A Review of Alprazolam Use, Misuse, and Withdrawal PMC

Short-acting benzodiazepines complicate withdrawal with too many ups and downs. Diazepam, a long-acting benzodiazepine, is the most common choice for dose tapering. When you are physically dependent on a drug, it means your body can’t operate normally without it.

Withdrawal Symptoms

Some also break down into other drugs that are active and can therefore have a longer duration of action. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Alliance for BenzodiazepineBest Practices, who helped provide funding for this study and benzodiazepine withdrawal supported the medicalwriting for this article. The authors also wish to express their gratitude toBenzodiazepine Information Coalition for its assistance in survey development anddistribution as well as review of the manuscript and contents.

Medical detox

Withdrawal symptoms can occur after as little as one month of use, even on small, therapeutic doses. Among people taking benzodiazepines for longer than six months, about 40% experience moderate to severe withdrawal symptoms when they quit suddenly. Teen alprazolam abuse is problematic in and of itself, but it is even more dangerous when alprazolam is combined with alcohol.

Common uses for benzodiazepines

Retrospective studies evaluating pregnancy outcomes of women exposed to alprazolam during the first trimester of pregnancy found conflicting results of congenital anomalies (Iqbal et al., 2002). View the pregnancy https://ecosoberhouse.com/ section of each individual drug monograph to determine pregnancy risk or benefit. Your healthcare provider will likely recommend that you don’t work or drive right after you start taking benzodiazepines.

• These ions change the neuron’s electrical charge, so it has to work much harder to activate and send signals.
• Some people, such as those with a history of complicated withdrawal, seizures, or severe mental illness, may be better suited for an inpatient setting.
• One benzodiazepine that’s noteworthy — even though it’s not approved (and illegal) in the United States — is flunitrazepam.
• People looking to get off benzos should do so under the guidance of a healthcare professional, who may recommend coping strategies and other tools to make the withdrawal process more comfortable.

Experiences with benzodiazepine use, tapering, and discontinuation:

Healthcare providers can test for it and treat people under its influence (see below under “What are the disadvantages, side effects and complications that are possible with benzodiazepines?”). Offer symptomatic medication as required for symptoms such as headaches, nausea and anxiety (Table 3). Give 20mg diazepam by mouth every 1-2 hours until symptoms are controlled and AWS score is less than 5. In the first instance, attempt behavioural management strategies as shown in Table 2 (page 33). If this does not adequately calm the patient, it may be necessary to sedate him or her using diazepam.

• Procedure for administering clonidine for moderate/severe opioid withdrawal.
• There is some evidence that lithium carbonate may be an effective medication for cannabis withdrawal management.
• Benzodiazepines are a class of medications that slow down activity in your brain and nervous system.
• Thiamine (vitamin B-1), folic acid (folate), cyanocobalamin (vitamin B-12), and other water-soluble vitamins are often depleted in persons with chronic alcoholism, who are also frequently malnourished.
• Replacement of magnesium appears to decrease the total dose of benzodiazepines required to achieve sedation.
• It can also help you learn to identify psychological triggers that may cause you to relapse so that you can avoid them in the future.

Anecdotally, a slow rate of reduction may reduce the risk of developing a severe protracted syndrome. No one should attempt to get off benzo drugs without the supervision of a healthcare professional. Severe symptoms and reactions can occur, and working with a professional can help a person avoid or manage these symptoms. If withdrawal symptoms become severe, doctors may prescribe other medications. They will make this decision on a case-by-case basis, depending on the type and severity of the symptoms affecting the individual. Tapering the drug by slowly reducing the prescription strength may help make withdrawal symptoms much easier to manage.

• It can be used safely and effectively when prescribed appropriately, after thoroughly evaluating the risks and benefits of treatment.
• Nayzilam is approved by the FDA to be used in patients 12 years of age and older, and Valtoco in used in those 6 years and older.
• The remaining 33.5% of the sampleoriginated from organic Internet searches and referrals.
• The patient should be observed during sedation and no more diazepam given if signs of respiratory depression are observed.

Protracted withdrawal syndrome

• These symptoms may complicate the patient’s involvement in treatment and should be taken into account when planning treatment.
• This approach helps you learn to tolerate discomfort and distress, instead of avoiding it, and choose to live according to your values.
• It is important to note that physical dependence, usually defined by withdrawal symptoms including seizures, does not require the presence of clinical tolerance, and conversely tolerance may develop without any signs of physical dependence.
• Patients wereprescribed benzodiazepines for a wide range of conditions (see Table 1).

What Happens During Benzodiazepine Detox?