Withdrawing from Benzodiazepines: Symptoms, Safety, and Treatment

The researchers used a unique lab model called “Guwiyang Wurra-TSPO knockout,” a healthy mouse lacking a protein present in the mitochondrion, the cell’s energy-providing organelle (5). Anti-anxiety drugs like diazepam https://ecosoberhouse.com/ bind to TSPO on the surface of microglial cell organelles. Microglial cells are the brain’s first immune responders and are implicated in dementia, long COVID, chronic fatigue and other cognitive impairments.

• Xanax is a type of benzodiazepine, a class of CNS depressants known as sedative hypnotics as they are prescribed to help treat specific anxiety disorders, sleep disorders and seizure disorders.
• Benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome can develop after as little as one month of use.
• There may be a genetic predisposition or gene expression phenomenon that occurs during the withdrawal syndrome to shift into a protracted withdrawal syndrome and damaged central nervous system.
• If a person has been taking an opioid pain reliever, they should talk with a healthcare professional before taking Xanax.
• You might feel irritable and hypersensitive to everything around you.

Identifying and Treating Symptoms of Benzodiazepine Withdrawal

Taking a CY3PA inhibitor with Xanax means the body will take longer to process the drug. This can cause Xanax to build up in the blood and increase the risk of serious side effects. In one 2019 study, researchers reported that they could detect Xanax in a person’s saliva for up to 2.5 days after their last dose.

What Happens When You Stop Taking Xanax?

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Signs of Benzodiazepine Addiction

Among respondents whose symptoms lasted months or years, over half said caffeine or alcohol worsened their PAWS symptoms. Dependence and withdrawal can happen to anyone, even if you take your medication exactly as instructed. Managing symptoms is important to help prevent recurrance of use/misuse.

Tapering down methods or other medications to aid with withdrawal symptoms can make early symptoms milder and more manageable. Klonopin, a member of a family of drugs called benzodiazepines, benzodiazepine withdrawal is commonly prescribed for treating anxiety and insomnia. Withdrawal from Klonopin typically includes a variety of uncomfortable symptoms, such as anxiety and irritability.

What is benzodiazepine protracted withdrawal?

• When a person stops taking Xanax after their body has become used to receiving it, the lack of the drug can cause a range of physical and mental symptoms.
• A doctor can help supervise a taper and recommend additional supportive treatments.
• If not medically managed, some of the symptoms of benzodiazepine withdrawal may be severe and potentially dangerous.
• Quitting cold turkey can increase your risk of extreme and dangerous withdrawal symptoms, including delirium and grand mal seizures.
• She is a double-board certified physician with specialties in general adult psychiatry and addiction medicine.
• The intensity of your symptoms depends on your dosage, or how much Xanax you’ve been taking and for how long.