Certain medicines come with habit-forming functions. If they are taken in high doses for a long time, you can get addicted to them. The addiction can go into such a bad condition that you may need to go through the detox program. Benzodiazepine is a drug used for treating different types of issues like insomnia, anxiety disorder, epilepsy, and alcohol withdrawal. This medicine is so addictive that taking it without prescription or having it in high doses can result in addiction. To get rid of this, you need to visit the best rehab healthcare like Rehab HC to get the best treatment to get out of your addiction.
What Is Benzodiazepine Withdrawal?
Benzodiazepines, popularly known as ‘Benzos,’ are prescribed drugs used to treat several kinds of disorders like stress, anxiety disorder, muscle tension, epilepsy, panic attacks, insomnia and even alcohol withdrawal. Once a user takes Benzos for a long time, they develop a tolerance to it and start taking it for a more extended period. As the tolerance increases, the users need to increase the dose to feel the drug’s impacts. This addiction can be deadly if the user doesn’t go through any Benzodiazepine detox treatment.
The first step of the treatment is always to safely help the patient to stop taking the drug. On stopping the medication, the patient will experience withdrawal symptoms, but a rehab centre like RehabHC knows how to deal with such situations and help the patient.
Symptoms of Benzodiazepine Withdrawal
Any kind of withdrawal symptom from addiction is harrowing and stressful. The patients with Benzodiazepine addiction will have to go through this. They will suffer physically and emotionally throughout the withdrawal period, and this time is going to be tough and even life-threatening. The more extended period you are taking this drug, the more intense withdrawal symptoms you will face. It is not safe to just stop taking benzos on your own so best to seek help.
The most common symptoms are-
- Sleep disturbances
- Anxiety
- Increased tension
- Difficulty in concentrating
- Panic attacks
- Heavily sweating
- Immense headache
- Palpitating heart
- Cravings
- Muscular pain/stiffness
- Hand tremors
In cases of severe addiction, more severe symptoms can be noticed. These are less common, but people with high addiction may suffer from-
- Hallucinations
- Suicidal thoughts
- Psychotic reactions
- Seizures
How Long the Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Lasts?
Practitioners prescribe different doses of Benzos for individuals. As per the brands, the life of the medicine depends. If you consume the shorter-acting Benzos, the withdrawal symptoms will start sooner than those with longer-acting ones. Usually, for shorter-acting Benzos, the withdrawal symptoms begin within 2 to 6 hours, while in the other case, it may take 24 to 48 hours.
Phases of Benzodiazepine Detox
In the rehab centers, usually, two types of Benzodiazepine Detox methods are followed. Both kinds of detox program come with particular withdrawal symptoms-
1. Acute Withdrawal Phase
This is the initial phase of Benzodiazepine Detox. When Benzos are prescribed to reduce anxiety disorders, but the patient gets addicted to it, they have to go through this phase as a part of treatment. The anxiety-related mindset can lead to hypersensitivity if the patient falls for Benzos addiction. At the withdrawal phase, the patient may suffer from a hallucination, distortions, etc. this phase can last from 5 to 14 days. during this time, the patient can suffer from several other withdrawal symptoms, like-
- Panic attacks
- Restlessness
- Anxiety
- Sleeplessness
- Weakness
- Dizziness
- Muscle pain
Apart from these, the patient may suffer from high sensitivity to light and sound. Usually, this happens when rebound symptoms begin to appear. People suffer the most during the night times when their sleep cycles are affected, and they get disturbed sleep, nightmares, etc., throughout the night.
2. Protracted Withdrawal Phase
In this phase, the patient suffers from similar kinds of symptoms, but in a reduced manner. This phase lasts longer. This phase runs when the patient is under a detox program, and his/her body learns to cope with the changes of not having Benzodiazepine. This time, your body stabilizes, but the effect of addiction is still there, so sometimes you may feel certain distortions, like-
- Depression
- Lesser anxiety
- Irritability
- Poor concentration
These symptoms may appear and go as the drug’s initial shock is still in your system during this phase.
So, here you get to know about Benzodiazepine Detox. If you know someone is suffering from this issue, it is high time to consult the best rehab health centre like Rehab Healthcare (RehabHc) for safe and proven treatment.