Surely, you have heard of benzodiazepines, but you may not be clear about what they are and what they are used for. These are a type of psychotropic drugs, that is, they act on the central nervous system and have anxiolytic, sedative, anticonvulsants (for seizures or seizures), hypnotics (to induce sleep), amnesics (memory problems) and muscle relaxants (muscle relaxation).
It is quite common that they are prescribed and therefore it is important that we know the classification of benzodiazepines and the different types that exist, a basic list of the most common benzodiazepines and the main effects they can have, primary and secondary.
Keep reading this Psychology-Online article to discover the types of benzodiazepines, their classification and their effects with examples of trademarks and trade names.
The most common classification of benzodiazepines is based on their half-life, that is, based on the time they are taking effect. In this way, we would have four main groups:
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Long-lived or long-acting benzodiazepines. Its effect remains between 40 and 200 hours. Some of those found in this group are the diazepam and the flurazepam.
- Benzodiazepines of action or intermediate life. Its effect lasts from 20 to 40 hours depending on the person and the dose. Some examples are the clonazepam, flunitrazepam Y bromazepam.
- Short-acting or short-lived benzodiazepines. In this case, the effect ranges from 5 to 20 hours. The lorazepam, temazepam and the oxazepam are some of the benzodiapecines that would be in this group.
- Very short-acting or very short-lived benzodiazepines. Its half-life is less than 5 hours, between 1 and 1.5 hours duration. The triazolam and the midazolam they would find themselves in this group.
In the previous section we have seen the classification of the types of benzodiazepines according to their half-life. Next, in this list of benzodiazepines with examples, we will relate the most common brands with the main types of benzodiazepines so that you can get an idea of what half-life the one you are taking might have taking.
Let's look at 10 examples of benzodiazepines with their names and trademarks.
- Diazepam. Can be found by: Valium, Pax, Apzepam, Stesolid, Vival, Apozepam, Hexalid, Stedon, and Valaxone are some examples of brands and are used as anxiolytics, antiepileptics and relaxants muscular. Here you can see more information about the diazepam.
- Flurazepam. Examples: Dalmadorm, Dalmane and Fluralema, with a hypnotic effect.
- Clonazepam. Valpax, Klonopin, Neuryl, Rivotril, Ravotril, Iktorivil, Zatryx, Clonzep, Clonac and Clonatril to obtain an anxiolytic and antiepileptic effect. In this article you will find more information about what is it for and how is clonazepam taken.
- Flunitrazepam. It has the following names: Rohypnol, Fluscand, Flunipam, and Ronal. They have a hypnotic effect.
- Lorazepam. Like, for example, the Dormonoct, with a hypnotic effect.
- Temazepam. Restoril, Normison, Euhypnos and Tenox with a hypnotic and antiepileptic effect.
- Oxazepam. Seresta, Serax, Serenid, Serepax, Sobril, Oxascand, Alopam, Oxabenz and Oxapax to obtain an anxiolytic effect.
- Triazolam. This example of a benzodiazepine is marketed under the names: Halcion, Rilamir, Notison with a hypnotic function.
- Bromazepam. This type of benzodiazepine is known by the trade name Lexatin.
- Midazolam. Examples of this type of benzodiazepines: Dormicum, Versed, Hypnovel, Dormonid to obtain a hypnotic and antiepileptic effect.
Primary effects
What is the mechanism of action of benzodiazepines? As we have commented, they are drugs that reduce anxiety levels, produce muscle relaxation, facilitate sleep, reduce seizures, among other effects. Therefore, some of the problems they are used for are:
- Control of panic states
- Anxiety reduction
- Insomnia
- Withdrawal syndromes
- Epilepsy and seizures
- Muscle pain
- Muscle relaxant
Side effects
This type of medicine has a fairly common use, however, many times its intake would not be necessary and in many times this excess of medication is due to not taking into account the side effects among which find:
- Dependence: the continued consumption of anxiolytics has an addictive effect.
- Tolerance: it means that, after a while, the dose you were taking at first will not work for you so you have to increase it, and then successively.
- Dizziness, balance problems: By depressing the nervous system so much a common side effect is dizziness or loss of balance.
- DrowsinessIt is quite common for people who use anxiolytics to fall asleep during the day and be very sleepy despite having had a good rest.
- Blurry vision.
- Dry mouth.
- Constipation problems as it slows down the digestive system.
- Memory problems with prolonged use. This, in addition, is increased since they can lead to concentration problems. In this article we talk about memory problems.
Paradoxical reactions
In some cases, the opposite effects to those sought have been produced, increasing, from this mode, anxiety, melancholy, hallucinations, suicidal thoughts, psychosis, among others.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
