Urbanol contains clobazam, a benzodiazepine, as 5 mg capsules and 10 mg tablets. It is used for short-term relief of severe anxiety and as add-on treatment for epilepsy. It causes less drowsiness than most benzodiazepines but still produces dependence, so courses are kept short.
What is Urbanol?
Urbanol contains clobazam, a benzodiazepine. It is a Schedule 5 medicine in South Africa, also sold as Clozurb and Qlocam.
Clobazam increases the effect of GABA, the brain’s principal calming signal, reducing nerve activity. That produces relief from anxiety, muscle relaxation, sedation, and a raised threshold for seizures.
What sets clobazam apart from most benzodiazepines is its chemistry. Nearly all the others are 1,4-benzodiazepines; clobazam is a 1,5-benzodiazepine. That structural difference gives it a somewhat different balance of effects — relatively more anxiety relief for a given degree of sedation.
In practice that means people on clobazam are often less drowsy than they would be on diazepam at a comparable effect. That is a genuine advantage, and it is also the source of a misconception: clobazam is sometimes treated as a “milder” benzodiazepine that can be taken more freely. It is not. Tolerance and dependence develop in the same way, on a similar timescale.
Clobazam is also long-acting, with an active breakdown product that persists for days, so effects accumulate over the first weeks.
What is Urbanol commonly used for?
Clobazam is prescribed for:
- Severe anxiety, for short-term relief where symptoms are disabling.
- Anxiety with prominent physical symptoms, where its lower sedation is useful for someone who has to function during the day.
- Epilepsy, as add-on treatment where other anticonvulsants have not given full control.
- Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and some other epilepsy syndromes, including in children.
- Catamenial epilepsy — seizures clustering around menstruation — where it is sometimes used intermittently.
- Acute anxiety around a specific event, briefly.
For anxiety, the essential point is the same as for every benzodiazepine: clobazam relieves anxiety while it is in the system; it does not treat an anxiety disorder.
The treatments that change the condition are different. Cognitive behavioural therapy has strong evidence and its benefits persist after treatment ends. Where medication is used long term, an SSRI or SNRI acts on the underlying condition without causing dependence — though it takes several weeks to work, which is the gap clobazam is sometimes used to bridge.
For epilepsy, consistency matters: take it at the same times daily, do not skip doses, and do not run out. Missed doses are a recognised cause of breakthrough seizures. Tolerance to the anticonvulsant effect develops in a substantial proportion of people over months, with seizures gradually breaking through — a reason to see your prescriber rather than to increase the dose yourself.
How Urbanol fits into this medicine category
| Group | Examples | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1,5-benzodiazepines | Clobazam (Urbanol) | Anxiety with less sedation; add-on in epilepsy |
| Long-acting benzodiazepines | Clonazepam (Rivotril), diazepam (Betapam) | Seizures, spasm, sustained cover |
| Short-acting benzodiazepines | Alprazolam (Xanax) | Panic, acute anxiety |
| SSRIs / SNRIs | Escitalopram, sertraline | First-line long-term anxiety treatment |
| Other anticonvulsants | Lamotrigine, valproate, pregabalin (Nurika) | First-line epilepsy treatment |
See the mental health and neurology medicines hub.
What to check before using Urbanol
Do not drink alcohol. Both depress the central nervous system, and the combination can suppress breathing dangerously. Less sedating does not mean safe with alcohol.
Do not drive until you know how it affects you, and note that effects build over the first weeks because clobazam accumulates.
Never stop it abruptly if you take it for epilepsy — withdrawal can trigger seizures.
Tell your prescriber or pharmacist if:
- You take opioids — tramadol, codeine, morphine. Benzodiazepines with opioids are a leading cause of fatal respiratory depression.
- You have breathing problems — sleep apnoea, COPD, severe asthma.
- You have a history of dependence on alcohol, benzodiazepines or other substances.
- You have liver or kidney disease.
- You are pregnant, planning pregnancy or breastfeeding. For epilepsy this needs careful discussion — uncontrolled seizures also carry risk, so never simply stop on discovering a pregnancy.
- You have depression, which benzodiazepines can deepen.
- You are older, where confusion and falls are markedly more common.
- You take other anticonvulsants — clobazam interacts with several, particularly stiripentol and valproate — or other sedating medicines.
Follow the dispensing label exactly. This page does not set doses.
Possible cautions and when to ask a pharmacist or doctor
Do not stop abruptly after regular use. Withdrawal includes rebound anxiety worse than the original, insomnia, tremor, sweating, agitation and, after prolonged use, seizures. Coming off clobazam is done gradually under medical supervision — and because it is long-acting, a taper takes longer than people expect.
Watch for dependence. Needing it more often, taking more than prescribed, or anxiety about running out are worth raising. The reputation for being gentler leads people to underestimate this. It is common and treatable.
Tolerance in epilepsy is well recognised — if seizures start breaking through after months of good control, tell your prescriber.
Drowsiness, unsteadiness and slowed thinking still occur, even if less than with other benzodiazepines. In children, behavioural change and increased salivation are also seen.
Confusion and falls in older adults are a serious concern.
Paradoxical reactions — agitation or aggression rather than calm — occur occasionally, more often in children and older adults.
Serious skin reactions, though rare, have been reported with clobazam. Stop and seek help immediately for a rash that blisters or peels, or involves the mouth or eyes.
Seek urgent medical attention for slow, shallow or difficult breathing, extreme drowsiness or difficulty waking someone, a blistering or peeling rash, a seizure that is longer or different from usual, a fall with injury, confusion, or worsening depression or thoughts of self-harm.
Related medicine guides
Frequently asked questions
What is Urbanol 10 mg used for? Short-term relief of severe anxiety, and as add-on treatment for epilepsy. It contains clobazam.
Is it a strong sedative? It causes less drowsiness than most benzodiazepines because of its different chemical structure. That does not make it milder in terms of dependence.
Can I take it long term? It is not intended for indefinite use in anxiety. Tolerance and dependence develop as with other benzodiazepines, so courses are kept short.
Can I stop taking it suddenly? No. Withdrawal can be severe and, after prolonged use, can include seizures. Because clobazam is long-acting, tapering takes longer than expected.
Is it a treatment for anxiety disorder? No. It relieves anxiety while in the system. Treating the disorder means therapy and, where medication is used, an antidepressant.
Why has it been added to my epilepsy treatment? Clobazam is used as an add-on where other anticonvulsants have not achieved full seizure control.