Diazepam
Aliases: Valium, Zetran, Diastat, Apaurin, Mother's little helper
Summary
Diazepam is a long-acting benzodiazepine with a rapid onset, considered the standard by which other benzodiazepines are compared. Its long elimination half-life and active metabolites result in extended effects that can persist for days. Commonly used for anxiety, panic disorders, alcohol withdrawal, muscle spasms, and seizures.
Dose Information
| ROA | Light | Common | Strong | Heavy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral | 2.5-5mg | 5-15mg | 15-30mg | 30mg+ |
Benzo Equivalence Calculator
| Substance | Equivalent Dose | Potency |
|---|
⚠ These are approximate equivalences for educational and cross-tapering reference. Individual response, tolerance, and half-life differences mean actual equivalence varies. Always consult a healthcare provider for tapering guidance.
Onset, Duration & After-effects
| ROA | Onset | Comeup | Peak | Offset | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral | 15-60 min | 30-60 min | 1-2 hrs | 2-6 hrs | 3.8-10 hrs |
| Intravenous | 1-5 min | - | 15 min | 1-6 hrs | 1.3-6.3 hrs |
Effect Profile
116 reportsScores (1–10) curated from multiple sources:
- Effect keyword matching from PsychonautWiki catalog
- Validated against 101 Erowid trip reports
- Weighted by importance: core (×3), major (×2), minor (×1)
Strong anxiolysis with moderate sedation and cognitive impairment, low euphoria
“so just be smart about it, you can, going from never having taken any benzo's in your life, take a 5 mg tablet and feel the designed effects of the drug, which are to calm, relax, slightly sedate and...”
“Clonazepam ( K-pins) give me the best long lasting anxiety relief.”
“but anyway, you can also take a handful of those 5 mg tablets, say 50mg in total, or 100 mg in total, or even 200 mg in total, and you will feel very little more than the minimal dosage of valium...”
“Flurazepam (as Dalmane) also seemed all over and prescribed to everyone when I was growing up, seemed more hypnotic but also mellow like diazepam, long.”
“Unmistakable effects (no delusions of sobriety with this one) but it wore off after like 4 hours.”
“Not everyone gets great effects from valium even if they have no tolerance and take a stupid amount of them..”
“but anyway, you can also take a handful of those 5 mg tablets, say 50mg in total, or 100 mg in total, or even 200 mg in total, and you will feel very little more than the minimal dosage of valium...”
“I mean the couple times I have run out of my klonopin which I have a stupid high tolerance for, and all benzos in general.”
User Experience
Tolerance
Tolerance Decay
Tolerance develops to sedative/anxiolytic effects with repeated daily use over weeks and only slowly decays after cessation. Cross-tolerance is substantial across benzodiazepines and partial with other GABAergic sedatives.
Cross-Tolerances
Effects
Aggregated from 101 Erowid and 15 Bluelight experience reports