You might be on cloud nine now that you are pregnant. You have just confirmed, and you know the exact words your gynecologist might suggest. Stop smoking or stop drinking! Right? Fine. But if you have been suffering from anxiety for a long, you might also be taking medicines to control the same. Benzodiazepines are the medicines you might be taking as prescription drugs.
Mention the same to your gynecologist, and you will find more words of caution flowing in for you and your baby. It is not surprising if you get the recommendation to go for the Benzodiazepines detox before even conceiving. Why? What is so critical about this drug, and what makes its detox a priority? Let us throw some light on it before you plan to conceive.
Defining Benzodiazepines
To start with, Benzodiazepines are a special class of drugs ideally for treating several conditions from anxiety to insomnia to seizures. It works by impacting the neurotransmitters in the brain and on the chemicals. The researchers feel that the Benzodiazepines help reduce all sorts of activities in the nerves like GABA.
GABA or Gamma-Aminobutyric acid is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, and it works by blocking or inhibiting the brain’s signals. Benzodiazepines are also popular as drugs for sedation ahead of operations as general anesthesia and for helping in alcohol withdrawal recovery.
The market has various versions of Benzodiazepines like Oxazepam, Valium, Xanax, and more. These are quite popular worldwide too. The problem arises with the drugs is the way it impacts your overall health. Hence, these days, you will come across UK Addiction treatment centers urging you to cleans the system right away.
Now, let’s address the elephant in the room – should pregnant women continue having these drugs?
What Should You Know First?
Ideally no. Benzodiazepine has side effects, and even the fetus might feel the same. The effects might take over the fetus right from the first trimester. Consult with your drug rehab or alcohol treatment center like Rehab Healthcare. The consultants and doctors will firstly want to know the drugs you have been taking to treat anxiety or insomnia. If your medicine for these contains any trace of Benzodiazepines, he or she would recommend you to taper off. This means you will need to stop taking these drugs slowly. It might take a few days to a few weeks before someone can come off the effects of these drugs.
At this point, the side effects might start that could include dizziness, loss of orientation, and headache. The feeling of depression or sleeplessness will dominate your life. If you have been taking these drugs for a long time, stopping them suddenly is impossible without help or therapy. There would be a need to watch out for seizures, muscle cramps, depression, tremors, and sweating. The best treatment is only by tapering off as it diminishes the effects during the withdrawal phase.
These are for regular patients. What about the fetus in the case of pregnant women, and how do the Benzodiazepines affect?
The fetus might experience side effects along with the mom-to-be who is taking Benzodiazepines. They may include feelings of grogginess, slurred speech, depression, vision problems, and headaches. Newborns may suffer from breathing problems or dizziness.
How to Recover from the Benzo Addiction?
If your friend is planning to conceive and takes Benzodiazepines-based drugs, take her to a doctor. The doctor who recommended the medicine in the first place will offer her ways to taper off. You may alternatively take her to Rehab Healthcare. It is a reputed UK-based clinic offering treatment for de-addiction in various forms. From helping people detox from alcoholism to drugs, including Benzo, they help you extensively. Besides consulting the patient, they will also help by suggesting them through psychological counseling. These have a great impact and will witness a positive change over a few sittings.
People might take time to withdraw, and it ranges from a few hours to a few weeks and varies from one person to the other. The first few hours, they may experience anxiety within 6 to 8 hours. In 1 to 4 days, they may feel enhanced discomfort due to increased anxiety and sleeplessness. This phase might continue from 5 to 14 days, and the withdrawal peak in this phase and after 4 weeks, the feelings fade.
Some may even face Protracted Withdrawal symptoms or PAWS. The Benzodiazepine detox may even require rehabilitation for someone with severe dependence. After women come clean from this dependence, they can think of starting a family afresh and conceive.
There are elaborate steps women have to take if they are serious about conceiving and want to get back to their normal life from the dependence on Benzodiazepines. Your journey to normal life will begin if you consult the best like Rehab Healthcare.