Withdrawing from Benzodiazepines: Symptoms, Safety, and Treatment

Some people during benzodiazepine withdrawal report feeling unsteady on their feet; sometimes they feel they are being pushed to one side or feel giddy, as if things were going round and round. An important organ in controlling motor stability and maintaining equilibrium is a part of the brain called the cerebellum. This organ is densely packed with GABA and benzodiazepine receptors (See Chapter I) and is a prime site of action of benzodiazepines. Excessive doses of benzodiazepines, like alcohol, cause unsteadiness of gait, slurred speech and general incoordination, including inability to walk in a straight line.

Consult with a doctor or other healthcare professional

If you want to stop taking benzodiazepines after consistent long-term use, your doctor can help you gradually taper off your medication. Tapering can help take the edge off withdrawal symptoms like tremors and nausea, though it may not prevent withdrawal symptoms entirely. 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. Benzodiazepines are a powerful class of medication used to treat anxiety, insomnia, and panic disorder.

• However, most body tissues are in equilibrium with the blood that constantly perfuses them, and there is no known mechanism whereby benzodiazepines could be “locked up” in tissues such as the brain.
• Such experiences probably represent a normal defensive reaction evolved as a protection against intolerable suffering.
• It has been suggested that their use over many years could cause physical changes such as shrinkage of the cerebral cortex, as has been shown in chronic alcoholics, and that such changes may be only partially reversible after withdrawal.

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• Multivitamin supplements and particularly vitamin B1 (thiamine) supplements (at least 100mg daily during withdrawal) should also be provided to help prevent cognitive impairments9 that can develop in alcohol dependent patients.
• This may be due to a rebound effect on appetite, since benzodiazepines have been shown to increase appetite in animals.

Many people complain of a metallic taste in the mouth and several notice strange, unpleasant, smells which seem to emanate from the body. These sensations, including an unpleasant smell (which usually no-one Sober living home else can detect) have been described in anxiety states in the absence of benzodiazepines. Like insomnia and panics, they are probably reflections of heightened activity in the central nervous system.

Benzodiazepine Addiction Treatment

In some situations, a doctor or psychiatrist might prescribe medication to help with PAWS symptoms. Your medication options depend on the substance you used, your symptoms, and your medical history. The available research suggests that some symptoms of opioid-related PAWS can last for weeks, and in some cases, 6 to 9 months after last use.

• A minority of patients withdrawing from stimulants may become significantly distressed or agitated, presenting a danger to themselves or others.
• A characteristic feature of benzodiazepine withdrawal is a heightened sensitivity to all sensations – hearing, sight, touch, taste and smell.
• There have also been reports of withdrawal that spontaneously improves or vanishes overnight after the person had been suffering intensely for years before.
• Medications may be used in treatment for benzo withdrawal to taper users off of the drugs, treat withdrawal symptoms, and reduce discomfort.
• If you take an intermediate-acting benzodiazepine, like alprazolam, or a long-acting benzodiazepine, like diazepam, it may take longer for withdrawal symptoms to appear.

Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Symptoms, Acute & Protracted

Participants in this course gain benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome essential knowledge on recognizing and evaluating various withdrawal syndromes, enabling them to implement effective management strategies tailored to each patient’s needs. The course emphasizes the importance of interprofessional collaboration in managing withdrawal syndromes, highlighting how teamwork among clinicians, nurses, pharmacists, and mental health professionals can improve patient outcomes. Like many other issues concerning benzodiazepines, the answers to these questions are still unclear.