Benzodiazepines are psychotropic medications for effective management of anxiety. However, after over 50 years of unrestrained prescription use, prescribers realize the severity of side effects in select patients. The...Benzodiazepines are psychotropic medications for effective management of anxiety. However, after over 50 years of unrestrained prescription use, prescribers realize the severity of side effects in select patients. The most challenging of these side effects is the emergence of a physiological dependence that explains virtual impossibility of successful withdrawal that can ensure sustained abstinence. We propose a method for successful withdrawal using substitution and innovative downward tapering of diazepam oral solution for all benzodiazepines to attain sustained remission. Our protocol reported here allowed not only successful withdrawal for all of 20 patients included in this pilot study but also helped in totally weaning them off of benzodiazepines demonstrating absence of relapse even 2 years after the total discontinuance.展开更多
文摘Benzodiazepines are psychotropic medications for effective management of anxiety. However, after over 50 years of unrestrained prescription use, prescribers realize the severity of side effects in select patients. The most challenging of these side effects is the emergence of a physiological dependence that explains virtual impossibility of successful withdrawal that can ensure sustained abstinence. We propose a method for successful withdrawal using substitution and innovative downward tapering of diazepam oral solution for all benzodiazepines to attain sustained remission. Our protocol reported here allowed not only successful withdrawal for all of 20 patients included in this pilot study but also helped in totally weaning them off of benzodiazepines demonstrating absence of relapse even 2 years after the total discontinuance.
