Triazolam
benzodiazepine class medication
Triazolam, sold under the brand name Halcion among others, is a central nervous system (CNS) depressant tranquilizer of the triazolobenzodiazepine (TBZD) class, which are benzodiazepine (BZD) derivatives. It possesses pharmacological properties similar to those of other benzodiazepines, but it is generally only used as a sedative to treat severe insomnia. In addition to the hypnotic properties, triazolam's amnesic, anxiolytic, sedative, anticonvulsant, and muscle relaxant properties are pronounced as well.
Triazolam was initially patented in 1970 and went on sale in the United States in 1982. In 2017, it was the 289th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than one million prescriptions.
Medical uses
Triazolam is usually used for short-term treatment of acute insomnia and circadian rhythm sleep disorders, including jet lag. It is an ideal benzodiazepine for this use because of its fast onset of action and short half-life. It puts a person to sleep for about 1.5 hours, allowing its user to avoid morning drowsiness. Triazolam is also sometimes used as an adjuvant in medical procedures requiring anesthesia or to reduce anxiety during brief events, such as MRI scans and nonsurgical dental procedures. Triazolam is ineffective in maintaining sleep due to its short half-life, with quazepam showing superiority.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q412143. The Library of Congress control number is sh98003091. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1970, 1982 and 2017.
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This entry incorporates text from “Triazolam” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.