Flurazepam dosage

Tolerance to benzodiazepine hypnotic effects develops sooner with triazolam (after 2 weeks of continuous use) than with other benzodiazepine hypnotics." The hypnotic efficacy of flurazepam, quazepam, and temazepam is maintained for 1 month of continuous nightly use." Estazolam reportedly maintains the duration and quality of sleep at the maximum dosage (2 mg nightly) for up to 12 weeks." Long-term use (greater than 6 months) of benzodiazepines was associated with a low risk of abuse, side effects, and tolerance in patients with severe, chronic sleep disorders however, efficacy has not been established."... 

Psychomotor dysfunction This includes cognitive impairment, decreased psychomotor skills, and unwanted daytime sedation. These adverse effects are more common with benzodiazepines that have active metabolites with long half-lives (eg, diazepam, flurazepam). The dosage of a sedative-hypnotic should be reduced in elderly patients to avoid excessive... 

It is very difficult to assess and compare the results of the very many studies of this interaction because of the differences between the tests, their duration, the dosages of the benzodiazepines and alcohol, whether given chronically or acutely, and a number of other variables. However, the overall picture seems to be that benzodiazepines and related drugs including diazepam, " alprazolam,bromazepam, brotizolam, chlo-rdiazepoxide, " clobazam, dipotassium clorazepate, flunitrazepam, flurazepam, loprazolam, " lorazepam, lormetazepam, medazepam, midazolam, nitrazepam, " " oxazepam, temazepam, " triazolam, and zopiclone enhance the effects of alcohol i.e. cause increased drowsiness, impaired performance and driving skills. 

There seems to be only one report (with temazepam) of a olinieally signif-ieant interaction between disiifiram and the benzodiazepines, and this report is unconfirmed, as the patient did not take temazepam alone. The other reports only describe potential interactions that have been identified by single-dose studies. These do not necessarily reliably predict what will happen in practice. However, it seems possible that some patients will experience increased drowsiness, possibly because of this interaction, and because drowsiness is a very common adverse effect of disulfiram. Reduce the dosage of the benzodiazepine if necessary. Benzodiazepines that are metabolised by similar pathways to diazepam and chlordiazepoxide, may possibly interact in the same way (e.g. bromazepam, clonazepam, clorazepate, prazepam, ketazolam, clobazam, flurazepam, nitrazepam, medazepam) but this needs confirmation. Alprazolam, oxazepam and lo-razepam appear to be non-interacting alternatives. 

The documentation of these interactions is limited but what has been reported is consistent with the way rifampicin interacts with many other drugs. The clinical importance of some of these interactions between the benzodiazepines and related drugs and rifampicin has not yet been assessed but what is known suggests that the dosage of diazepam and nitrazepam may need to be increased if rifampicin is given. Be alert for a reduction in the effects of other similarly metabolised benzodiazepines (e.g. chlordiazepoxide, flurazepam). 

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