hi. valium takes effect I think within 30-45 minutes. dosing is a key issue. valium is a lower potency benzodiazpeine than, say, klonopin or xanax, so it takes a higher dose to achieve comparable effects. along the way, there's usually more sedation and more muscle relaxant properties, too.

back in the day, 30-40mgs/day was fairly standard. some people were given a whole lot more, some less. I live in the US, and here now what I've noticed is that doctors will give people 4mgs/Klonopin (that's roughly equivalent to 80mgs/valium), but the same doctor will under-dose Valium, because...well...its Valium, lol. Kinda stoopid.

I hope it works well for you. If you're only going to take a benzodiazepine as needed and this dose doesn't work, your doctor might want to try a higher potency benzodiazepine (ativan, klonopin, xanax...). or maybe they'll increase the valium dosage (clearly, I don't know you, or your doctor, lol...).

I hope you can get the relief you need w/o too much trouble. Good luck!