WHAT IS A “HALF-LIFE”, AND HOW IS THE CONCEPT IMPORTANT TO BENZODIAZEPINE DEPENDENCE?
Half-life is a numerical expression of how long it takes for a drug to leave your body. Technically, the “half-life,” expressed as a range, is the time it takes for half of the amount consumed to be eliminated from your body, and so on. There is some controversy as to how long benzodiazepines may actually remain in your body after you have discontinued them entirely. Benzodiazepines are fat soluble and can persist in fatty tissues. However, benzodiazepines no longer show up in blood screenings beyond 30 days after discontinuance. This either means they are totally eliminated by that time, or that they persist in amounts too small to have any long-term effect. The importance of half-life is that a longer half-life generally makes for an easier withdrawal because your blood levels remain relatively constant, as opposed to the up and down roller coaster that you experience with short half-life benzodiazepines. Furthermore, longer half-life benzodiazepines require less dose micro-managemen
