---

•	Encyclopedia Home
•	Poisons A-Z
•	Read Spanish version

More Features

•	Printer-friendly version

Oxazepam overdose

Definition

Oxazepam is a medicine used to treat anxiety and symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. It belongs to the class of medicines known as benzodiazepines. Oxazepam overdose occurs when someone takes too much of this medicine.

Benzodiazepines are the most common prescription drugs used in suicide attempts.

This article is for information only. DO NOT use it to treat or manage an actual overdose. If you or someone you are with overdoses, call the local emergency number (such as 911), or the local poison control center can be reached directly by calling the national toll-free Poison Help hotline (1-800-222-1222) from anywhere in the United States.

Alternative Names

Benzodiazepine overdose - oxazepam

Poisonous Ingredient

Oxazepam

Symptoms

Symptoms of oxazepam overdose include:

• Blurred or double vision, rapid side-to-side movement of eyes (nystagmus)
• Coma (decreased level of consciousness and lack of responsiveness)
• Confusion
• Dizziness
• Drowsiness, tiredness, fainting
• Nausea
• Rash
• Slowed or absent breathing
• Stupor (decreased level of alertness)
• Slurred speech
• Weakness, uncoordinated movement, staggering gait (ataxia, seen commonly in children)

Before Calling Emergency

The following information is helpful for emergency assistance:

• Person's age, weight, and condition
• Name of the product (ingredients and strength, if known)
• Time it was swallowed
• Amount swallowed
• If the medicine was prescribed for the person

DO NOT delay calling for help if this information is not immediately available.

Poison Control

The local poison control center can be reached directly by calling the national toll-free Poison Help hotline (1-800-222-1222) from anywhere in the United States. This national hotline will let you talk to experts in poisoning. They will give you further instructions.

This is a free and confidential service. You should call if you have any questions about poisoning or poison prevention. It does NOT need to be an emergency. You can call for any reason, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

You can also get online poison help now at Poisonhelp.org. Just enter the product, poison, or medicine to get expert help.

For more information about America's Poison centers, go to poisoncenters.org.

If you go to the emergency room, take the container with you, if possible. 
 

What to Expect at the Emergency Room

The health care provider will measure and monitor the person's vital signs, including temperature, pulse, breathing rate, and blood pressure. Symptoms will be treated as appropriate. The person may receive:

• Activated charcoal
• Blood and urine tests
• Breathing support, including oxygen, tube through the mouth (intubation), and breathing machine (ventilator)
• Chest x-ray
• CT scan
• ECG (electrocardiogram), or heart tracing
• Fluids through a vein (intravenous or IV)
• Laxative
• Medicines to treat symptoms, including flumazenil, an antidote to reverse the effect of the overdose

Outlook (Prognosis)

Recovery usually occurs with proper treatment. People who are in a prolonged coma or who have respiratory complications may have permanent disability.

References

Aronson JK. Oxazepam. In: Aronson JK, ed. Meyler's Side Effects of Drugs. 16th ed. Waltham, MA: Elsevier; 2016:405-406.

Nelson LS, Calello DP. Acute poisoning. In: Goldman L, Cooney KA, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 27th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2024:chap 96.

Overbeek DL, Erickson TB. Sedative-hypnotics. In: Walls RM, eds. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2023:chap 154.

Theobald JL, Corcoran JN. Poisoning. In: Kliegman RM, St. Geme JW, Blum NJ, et al, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 22nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2025:chap 94.

The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made as to the accuracy, reliability, timeliness, or correctness of any translations made by a third-party service of the information provided herein into any other language.

© 1997- A.D.A.M., a business unit of Ebix, Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.

All content on this site including text, images, graphics, audio, video, data, metadata, and compilations is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. You may view the content for personal, noncommercial use. Any other use requires prior written consent from Ebix. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, display, publish, reverse-engineer, adapt, modify, store beyond ordinary browser caching, index, mine, scrape, or create derivative works from this content. You may not use automated tools to access or extract content, including to create embeddings, vectors, datasets, or indexes for retrieval systems. Use of any content for training, fine-tuning, calibrating, testing, evaluating, or improving AI systems of any kind is prohibited without express written consent. This includes large language models, machine learning models, neural networks, generative systems, retrieval-augmented systems, and any software that ingests content to produce outputs. Any unauthorized use of the content including AI-related use is a violation of our rights and may result in legal action, damages, and statutory penalties to the fullest extent permitted by law. Ebix reserves the right to enforce its rights through legal, technological, and contractual measures.

© 1997- All rights reserved.