II. Class

  1. Long Acting Benzodiazepine

III. Dosing

  1. Anxiety Disorder
    1. Adult: 5 to 10 mg orally 2 to 4 times daily (up to 20 to 25 mg per dose)
    2. Elderly: 5 mg orally 2 to 4 times daily
    3. Child (over age 6 years): 5 mg orally 2 to 4 times daily (up to 10 mg orally 2 to 3 times daily)
  2. Alcohol Withdrawal
    1. See Alcohol Withdrawal
    2. Dose: 50 to 100 mg orally every 3 to 4 hours as needed
    3. Repeat dosing every 3-4 hours up to 300 mg per day

IV. Safety

  1. Pregnancy Category X
  2. Avoid in Lactation
  3. Schedule IV Controlled Substance

V. Pharmacokinetics

  1. Half Life: 7-48 hours (up to 100 hours)
  2. Chlordiazepoxide has the longest duration of action of any Benzodiazepine

VI. Metabolism

  1. Chlordiazepoxide is metabolized first to desmethyldiazepam via CYP1A2
  2. Desmethyldiazepam is then metabolized to Oxazepam via CYP3A4 and CYP2C19

VIII. References

  1. (2019) Med Lett Drugs Ther 61(1578): 121-6
  2. (2020) Presc Lett, Resource #361206, Appropriate Use of Benzodiazepines
  3. Olson (2020) Clinical Pharmacology, Medmaster Miami, p. 55
  4. Hamilton (2020) Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia

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Related Studies

Cost: Medications

chlordiazepoxide (on 12/21/2022 at Medicaid.Gov Survey of pharmacy drug pricing)
CHLORDIAZEPOXIDE 10 MG CAPSULE Generic $0.13 each
CHLORDIAZEPOXIDE 25 MG CAPSULE Generic $0.16 each
CHLORDIAZEPOXIDE 5 MG CAPSULE Generic $0.19 each
CHLORDIAZEPOXIDE-CLIDINIUM CAP Generic $0.44 each