People with mental health problems may end up needing more intensive treatment, but as of now their rates of successful stopping with or without psychological support are not known. There are many reasons long-term benzodiazepine or Z-drug users are counseled to stop. Because of the risk of side effects in aging brains, anyone over 65 should who are the most famous alcoholics do what they can to stop these medications. Short-acting benzodiazepines, like triazolam, pass quickly through the body, so you’ll likely experience withdrawal symptoms sooner — sometimes within a matter of hours. Contact your doctor for advice if you have been taking benzos for a prolonged period. Your doctor will help you create a timeline to gradually taper the dosage.
Contact your doctor for advice if you have been taking benzos for longer than 2–4 weeks. Your doctor can advise on the best way to come off benzos as safely as possible. Protracted withdrawal is a prolonged withdrawal experience marked by waves of mild psychological symptoms that come and go over the course of several months. Many people experience irritability and agitation, which can cause problems at home, work, or school. Insomnia, another symptom, can also contribute to these feelings of anxiety and agitation.
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- Doctors prescribe it for patients struggling with insomnia and mental health issues such as excessive worry, panic attacks, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- Our writers include physicians, pharmacists, and registered nurses with firsthand clinical experience.
- Doctors typically prescribe benzos for short-term relief from conditions such as anxiety.
- Clearly, we need to know more about how to make the stopping process, also called “deprescribing,” easier.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you will require inpatient care. Most people do okay with tapering their benzodiazepines at home with the help of their primary care doctor or psychiatrist. You should plan to stay in touch with your doctor regularly during the tapering process, either by phone or during office visits. Benzodiazepine withdrawal can be risky, so it is best to work with a doctor.
Factors That Affect Xanax Withdrawal
Xanax can help people who are in acute distress, but it is not intended for long-term use. The long-term use of benzodiazepines like Xanax can potentially create problems with dependence and withdrawal. This is why quitting benzos isn’t the same as, say, cutting down on screen time or deciding to read more. With this in mind, here are a few strategies that can help you quit using benzodiazepines successfully. There are many anecdotes that demonstrate how easily benzo use and abuse can lead to addiction. There’s the teenager who realizes he can skim some Xanax from a parent without being noticed.
Long-Term Treatment for Benzodiazepine Withdrawal
If you stop or reduce your dose suddenly, you will experience withdrawal symptoms. People with benzodiazepine tolerance may take supratherapeutic doses because the recommended range no longer provides relief for their symptoms. The higher dose may help ease your symptoms, but it can also increase your risk of overdose and severe withdrawal symptoms.
They could rate each problem as nonexistent, mild, moderate, severe, quite severe, or enormous. That’s what makes it essential to stop taking benzodiazepines slowly, with support from a medical professional. Consequently, experts recommend you take benzodiazepines for no more than 2 weeks if you use them daily. If you only use them once every few days, you may be able to take them for up to 4 weeks. If your doctor has prescribed benzos, take them as per the instructions on the prescription.
Stopping benzos after taking them for 4 weeks or more is likely to cause withdrawal symptoms. Switching from short-acting Xanax to its longer-acting cousin Valium will make it easier for you to quit. Once you are stabilized on a dose of diazepam, your prescribing doctor will help you slowly taper down a little bit at a time.
How Long Does Withdrawal From Benzodiazepines Last?
This gives your body and mind the time to adjust to life without Xanax. The best way to try to lessen the severity of your Xanax withdrawal symptoms is by slowly tapering down your dose of Xanax. Tapering means taking progressively smaller doses over the course of several weeks. It is not recommended to taper without the assistance and recommendations from your prescribing doctor. At FHE Health, how old is demi lovato not only do we provide safe, supervised medical detox, but we offer support at every level of care along the full continuum.
Dopamine is a type of messenger that is partly responsible for how humans feel pleasure. Practices such as drug tapering or using other drugs to help ease withdrawal may make early withdrawal symptoms milder and more manageable. During the early stages of withdrawal, the person may notice the symptoms of the condition that the drug was treating start to return, or rebound. For example, symptoms of anxiety or insomnia may come back or get worse without the drugs. Continue reading to learn more about benzodiazepine addiction, rhinophyma and alcoholism withdrawal symptoms, and how to get help if you or a loved one is struggling with benzo addiction.
