. . . and, or, your or your child's doctor didn't tell you or know about in the first place.
Below are some outtakes from the Ashton Manual, a critical guide—a bible, really—for current and potential benzo users to peruse, study, familiarize and perhaps memorize.
Calvin is in his fourth year of weaning his second benzodiazepine. He is down to less than one milligram per day from a high of thirty-five—an enormous dose for a pint-sized child. The first benzo, clonazepam, was prescribed when he was just three years old. Had I known then what I know now, I would have flatly refused his neurologist's suggestion to put Calvin on it, particularly while simultaneously starting him on two other drugs. Alas, as neurologists seem to do, the doctor downplayed its side effects, neglected to inform me of the body's tendency for rapid habituation to it, and assured me it was meant as a bridge drug to be used for only a few weeks. It took another benzo, clobazam, to safely come off of it two years later. Calvin has been on clobazam for the good part of a decade. Again, had I known then what I know now. Sigh.
Paradoxical Stimulant Effects
Benzodiazepines occasionally cause paradoxical excitement with increased anxiety, insomnia, nightmares, hypnogogic hallucinations at sleep onset, irritability, hyperactive or aggressive behaviour, and exacerbation of seizures in epileptics. Increased aggression, hostility, and impulsivity occur in some subjects and may result in attacks of rage and violent behavior.
Less dramatic increases in irritability and argumentativeness are much more common and often remarked on both by patients on long-term benzodiazepines and by their families.
Impairment of Memory
Benzodiazepines have long been known to induce anterograde amnesia.
Tolerance
Tolerance can develop to all the actions of benzodiazepines, although at variable rates and to different degrees. Tolerance to hypnotic effects develops rapidly: sleep latency, stage 2 sleep, slow wave sleep, dreaming, and intrasleep awakenings all tend to return to pretreatment levels after a few weeks of regular hypnotic use.
Tolerance to anxiolytic effects seems to develop more slowly, but there is little evidence that benzodiazepines retain their effectiveness after 4 months of regular treatment, and clinical observations suggest that long-term benzodiazepine use over the years does little to control, and may even aggravate, anxiety states.
Structural Brain Damage
The question of whether prolonged benzodiazepine use can cause structural brain damage remains unanswered. It remains possible that subtle, perhaps reversible, structural changes may underlie the neuropsychological impairments shown in long-term benzodiazepine users.
Withdrawal Symptoms
Abrupt withdrawal from high doses can cause a severe reaction, including convulsions and psychotic episodes. Withdrawal symptoms from therapeutic doses are mainly those of anxiety, both psychological and somatic, but certain symptoms such as sensory hypersensitivity and perceptual distortion may be especially prominent, and depression may sometimes be a prominent feature.
Long-term benzodiazepine use is associated with more severe adverse effects, including memory impairment, depression, tolerance, and dependence.
Mechanisms of Withdrawal Reactions
Drug withdrawal reactions in general tend to consist of a mirror image of the drugs' initial effects. In the case of benzodiazepines, sudden cessation after chronic use may result in dreamless sleep being replaced by insomnia and nightmares; muscle relaxation by increased tension and muscle spasms; tranquillity by anxiety and panic; anticonvulsant effects by epileptic seizures. These reactions are caused by the abrupt exposure of adaptations that have occurred in the nervous system in response to the chronic presence of the drug. Rapid removal of the drug opens the floodgates, resulting in rebound overactivity of all the systems which have been damped down by the benzodiazepine and are now no longer opposed. Nearly all the excitatory mechanisms in the nervous system go into overdrive and, until new adaptations to the drug-free state develop, the brain and peripheral nervous system are in a hyperexcitable state, and extremely vulnerable to stress.
Psychological Symptoms of Withdrawal
Excitability (jumpiness, restlessness), insomnia, nightmares, other sleep disturbances, increased anxiety, panic attack, agoraphobia, social phobia, perceptual distortions, depersonalization, derealization, hallucinations, misperceptions, depression, obsessions, paranoid thoughts, rage, aggression, irritability, poor memory and concentration, intrusive memories, craving.
Physical Symptoms of Withdrawal
Headache, pain/stiffness (limbs, back, neck, teeth, jaw), tingling, numbness, altered sensation (limbs, face, trunk), weakness ("jelly-legs"), fatigue, influenza-like symptoms, muscle twitches, jerks, tics, "electric shocks," tremor, dizziness, light-headedness, poor balance, blurred/double vision, sore or dry eyes, tinnitus, hypersensitivity (light, sound, touch, taste, smell), gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea,,constipation, pain, distension, difficulty swallowing), appetite/weight change, dry mouth, metallic taste, unusual smell, flushing/sweating/palpitations, overbreathing, urinary difficulties/menstrual difficulties, skin rashes, itching, seizures.
Below are some outtakes from the Ashton Manual, a critical guide—a bible, really—for current and potential benzo users to peruse, study, familiarize and perhaps memorize.
Calvin is in his fourth year of weaning his second benzodiazepine. He is down to less than one milligram per day from a high of thirty-five—an enormous dose for a pint-sized child. The first benzo, clonazepam, was prescribed when he was just three years old. Had I known then what I know now, I would have flatly refused his neurologist's suggestion to put Calvin on it, particularly while simultaneously starting him on two other drugs. Alas, as neurologists seem to do, the doctor downplayed its side effects, neglected to inform me of the body's tendency for rapid habituation to it, and assured me it was meant as a bridge drug to be used for only a few weeks. It took another benzo, clobazam, to safely come off of it two years later. Calvin has been on clobazam for the good part of a decade. Again, had I known then what I know now. Sigh.
Paradoxical Stimulant Effects
Benzodiazepines occasionally cause paradoxical excitement with increased anxiety, insomnia, nightmares, hypnogogic hallucinations at sleep onset, irritability, hyperactive or aggressive behaviour, and exacerbation of seizures in epileptics. Increased aggression, hostility, and impulsivity occur in some subjects and may result in attacks of rage and violent behavior.
Less dramatic increases in irritability and argumentativeness are much more common and often remarked on both by patients on long-term benzodiazepines and by their families.
Impairment of Memory
Benzodiazepines have long been known to induce anterograde amnesia.
Tolerance
Tolerance can develop to all the actions of benzodiazepines, although at variable rates and to different degrees. Tolerance to hypnotic effects develops rapidly: sleep latency, stage 2 sleep, slow wave sleep, dreaming, and intrasleep awakenings all tend to return to pretreatment levels after a few weeks of regular hypnotic use.
Tolerance to anxiolytic effects seems to develop more slowly, but there is little evidence that benzodiazepines retain their effectiveness after 4 months of regular treatment, and clinical observations suggest that long-term benzodiazepine use over the years does little to control, and may even aggravate, anxiety states.
Structural Brain Damage
The question of whether prolonged benzodiazepine use can cause structural brain damage remains unanswered. It remains possible that subtle, perhaps reversible, structural changes may underlie the neuropsychological impairments shown in long-term benzodiazepine users.
Withdrawal Symptoms
Abrupt withdrawal from high doses can cause a severe reaction, including convulsions and psychotic episodes. Withdrawal symptoms from therapeutic doses are mainly those of anxiety, both psychological and somatic, but certain symptoms such as sensory hypersensitivity and perceptual distortion may be especially prominent, and depression may sometimes be a prominent feature.
Long-term benzodiazepine use is associated with more severe adverse effects, including memory impairment, depression, tolerance, and dependence.
Mechanisms of Withdrawal Reactions
Drug withdrawal reactions in general tend to consist of a mirror image of the drugs' initial effects. In the case of benzodiazepines, sudden cessation after chronic use may result in dreamless sleep being replaced by insomnia and nightmares; muscle relaxation by increased tension and muscle spasms; tranquillity by anxiety and panic; anticonvulsant effects by epileptic seizures. These reactions are caused by the abrupt exposure of adaptations that have occurred in the nervous system in response to the chronic presence of the drug. Rapid removal of the drug opens the floodgates, resulting in rebound overactivity of all the systems which have been damped down by the benzodiazepine and are now no longer opposed. Nearly all the excitatory mechanisms in the nervous system go into overdrive and, until new adaptations to the drug-free state develop, the brain and peripheral nervous system are in a hyperexcitable state, and extremely vulnerable to stress.
Psychological Symptoms of Withdrawal
Excitability (jumpiness, restlessness), insomnia, nightmares, other sleep disturbances, increased anxiety, panic attack, agoraphobia, social phobia, perceptual distortions, depersonalization, derealization, hallucinations, misperceptions, depression, obsessions, paranoid thoughts, rage, aggression, irritability, poor memory and concentration, intrusive memories, craving.
Physical Symptoms of Withdrawal
Headache, pain/stiffness (limbs, back, neck, teeth, jaw), tingling, numbness, altered sensation (limbs, face, trunk), weakness ("jelly-legs"), fatigue, influenza-like symptoms, muscle twitches, jerks, tics, "electric shocks," tremor, dizziness, light-headedness, poor balance, blurred/double vision, sore or dry eyes, tinnitus, hypersensitivity (light, sound, touch, taste, smell), gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea,,constipation, pain, distension, difficulty swallowing), appetite/weight change, dry mouth, metallic taste, unusual smell, flushing/sweating/palpitations, overbreathing, urinary difficulties/menstrual difficulties, skin rashes, itching, seizures.
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| Photo by Michael Kolster |
Great picture! Mood:-). I have spent almost two decades titrating, weaning, reducing, increasing seizure and mood drugs in my daughter ...So very exhausting.
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