I’m very aware that Valium has a longer life than Ativan, the other benzodiazepine that also has a longer effect is Klonopin. I started early on in my life with Valium and I had a terrible time with it, I never felt the benefits of longer effect so I ended up increasing my dose quite often, it didn’t help having a doctor who gave them out with no concerns about addiction. I did get off them when I became pregnant and I was afraid for my baby so I went through a really bad experience but my strength was really good so I lived to talk about it and my son was born healthy. I stayed away from benzodiazepine for many years and relied on other medication for anxiety and ptsd., sadly the urge to go back to them came along as I got older, I truly believe that they never leave you completely, for reasons I don’t know I think they stay in your body, I compared it to alcoholism or illegal drug addiction, these people sometimes get off the drugs or alcohol and they can never take them again because the addiction will be back. It’s a different journey for everyone and some people are very fortunate to get rid of their addiction and for some it is a lifelong struggle.