Is Librium Cut With Other Drugs? (How to Know When it Is)

Librium (chlordiazepoxide) is the prototype for the benzodiazepines. It was developed as an alternative to barbiturates in the treatment of anxiety.

Librium is considered to be a safe and effective medicine used in the treatment of anxiety, alcohol withdrawal, and as a preanesthetic. The drug has lost some of its popularity as newer benzodiazepines have been developed.

If you buy Librium from a legitimate pharmacy, it will not be cut with other substances. If you buy it on the street, you can never truly know what you are buying, and it may be cut with other drugs, which adds to the uncertainty.

IS LIBRIUM CUT WITH OTHER DRUGS?

Librium that is made in professional laboratories isn’t cut with other drugs. Other substances may be included in the capsules as listed above, but the potency of Librium in the capsules manufactured by professional pharmaceutical companies is determined by the amount of chlordiazepoxide in each capsule.

Counterfeit drugs that are marketed by illicit laboratories, often overseas, may contain fillers or other potentially dangerous products. In some instances, they may not even contain any chlordiazepoxide at all.

COUNTERFEIT LIBRIUM

While all controlled substances are candidates for counterfeiters, Librium does not appear to be a drug that is highly marketed in counterfeit form. Certain online pharmacies and other illicit sources may attempt to sell counterfeit versions of Librium, but other benzodiazepines like Xanax (alprazolam) and Valium (diazepam) are more likely to be marketed by illegal operations.

IS THE COUNTERFEITING OF DRUGS A SERIOUS ISSUE?

Yes. Although the Librium pills that are manufactured in professional laboratories in the United States have very few additives, counterfeit pills can have numerous issues with adulterants.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stated that the counterfeiting of drugs can apply to brand-name and generic products.

The issue of counterfeit drugs is more of a problem in developing countries than it is in the United States. Despite numerous regulations, the sale of drugs on the internet through illegitimate sources or oversea pharmaceutical companies has exacerbated the problem in America.

The percentage of counterfeit drugs in the United States is as likely very low (maybe 1 percent) except for drugs bought online from foreign countries where the percentage of counterfeit drugs rises sharply (more than 25 percent).

WHAT TYPES OF ADDITIVES ARE IN COUNTERFEIT LIBRIUM?

Numerous potential additives can be in counterfeit Librium. They include:

• Fillers: Like slate or brick dust, filler materials have no psychoactive effects but make the substance appear to be the real thing.
• Poisonous substances: Toxic substances can include heavy metals like lead or drugs not designed for humans, like levamisole, a medication intended to expel parasitic worms in animals.
• Little or no medication: Pills sold on the street may contain very little of the actual drug one thinks they are buying. In some instances, it may not contain the drug at all.
• The wrong medication: Totally different drugs, like phencyclidine, methamphetamine, or others, may be included in the tablets or capsules.

HOW TO SPOT COUNTERFEIT LIBRIUM

Some counterfeit drugs are good imitations of the real thing, and others are very poor imitations. The process for spotting counterfeit drugs includes:

• Visual inspection: Visually inspect the packaging of the drug and look for things like misspellings, breaks or tears in the seals, unusual font sizes, and the address of the drug’s manufacturer. If it is manufactured overseas, it is most likely fake.
• Dosage checks: An inspection of the medications can reveal unusual dosages, inaccuracies in the stamps on the pills, or pills that do not appear anything like the medications depicted in pharmacy manuals or online.
• Effects: Any time a person takes medication and experiences an effect that is not consistent with the effects that the medication should produce, they should immediately contact their physician.
• Price: Medications that are extremely inexpensive are most likely counterfeit medications.

AVOID THE ISSUE

Visual inspections by untrained people can be unreliable, and waiting until you experience unusual or detrimental effects after taking the drug can be dangerous. Prevention is the best practice.

• Get a legitimate prescription. Never buy a prescription drug unless you have a prescription for it.
• Use only state-licensed pharmacies. The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy can provide information about licensed pharmacies.
• Use the Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (VIPPS). VIPPS offers a list of the verified online pharmacies.
• Only buy domestic medications. Never buy any medications or drugs that are made outside of the United States.

SHOULD LIBRIUM BE USED FOR LONG-TERM ISSUES?

Librium is typically indicated for the treatment of anxiety, withdrawal symptoms, and other issues for the short term, as are most of the benzodiazepines.

Long-term use of more than four months is generally not recommended because of the tendency for users to develop significant tolerance to benzodiazepines.

IS LIBRIUM A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE?

Yes. All benzodiazepines are controlled substances and can be legally obtained only with a prescription from a physician.

WHAT ARE THE DOSAGES OF LIBRIUM, AND WHAT DO THE PILLS LOOK LIKE?

Librium is most often available in 5 mg (milligrams), 10 mg, or 25 mg tablets or capsules. Chlordiazepoxide is a whitish substance. Gelatin capsules may also contain other ingredients, including different types of dyes to color the capsules, gelatin, cornstarch, lactose, and talc as binding substances.Pictures of Librium capsules can be found here.

Sources

(July 2005). Librium. ICN Pharmaceuticals. Retrieved January 2019 from https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2016/012249s049lbl.pdf

(N.D.) Drug Scheduling. Drug Enforcement Administration. Retrieved January 2019 from https://www.dea.gov/drug-scheduling

(2019). Librium images. Drugs.com. Retrieved January 2019 from https://www.drugs.com/librium-images.html

(August 2016). Counterfeit Medications. Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved January 2019 from https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/CounterfeitMedicine/

(July 2013). Substandard and Counterfeit Medicines: A Systematic Review of the Literature. BMJ Open. Retrieved January 2019 from https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/3/8/e002923.full.pdf

(2019). Pharmacy. The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. Retrieved January 2019 from https://nabp.pharmacy/

(2019). VIPPS. National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. Retrieved January 2019 from https://nabp.pharmacy/programs/vipps/