Librium dosage is affected by several factors, including the condition the drug is being used to treat, the age of the patient being treated, and the effectiveness of the treatment on the individual patient. For mild or moderate anxiety, the recommended adult Librium dosage is 5 or 10 milligrams (mg) administered three of four times per day, based on the patient’s response to the treatment. Pediatric or geriatric patients should be given a 5 mg dose between two and four times per day, depending on their response. Other conditions, such as acute alcoholism, require an initial oral dose of 50 to 100 mg, which is then maintained by anything up to 300 mg of the drug per day.
The most prevalent factor in determining the correct Librium dosage is the reaction of the patient to the treatment. Some people require more of the drug than others to achieve the same effect, so the dosages of the drug can always be altered to account for differences in patients’ tolerance to the treatment. This is either changed by increasing the amount of the drug in each dosage or by increasing the frequency of the doses themselves. Anxiety disorders or symptoms of anxiety occurring with mild to moderate severity can be treated by 5 or 10 mg of Librium administered three or four times per day, but severe cases can require up to 25 mg per dose.
Other factors, such as the age of the patient being treated and the condition being treated, can also affect the required Librium dosage. Both young children and the elderly should be given 5 mg doses of the treatment between two and four times per day, depending on their reaction to the drug. Some children can tolerate 10 mg doses, but it should not be administered to children younger than six years old in most cases. If the drug is being used to treat alcohol withdrawal, the initial Librium dosage should be between 50 and 100 mg. This should be maintained with dosages of up to 300 mg per day, reduced to normal levels as soon as possible.
Benzodiazepines are generally used for their calming effect, either to help patients overcome anxiety or to induce sleep. One of the drugs that belong to this classification is Librium, which means that the drug acts on the brain and nervous system in the same way as other benzodiazepines. Chemicals in the body send messages which control our moods, and a Librium dosage increases the effects of one of these chemicals, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). This neurotransmitter is able to reduce the activity of neurons within the brain, which when overexcited are believed to be responsible for anxiety. By increasing the action of GABA, Librium reduces levels of anxiety.