Your doctor will discuss with you the best way to gradually decrease your dosage. Contact your doctor as soon as you have concerns about benzo dependence. If you have been taking benzos for more than 4 weeks, contact your doctor for advice on how to safely taper your dosage.

1. If you experience severe withdrawal symptoms during tapering, tell your doctor so they can adjust your care plan as needed.
2. This is particularly true if you are also giving up other substances, like alcohol or opioids.
3. More severe reactions or withdrawals may also be more likely when taking strong drugs either for long periods or alongside other types of medications.
4. People with benzodiazepine tolerance may take supratherapeutic doses because the recommended range no longer provides relief for their symptoms.
5. Your doctor can advise on the best way to come off benzos as safely as possible.

This type of therapy can help you challenge and reframe unhelpful beliefs and behaviors and replace them with more productive ones. Short-acting benzodiazepines are much more likely to cause rebound symptoms. In fact, if you take your medication every other day, you may notice rebound symptoms on the day between doses. According to the Government of Western Australia Department of Health, benzo withdrawal symptoms can last for weeks or months. According to Mind, symptoms of benzo withdrawal can begin a few hours after you stop taking them. For long-acting benzos, symptoms can begin up mixing suboxone and alcohol to 3 weeks after you stop taking them.

Preventing Severe Benzodiazepine Withdrawal

In 2017, doctors wrote nearly 45 million prescriptions for Xanax (alprazolam). Statistics suggest that one in 20 people in the U.S. fill a prescription for benzodiazepines each year. Medical detox involves tapering off the benzo drug under the supervision of a doctor.

Withdrawal symptoms from short-acting drugs, such as Xanax, may come on faster than withdrawal symptoms from long-acting drugs, such as Valium. Some people, such as those with a history of complicated withdrawal, seizures, or severe mental illness, may be better suited for an inpatient setting. This can involve living at a detox facility or hospital for several weeks, where you can receive constant medical monitoring and psychological support.

Protracted withdrawal, also known as post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS), is a form of withdrawal that can extend beyond the acute detox period. Though therapy generally can’t address withdrawal symptoms specifically, it can help improve some symptoms, like anxiety and insomnia. If you experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms during your taper, your care team can help you explore options to address those symptoms and get relief.

Medication

Some symptoms may appear without warning and can be a significant source of distress. Depending on your situation, your doctor may think it best to prescribe very mixing valium with alcohol small amounts of medication at a time. This will prevent you from altering the taper, but it might mean frequent trips to the pharmacy.

Find a More Constructive Outlet for Stress and Anxiety

There’s the busy professional borrowing a friend’s Klonopin (clonazepam) to alleviate work stress and anxiety. There are people who move from using these drugs as directed to abusing them as they build a tolerance and as a result, continue taking more and more to get the same effects. People who have been through acute withdrawal often say that this phase is the most difficult.

About Benzodiazepines and Z-Drugs: The Good and the Bad

Xanax is a short-acting drug, which means your body metabolizes it very quickly. Tapering Xanax is austin harrouff wikipedia challenging because the amount of the drug in your system quickly goes up and down with each dose. To help you avoid these peaks and valleys, doctors often switch you from Xanax to a long-acting benzodiazepine such as Valium (diazepam).

It matters that people are able to recognize it and take steps to quit using benzos safely. More severe reactions or withdrawals may also be more likely when taking strong drugs either for long periods or alongside other types of medications. The main cause of the symptoms of benzo withdrawal is the sudden reduction of dopamine in the brain.