Benzodiazepines, such as Xanax, Valium, Ativan, Klonopin, Librium and many other drugs, are widely prescribed to treat a variety of symptoms. But prolonged use can lead to dependence and serious withdrawal problems, and it can happen to anyone. The best and safest approach to withdrawal is a medically-supervised benzodiazepine drug detox program.



Benzodiazepines are a class of psychoactive tranquilizers which "slow down" the central nervous system. They are most often prescribed for anxiety, insomnia, agitation, seizures and muscle spasms, and to help someone through alcohol withdrawal. Dependence on benzodiazepines is almost a certainty if you take the drug for several weeks, even when taken as prescribed. If benzodiazepines are taken above normally prescribed dosages, addiction escalates dramatically, occurring in as little as a week or less. Addiction specialists recommend a carefully tailored medical drug detox program to avoid serious, even dangerous benzodiazepine withdrawal complications.

The common benzodiazepines

The most common benzodiazepines are alprazolam (Xanax), bromazepam (Lexotanil or Lexotan), diazepam (Valium), lorazepam (Ativan), clonazepam (Klonopin), temazepam (Restoril), oxazepam (Serax), flunitrazepam (Rohypnol), triazolam (Halcion), chlordiazepoxide (Librium), flurazepam (Dalmane), estazolam (ProSom), lormetazepam (Loramet), midazolam (Dormicum), nitrazepam (Mogadon), and mexazolam (Sedoxil). If you're not sure that the drug you're taking is a benzodiazepine, ask your drug detox counselor.

How benzodiazepines influence your brain

Benzodiazepines are a complex group of drugs, and your brain is a highly complex chemical factory that each drug was designed to chemically "tamper with" in a specific way, hopefully to relieve a specific symptom. Some benzodiazepines start working more quickly than others, or their effects may last longer than others. Interactions with alcohol and many other drugs are a very big danger and should be managed medically or avoided altogether. Each benzodiazepine also has a slightly different set of side effects, too. Your doctor may have tried several types of benzodiazepine with you before settling on one with the least side effects. But there is one thing these drugs all have in common that cannot be avoided: The changes they cause in your brain chemistry lead rapidly to dependence. When you stop taking them, you experience unpleasant or unwanted mental, physical or emotional symptoms that only another pill can alleviate. A medical drug detox program that carefully manages your withdrawal symptoms until you

are safely off the drug provides the best escape from benzodiazepine dependence.

Why benzodiazepine dependence isn't your fault

The important thing to know is that dependence on benzodiazepines is not your fault. When any addictive prescription drug is taken as directed and leads to a prescription drug addiction, it simply means you’re normal, not an “addictive person" who has something wrong with them. Benzodiazepines create the exact effect in your brain they are designed to create, and they also create a chemical situation that, like a spoiled child, says, "Give me more or I'm going to act up!" It might feel like it's you who is making these demands, but it’s not you – it's your brain chemistry, and there's nothing you or anyone else can do about it. The wise decision is to enroll in a carefully supervised drug detox program and get off the drugs safely and permanently.

About benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms

When you try to stop taking benzodiazepines, your withdrawal symptoms might be completely new to you, or they may feel like your original symptoms are coming back. They might even be a mix of both old and new feelings. Doctors have a tough time figuring out whether your symptoms are the old ones returning or real withdrawal symptoms that mimic the original ones. Symptoms such as poor muscle coordination, confusion, dizziness, impaired judgment, anxiety, drowsiness, and many others are common. But regardless of what your withdrawal symptoms might be, withdrawal should be carefully supervised, and a medically managed benzodiazepine drug detox program is the preferred approach. Stopping benzodiazepines abruptly can be dangerous.

A final word about benzodiazepine drug detox

If you think you are dependent, or are becoming dependent, or if you want to stop taking them for any reason, don’t just stop taking them and try to "tough it out." Now that you know that benzodiazepines can cause dependence in anyone, and that abrupt withdrawal is dangerous, you should feel more at ease about finding a modern medical drug detox program where you can get off these drugs with a minimum of danger and discomfort. Benzodiazepines are among the many prescription drugs that can quickly cause ordinary people to have unexpected drug dependency problems, and drug detox is the best way to deal with any prescription drug addiction.