A Secret Weapon for Stopping Benzodiazepines Safely

Longer-acting benzodiazepines like Klonopin (clonazepam) can stay in the system longer, which means it can be one to two days or even longer before withdrawal symptoms start. If you have been using benzodiazepines for longer than six months, suddenly stopping your dose can cause grand mal seizures and delirium—this is why it’s best to involve your doctor or healthcare professional in your withdrawal process. The primary difference between these drugs phencyclidine wikipedia is the length of time they stay active in the body. However, benzodiazepines can cause physical dependence and withdrawal even when they are taken as directed. The general guideline is to not exceed a 5% to 10% reduction of the current dose every four weeks. One study found that a “tapering” method used by many physicians—to reduce a benzodiazepine dose by 25% a week—was ineffective for at least 32% to 42% (that is, they failed to get off the drug).

Micro-tapering requires small, daily microgram reductions that add up to not more than a 5% to 10% overall reduction from the current dose each month. Daily micro-reductions may help prevent some physical and mental turmoil that larger weekly reductions can create for those very sensitive. Keeping track of dose reductions during a micro-taper usually requires a daily log or spreadsheet. Clearly, we need to know more about how to make the stopping process, also called “deprescribing,” easier.

  1. Symptoms will be milder than acute withdrawal and they can disappear for weeks at a time.
  2. Luckily, Dr. Heather Ashton created a guide of estimated conversions that worked well for the patients in her clinic.
  3. Symptoms occurred in the majority of patients, with certain symptomspersisting for a year or more (see Table 2).
  4. GABA acts as a sort of speed bump that helps all the other chemical messengers travel through your brain at a reasonable pace.

Some respondents had completely discontinuedbenzodiazepines but still had symptoms, including one whose symptoms weremisdiagnosed as fibromyalgia. Many respondents had taken more than one type of benzodiazepine, whether concurrentlyor sequentially. The most frequently taken benzodiazepines were clonazepam (52.9%),alprazolam (41.7%), lorazepam (36.1%), and diazepam (32.1%). Patients wereprescribed benzodiazepines for a wide range of conditions (see Table 1).

Medications to Alleviate Withdrawal Symptoms

Surprisingly, medication-based support—with melatonin, paroxetine, and/or switching to a different benzodiazepine—was helpful in the short-term for getting people off, but did not have a significant effect at long-term follow-up compared to standard care. A variety of withdrawal schedules from several benzodiazepines are illustrated below. Schedules such as these have worked on real people, but you may need to adapt them for your own needs. Although there are no FDA-approved medications for the treatment of frontotemporal dementia, available data indicate that SSRIs, trazodone, and amphetamines may reduce behavioral symptoms in these individuals [21]. However, none of these medications has been shown to have an impact on cognition.

sections of the survey

In addition to the immediate health risk, benzodiazepine withdrawal can seriously affect your quality of life. Read on to learn more about benzodiazepine withdrawal, including the signs, how long it lasts, and how to get support with tapering off safely. If you take benzodiazepines infrequently, such as once a week or once every few weeks to treat panic attacks, you can take them for a longer period of time. This is because inconsistent use doesn’t pose the same risk of dependence or withdrawal. Respondents were allowed to make free-form comments at the conclusion of the surveyand hundreds of comments were entered.

What Psychological Support Looks Like

Medical professionals do not want to hear a long story as they are very pressed for timeb. Approach the prescriber loaded with all the knowledge you can, but keep your presentation simple and precise. Some supplements, such as valerian and melatonin, might also help you get some relief from your symptoms, but research has found mixed results. Your care team can offer more guidance on safely trying these supplements.

Liquid tapering enables patients to decrease their doses gradually and at a lower reduction rate and frequency than other methods. Eight of the 10 studies included in this review showed an increased risk of dementia in benzodiazepine users by a factor of 1.24 to 2.30. The investigators found that the risk appears unlikely for short duration of use (less than three months). A dose-effect relationship was found by several studies, with one study concluding that there was a stronger effect for medications or metabolites with a long half-life. In another study, the excess risk disappeared after one-year discontinuation in light users (less than 90 defined daily doses) but remained unchanged after a three-year discontinuation in heavy users (360 or more defined daily doses).

One way to decrease the use of benzodiazepines in older adults is to educate them about possible adverse effects of taking the medications [14]. One study found that short conversations between a patient and clinician regarding the discontinuation of benzodiazepines can lead to a reduction in the use of these drugs by almost 50 percent at the end of one year [15]. A recent study found that benzodiazepine prescriptions and overdose mortality involving benzodiazepines increased considerably in the United States over the last two decades [1]. Between 1996 and 2013, the percentage of adults filling a benzodiazepine prescription increased from 4.1 percent to 5.6 percent.

They are an essential part of the body’s central nervous system and stress response. As a culture, we need to be careful to minimize our use and prescription of benzodiazepines and Z-drugs, using them only when absolutely necessary. Doing so will save lives, reduce morbidity, and lessen alcohol-induced blackouts blackout drunk alcohol blackouts costs to healthcare systems. In severe cases, benzodiazepine and Z-drug withdrawal can be life-threatening, causing seizures and hallucinations. It’s no wonder that many people who make an attempt to stop quickly give up the fight, resigning themselves to being on them long-term.