Temazepam

Harm Reduction

Temazepam can interact with a number of other medications, such as barbiturates, certain anti-depressants and other benzodiazepines, so it’s essential that your doctor knows what you’re taking (prescription and non-prescription) before giving it to you.

Alcohol and other recreational substances also have interactions with temazepam. Alcohol in particular will enhance its sedative properties, so you’ll feel even sleepier and will sleep longer than just with the drug on its own. If you’re taking temazepam it’s best to avoid alcohol if possible.

Largely due to the problems caused by users injecting, the gelcaps have not been available on the NHS since 1996. As a result, there is now very little use of temazepam intravenously.

• Temazepam is very dose sensitive and can quickly become addictive. If you’ve been prescribed it, stick to the dose stated and don’t be tempted to self-dose.
• Even small increases can have significant effects. If you overdose, get medical help immediately.
• Don’t suddenly stop taking it, even if the problem it was prescribed for seems to have cleared up; the shock to your system can be painful and possibly dangerous. Talk to your doctor about slowly reducing the dose.
• If you’ve bought temazepam on the street, try to make sure you know what size dose it contains; the tablets are most often 10mg or 20mg, but the capsules can contain quite a lot more. Sometimes this will be imprinted on the tablet/capsule itself, but not always. The difference in effect between the different sizes can be big, so be careful.
• The effects can come on quicker than you might be expecting, so make sure you’re somewhere safe (preferably at home) and don’t drive or operate machinery, etc. when you’ve taken a dose.
• On the other hand, you may not feel the effects for some time. If you don’t feel an immediate effect, DO NOT re-dose; just wait to see what happens. If you’ve bought from a dealer you can’t be sure of exactly what you’ve got, so it may be impure or not temazepam at all. If in doubt, or you don’t get the effect you were looking for, just write it off.