Davao Medical School Foundation

Drug Name	Doses	Per Item	Go Pharmacy
Generic Valium	10 mg	$3.49	Visit Pharmacy

Valium is a narcotic drug based on the active component Diazepam. The tranquilizer is used in the treatment of:

• Neurosis
• Borderline violations with concomitant manifestations of anxiety, increased tension, fear
• Insomnia
• Motor activity of various genesis
• Abstinence in alcohol addiction
• Spastic phenomena due to spinal cord or brain damage
• Epistatus

In addition, the indication for the use of Valium is to prepare the patient for surgery (for relaxation). It is used in obstetrics to facilitate childbirth, prevent early placental abruption.

Medicinal properties

The drug belongs to the group of tranquilizers. The active substance is a benzodiazepine derivative – diazepam. The substance has the ability to have acnsiolytic, sedative, anticonvulsive effects. In addition, drugs based on it also have a muscle relaxant effect.

The mechanism of action of diazepam is achieved through its ability to inhibit the activity of GABA in the central NS.

After penetration into the body, the substance is absorbed at a high rate, the peak concentration in plasma is formed after an hour and a half. Diazepam is very active: it penetrates into all internal fluids: passes through the placental barrier, is excreted into breast milk, penetrates into the spinal cord.

Metabolic transformations occur in the liver, the substance is excreted from the body by the kidneys.

Method of application

Valium should be used in the treatment in accordance with the instructions for use and the prescribed form of drugs. The dosage and duration of therapy are determined in accordance with the clinical picture and the characteristics of the patient’s condition.

The treatment begins with the lowest dose of Valium, at which the therapeutic effect of drugs is manifested. After analyzing the body’s response, the amount of the drug is gradually increased. After the end of the course, the withdrawal of the drug is carried out by gradually reducing the dose so as not to provoke a withdrawal syndrome.

Injections are used in acute conditions. After stabilization of the state, the introduction of the solution is canceled, the patient is transferred to oral forms.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding

Drugs with diazepam are prohibited for use during pregnancy, since it has been found that the substance has a teratogenic effect and can provoke developmental pathologies in the fetus. The first three months of pregnancy are especially dangerous in this regard. The appointment of Valium is possible only in cases of extreme necessity (threat to the mother, premature placental abruption or premature delivery). If the patient has such indications, the decision on the need for drugs is made on an individual basis, and the therapy is carried out under the supervision of doctors.

The consequence of the use of drugs with diazepam by pregnant women is a significant heart rate disorder in the fetus, temporary muscle hypotension, reduced body temperature, respiratory pathology, and it is often manifested by withdrawal syndrome in newborn children. Newborns should be under medical supervision from the first minutes of life in order to achieve the relief of side effects and withdrawal syndrome.

It is contraindicated to combine therapy with diazepam and breastfeeding, since the substance freely passes into female milk and can provoke undesirable reactions in an infant. Therefore, if it is not possible to replace Valium with other drugs, lactation should be interrupted for the period of the treatment course.

Contraindications and precautions

Drugs with diazepam are prohibited if the patient has one of the contraindications:

• High threshold of sensitivity to the contained components or any other benzodiazepine derivatives
• Severe respiratory dysfunction, COPD
• Complex forms of renal and/or hepatic insufficiency
• Severe Myasthenia gravis
• Suicidal tendencies
• Alcohol/drug addiction (incl. in anamnesis)
• Acute form of alcohol/drug poisoning, accompanied by dysfunction of vital organs
• Hypercapnia
• Acute form of angle-closure glaucoma
• Porphyrin disease
• Spinocerebellar ataxia
• Comatose, shock state
• Pregnancy, breastfeeding

It is highly undesirable to combine Valium and alcohol, since the drug enhances the depressing effect of ethyl alcohol on the central nervous system (mainly on the respiratory department), contributes to the development of pathological intoxication.

Oversaturation of the body with inadequately high doses of diazepam causes pathological phenomena caused by suppression of the functions of the central nervous system (depending on the dose, it may cause from drowsiness to a comatose state).

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