Xanax Withdrawal: Symptoms, Severity, Length, and Treatment

Several types of benzodiazepines are sold under popular brand names like Valium (diazepam), Xanax (alprazolam), and Klonopin (clonazepam). By incorporating these coping strategies into your recovery plan, you can https://ecosoberhouse.com/ help alleviate the discomfort of benzodiazepine withdrawal and support your journey towards a healthier, drug-free life. Beyond this, some prescribers force their physically dependent patients to switch their benzodiazepine to a different one they deem “safer”. The time it takes to withdraw from benzodiazepines (Benzo) varies, largely depending on the specific type of medication you’re using. This difference is mostly because each type of Benzo has a different half-life, which is how long the drug stays active in your body after you take it.

What are the treatments for managing benzo withdrawal symptoms?

A 2014 case study reports that an individual experienced a rapid withdrawal from Xanax while taking high doses of niacin, vitamin C, and gamma aminobutyric acid. According to the National Center for PTSD, the most beneficial kind of therapy for benzodiazepine withdrawal is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This type of therapy can help you challenge and reframe unhelpful beliefs and behaviors and replace them with more productive ones. If you experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms during your taper, your care team can help you explore options to address those symptoms and get relief. In the first week of tapering off, your doctor may reduce your dose as much as 30% to get you to a safe amount.

Getting Help After Temazepam Detox

But a doctor can help you design a tapering schedule if you need to stop taking the medication. For those who have become physiologically dependent on temazepam, cutting back on dosages or stopping completely may lead to withdrawal symptoms, which can vary in severity. Your doctor may also recommend transitioning to a long-acting benzo and slowly tapering off that.

Detox, Cold Turkey, Abrupt Cessation

This hyperexcitability is the root cause of most of the withdrawal symptoms discussed in the next chapter. However, a sufficiently slow, and smooth, departure of benzodiazepines from the body permits the natural systems to regain control of the functions which have been damped down by their presence. There is scientific evidence that reinstatement of brain function takes a long time. Recovery after long-term benzodiazepine use is not unlike the gradual recuperation of the body after a major surgical operation.

• In addition to these strategies, individuals may also benefit from taking over-the-counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen.
• Benzodiazepines have a sedative effect because of how they work in your brain.
• Contact your doctor for advice if you have been taking benzos for longer than 2–4 weeks.
• It is important for individuals to talk to their healthcare provider about their symptoms and to develop a plan for managing physical discomfort during benzodiazepine withdrawal.
• This makes it really important to follow your doctor’s advice closely and be careful if you’re taking benzos for a long time.

Why Do People Take Benzodiazepines?

The length of time it takes to come off benzos can differ for each person. Your doctor can inform you about how gradually you should come off benzos. In addition, over half of the survey respondents said benzodiazepines’ side effects or withdrawal symptoms caused them to consider suicide. That’s what makes it essential to stop taking benzodiazepines slowly, with support from a medical professional.

Your doctor’s agreement and co-operation is necessary since he/she will be prescribing the medication. Leave yourself free to “proceed as the way openeth”, as the Quakers say. Your doctor may have views on whether it is appropriate for you to stop your benzodiazepines. Some doctors, particularly benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome in the US, believe that long-term benzodiazepines are indicated for some anxiety, panic and phobic disorders and some psychiatric conditions.

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With the right support and treatment, individuals can successfully manage the physical symptoms of withdrawal and move toward benzodiazepine addiction recovery. For this reason, addiction-based detox centers do not offer the tailored and specialized support for physically dependent patients. This hyperexcitability is the root cause of most of the withdrawal symptoms. Abrupt (cold-turkey) or over-rapid withdrawal, especially from high dosage, can give rise to severe symptoms such as convulsions, psychotic reactions, acute anxiety states and even death.

• As a result, when someone stops taking benzodiazepines abruptly or significantly reduces their dose, their brain and body may not function the way they used to.
• Though therapy generally can’t address withdrawal symptoms specifically, it can help improve some symptoms, like anxiety and insomnia.
• These findings have been repeated in several other studies of elderly patients taking benzodiazepines long-term.
• If you reach a difficult point, you can stop there for a few weeks if necessary, but you should try to avoid going backwards and increasing your dosage again.
• Examples of slow withdrawal schedules are given at the end of this chapter.
• If you prefer someone else, any primary care physician or psychiatrist can help you taper your dose.

Benzodiazepine withdrawal can be managed with a gradual dose reduction, which will cause milder symptoms that come and go in waves. If you’re ready to leave your addiction in the past, put your trust in our licensed and certified addiction therapists. We have more than 120 years of combined experience helping people just like you move past addiction. The goal of therapy is to dig into the root causes of the disorder and give you tools to manage it more effectively.

Common benzos include Xanax (alprazolam), Klonopin (clonazepam), Restoril (temazepam), Ativan (lorazepam), and Valium (diazepam). For example, in 2012, alprazolam was among the most prescribed medications in the U.S., according to IMS Health. Using benzos for a long time can lead to problems, which is known as sedative use disorder. This disorder can increase your chances of having cognitive issues and the risk of overdosing. It’s crucial to remember that benzos can cause dependence even when taken as your doctor tells you to. This makes it really important to follow your doctor’s advice closely and be careful if you’re taking benzos for a long time.

• Protracted withdrawal is a long-term withdrawal syndrome that may come and go for several months.
• The patient must be in control of their own tapering schedule, without a deadline imposed by their prescriber.
• If you’ve taken benzodiazepines at high doses for an extended period, you may experience long-term withdrawal symptoms, also called post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS) or protracted withdrawal.

People who have been through acute withdrawal often say that what is alcoholism this phase is the most difficult. These drugs are habit-forming and can easily result in physical dependence. This dependence may lead to a difficult withdrawal if the person chooses to stop taking the drugs. In severe cases, benzodiazepine withdrawal can lead to seizures, a medical emergency that requires immediate attention. Improving sleep during benzos withdrawal can be a challenging process, but there are several strategies that may help.