If you or someone you love abuse Valium, you know how quickly this drug takes hold. You soon find yourself dealing with a range of Valium side effects and fearing for your health and well-being. But you can put an end to the cycle of madness, that of drug seeking and drug using. With the right treatment, your effects and fears become part of your past.
Doctors prescribe Valium for its positive effects in helping sleeplessness, anxiety and muscle spasms. As a benzodiazepine, the drug has a longstanding reputation as effective. But Valium is also the quintessential “chill pill,” a medication known for its high and euphoria. Unfortunately, misusing Valium only chills you out for a short period of time before negative effects take over your life.
About Valium
Valium is a popular sedative-hypnotic. Doctors regularly prescribe the medication because it works very well for people who need it. But those who do not need the drug often start abusing it. Or, people with prescriptions take more than prescribed.
However you started abusing Valium, now you face its downside on a regular basis. The only way out of addiction to Valium is through a quality treatment program. Through this treatment, you let go of the dangerous Valium side effects you regularly fear.
As a benzodiazepine, Valium is a central nervous system depressant. Researchers designed the drug for short-term use in preventing convulsions, relaxing muscle tension and treating anxiety. Some detox programs also use valium for alcohol dependence withdrawal treatment.
Like other benzodiazepines, Valium found its way into widespread abuse. Street drug dealers sell Valium along with heroin, cocaine, and meth. This uncontrolled use often combines the drug with alcohol or other substances, creating a potential cocktail for death or other injuries.
Abuse occurs when you take more pills than prescribed. Or you use more at once than your dose calls for, under your doctor’s prescription. Injecting Valium or crushing it to snort it for a more intense high also constitutes abuse.
Valium Side Effects
In the short term, you notice a variety of Valium side effects. These result from a slowing of your brain signaling and communication. The high also leads to euphoria, lost coordination, drunken feelings, and a comedown as the high wears off. You stop feeling mellow as the drug clears from your system and your brain returns to normal functioning.
During the comedown, as people call the wear-off period, you suffer other Valium side effects. These include anxiety, irritation, stomach cramps, depression, fever, rapid heartbeat and possibly seizures. Most people addicted to the drug simply take more Valium to prevent or stop these ill comedown effects. By abusing the drug, they seek its sedated, happy feelings.
But taking Valium repeatedly quickly leads to physical tolerance. Over time, you find it harder to achieve your original high. So you start using more Valium on the fast track to addiction. This doesn’t mean your body can handle more. Instead, you move ever closer to Valium overdose.
When used according to its intended dosing, Valium proves safe. You don’t gain the adverse side effects of abusing the drug. But over time, tolerance builds, and somewhere you can cross that line between appropriate use and tolerance that leads to addiction.
Even with proper use, Valium side effects include:
- Dry mouth and slurred speech
- Slow breathing and heart rate
- Delayed reflexes and blurred vision
- Nausea and appetite changes
- Urination problems
- Confusion
Long-term use of the drug leads to a higher possibility of addiction, aggression, depression, thinking problems, psychotic experiences, and other substance abuse.
Ending Your Valium Abuse or Addiction
Walking away from Valium is difficult. But you can end your Valium addiction through a quality treatment program. In Levittown, Pennsylvania, Steps to Recovery helps people just like you overcome Valium dependence and addiction for a better future. Valium addiction rehab programs at Steps to Recovery include:
- PHP and IOP options
- 12 step rehab
- Multi-phase drug addiction rehab programs
- Daily goals
- Addiction education and life skills
- Individual, group, and family therapy
Through Pennsylvania addiction recovery services you can build a better life. Call Steps to Recovery now at 267.719.8528 for more information and to learn how to stop feeling Valium side effects as part of your better life.