Chlordiazepoxide: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Chlordiazepoxide is a medicine sold in the U.S. under 5 brand and generic names. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Available as
- Capsule, extended release · Capsule
- Sold as
- 5 products — Librelease, Librium and Chlordiazachel, and others
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Yes
- What the pharmacy pays
- about $5 for a 30-count supply — not your price
Every chlordiazepoxide product we track (5)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
| # | Drug | Rating | Type | Form | Generic? | Pharmacy pays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 74/100 | Prescription | Capsule | Generic | $5 | View → | |
| 2 | 74/100 | Prescription | Capsule | Generic | $5 | View → | |
| 3 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Capsule | Generic | $5 | View → | |
| 4 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Capsule | Generic | $5 | View → | |
| 5 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Capsule | Generic | $5 | View → |
What chlordiazepoxide pills look like
Imprint codes, colour and shape from the FDA’s labelling data. Match the imprint on your pill — or search any imprint.
Combination products containing chlordiazepoxide
A combination is a different drug — different dosing, different warnings. It is listed here so you can find it, not so you can substitute it.
How long chlordiazepoxide keeps
No chlordiazepoxide label we read sets a separate limit for after opening, but they do specify how it must be stored — and the stability behind any date assumes those conditions.
Chlordiazepoxide and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for chlordiazepoxide: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadNo information is available on the use of chlordiazepoxide during breastfeeding. Because the drug and metabolites could accumulate in the breastfed infant, an alternate drug may be preferred, especially while nursing a newborn or preterm infant. If chlordiazepoxide is used, monitor the infant for sedation, poor feeding and poor weight gain.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised January 15, 2024. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about chlordiazepoxide
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 3,487 reports naming chlordiazepoxide, and the FDA flagged 81% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- nausea175 reports
- fatigue161 reports
- headache157 reports
- dizziness153 reports
- vomiting136 reports
- diarrhoea131 reports
- anxiety122 reports
- acute kidney injury113 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean chlordiazepoxide caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved September 25, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
Can you take chlordiazepoxide with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run chlordiazepoxide against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is chlordiazepoxide sold under?
We track 5 chlordiazepoxide-containing products in the U.S.: Librelease, Librium, Chlordiazachel, Chlordiazepoxide Hydrochloride and Lygen. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does chlordiazepoxide come in?
Across the brands we track, chlordiazepoxide is currently marketed as capsule, extended release and capsule, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic chlordiazepoxide?
Yes. Our catalog lists 3 generic chlordiazepoxide products alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Chlordiazepoxide: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/chlordiazepoxide
- MLA
- “Chlordiazepoxide: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/chlordiazepoxide.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for chlordiazepoxide on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.