve of toxins that need to be worked out.
Drug abuse wreaks havoc on the body and all of its symptoms. Internal organs get damaged, heart rates rise, blood pressure escalates, and there’s a lot of physical pain. Drugs like Valium mask that pain, preventing the individual from experiencing it while under the influence.
You know that the substance you’re hooked on is the thing that will reduce the pain you’re feeling. Over an extended period, different body functions adjust to the drug’s presence, and the absence of that drug produces a strong desire for more.
Physical pain is felt, mental anguish ensues, and all the things covered by the drug expose themselves.
The body seeks to get a person back into equilibrium, attacking whatever it sees as a particular threat. The stress response kicks in, immune responses go into action, and many physiological defence mechanisms start to run their course.
The beautiful thing is that our bodies are masters at kicking out unruly tenants. All the toxins and perils that come with drug abuse get kicked out of the system.
The trouble is that detoxification doesn’t happen quietly. You feel the process taking place, and proportional mental anguish corresponds to the number of toxins you’re getting rid of.
Your bodily organs undergo a complex process. They’re put under stress, feeling that pressure in physical pain. You might get very sick throughout the process as well.
All of these factors put your livelihood in a compromised state. Depending on the drug you’re recovering from, the symptoms of withdrawal could be enough to be fatal.
In the case of Valium abuse, the effects will be significant. You might not reach a life-threatening point, but you could approach it depending on how substantial your addiction is.
There’s also a psychological angle to think about. In many cases, individuals start using Valium to get away from complex thoughts and emotions. Further, their life circumstances might be such that there’s something they’d like to numb or get away from.
Valium can work to numb those thoughts and emotions and produce a sedated state. Removing the drug and returning to those life circumstances can be very difficult. You might long for the feeling of sedation and calm.
Psychological withdrawal is complicated, and it could result from numerous factors. On top of the thoughts and feelings, you might feel depressed and anxious.
Brain chemistry gets disturbed when you abuse a drug for some time, and your mind might need time to establish healthy levels of neurotransmitters again.
The time it takes to start experiencing withdrawal effects depends on how long you’ve used the drug. As we use the drug for extended periods, more substance builds up in our fatty tissue and can be activated when our bodies want more.
That said, Valium’s half-life is around 12 hours. So, after 12 hours, half of your dose is worked through the body. Individuals start to experience withdrawal symptoms at about 12 hours or after a full day.
If you’ve used Valium for an extended period, those symptoms could take a little longer to present themselves.
Once withdrawals start, they will persist for several days. The average time for acute withdrawal symptoms to run their course is ten to fourteen days.
Acute withdrawal symptoms include all of the effects you feel during that period. Psychological difficulties, physical pains, and sickness are all included.
After that time, you might still have symptoms. The physical symptoms will probably have passed, but some psychological symptoms may persist.
Depression, anxiety, and insomnia might remain for a while. The cause of those post-acute symptoms could come from any number of sources. They might have been there all along, your brain could be reconfiguring how to manage its neurotransmitters, or you could be depressed as you review the damage of your addiction.
To recover from Valium addiction, you must seek professional assistance to deal with the process.
Withdrawals can be very dangerous. The complications that come from intense leaves are various and hard to predict. At the very least, in most cases, the person will undergo a severe experience that could jeopardise their health.
If that person has other underlying health conditions, those ailments could be exacerbated and made worse. It’s safest to undergo that process under the supervision of medical professionals.
That way, any issues that come up can be diagnosed and treated. The last thing you want is lasting health complications from an effort to improve your life by getting clean and sober.
On the other hand, everything about the withdrawal experience demands that you return to using the drug. If you retake the drug, all of those pains go away.
When you’re at home alone, you rely on your willpower to keep you clean. Your mind might not be in the most rational place while detoxing.
Pain, anxiety, depression, and insomnia can lead you to make irrational decisions. It’s not impossible to push through, but it is much more complicated when alone.
A treatment centre can make the entire process much easier and safer.
It’s also important to note that professional methods can help the withdrawal experience from Benzo’s addiction.
Some treatment centres offer replacement medications or give you the space to ween off of your existing dosage. Tapering down the dosage allows you to work through the process without the intensity and agony.
Some treatments use diazepine to taper the withdrawals, while others use different medications that serve similar purposes. This is a very effective way to combat addiction, making the process much smoother. If you are avoiding recovery because you fear the pain of withdrawals, know that supplemental medication and treatment methods can significantly reduce those effects.
The psychological end of withdrawal can be harder to treat than the physical. That said, there are ways that professionals can help with the problematic thoughts and feelings that come along with the process.
Nevertheless, there are options for mental health counselling and treatment that address your issues. While there is a solid neurochemical aspect involved with psychological withdrawal, how we think about the situation can help ease some of the pain.
There are also a lot of medications available that help to balance levels of neurotransmitters. Supporting the individual with a healthier balance of serotonin can help ease depression and anxiety.
A combination of treatment and medication is the standard method for approaching depression and anxiety. This is true for temporary instances of mental illness that also come from withdrawal.
It’s important to note, though, that there’s a high rate of comorbidity among drug abuse cases. In a lot of issues, mental illness predates drug addiction. Complex thoughts, feelings, and experiences caused by mental illness have the potential to lead an individual toward abusing a drug.
If you’re looking to get help for a diazepam detox, valium withdrawals, the Valium come down, and want to mitigate the valium withdrawal symptoms; a rehab treatment centre is the best option for you.
Various treatment centres can offer help on all aspects of recovery and withdrawals and tend to your valium detox symptoms safely. They’ll also have professionals available to work with you psychologically.
Further, detox centres’ resources and network of professionals are invaluable. Going through the process by yourself can be nearly impossible. Whether you’re dealing with diazepam withdrawal symptoms as you read this or just planning to get help, professionals are the best bet for success.
It’s also important to note that you don’t have to commit to anything immediately. Talking with the people at a recovery centre is a great place to get started with resources and information. It might be a challenging process to start recovery.
People hold off on getting help for any number of reasons. That said, knowing what options are available to you never hurts. It’s also important to know the risks of abusing substances like Valium and what happens when you come off them.
So, if you are struggling, start by making a call or setting up a consultation.
If you’re facing a severe addiction, detoxing safely can be challenging. In most cases, the only way to ensure you’re safe throughout the process is to work with professionals.
That way, you can avoid any of the complications described above. Preexisting illnesses can cause many problems, but withdrawal symptoms might be intense enough to cause damage on their own.
Professional detox is the absolute best option for comfort and safety.
Valium withdrawals are severe, and learning as much as possible about them is essential. The withdrawal process is one step toward clean and sober living, though.
We’re here to help you fill in all of the pieces. Contact us to learn more about diazepam effects, diazepam for weed withdrawal, the diazepam withdrawal timeline, valium side effects the next day, signs of diazepam withdrawal, and anything else you’d like to know about the abuse of this drug.
Contact us today at 02072052845. We can complete a few questions and have you admitted to treatment quickly, usually within 48hrs.
Sources
https://www.drugs.com/drug-class/benzodiazepines.html
https://www.thoughtco.com/central-nervous-system-373578
https://www.verywellhealth.com/gaba-5095143
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4329591/
https://www.psychdb.com/meds/2-neurotransmitters-and-receptors/home
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hangovers/symptoms-causes/syc-20373012https://thepsychologygroup.com/avoidance/
