Benzodiazepines drugs were first launched in the 1960s. They were meant to treat insomnia, anxiety, and seizures. Today, Benzodiazepines make up about one of five prescriptions for controlled substances. As a result, benzodiazepine addiction is widespread and deadly, and the pain of coming off it can stop most people from trying. Also, there are serious dangers of withdrawal from benzodiazepines.
But if you’re one of the millions of Americans who already rely on prescription drugs to sleep or to calm you down, you may not know that long-term use of benzodiazepines can lead to physical dependence. If you decide to stop taking them, only a medical drug detox will help you avoid the withdrawal symptoms and the ugly alternative – a long and uncomfortable “weaning off” period that can last as long as six months or a year or more, complicated by even more prescription drugs which have side effects of their own.
Benzo is a central nervous system (CNS) depressant. Anything that depresses the CNS will seem to relax a person. Our bodies manufacture a natural substance that works to allow atoms to penetrate to a receptor on the cells and slow down the activity of the brain cells. These substances are the body’s natural relaxing agent. Benzo will have a similar effect on your mind to that of alcohol. When you use benzo to create this effect in the body, it slows the activity of the cells, and, as a result, the person normally experiences a calming feeling.
Using benzos impairs mental alertness and physical coordination and can dangerously compromise mechanical performance, such as automobile driving. Combining the use of benzos and alcohol can have fatal consequences. In addition, because of the effect created by benzos, a considerable percentage of addicts who enter addiction recovery programs for narcotics or cocaine also report abusing benzos.
The most abused benzo is Xanax; other benzos are adding to the natural effects caused by our own bodies. In anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, using Xanax will normally lead to a decrease in the production of the natural relaxing substances in the body or a decrease in the benzo receptors. To achieve the same initial effects, the Xanax dose will have to be increased to compensate for the lack of natural products or fewer receptors, and then the person develops a physical dependence on the Xanax.
The time it takes for a drug to fall to half its peak value for Xanax is short on the order of 6 to 12 hours. It means that it quickly metabolizes and transfers to the brain, where it increases the actions of the substances reaching the cells that relax you. It means that Xanax’s soothing effect begins fast, which makes it addictive. However, conversely, the effects lessen rapidly as well.
While many people who are addicted to Xanax began taking it in little quantities, they often begin taking more and more and start craving the drug when the effects of the drug begin to lessen, in a relatively short time after taking the drug. There have been reports that people taking larger doses of Xanax became physically dependent in as little as two days. As with most drugs, the larger the dose, the faster one becomes addicted.
Simply discontinuing benzodiazepines can be dangerous and create other potentially severe medical problems. Reports from people who have tried to just “stop taking” Xanax relate that they experience a very bad panic attack. Others, withdrawing on their own from Xanax, experience high blood pressure, a rapid heartbeat, uncontrollable tremors and sudden movements of their limbs, confusion, delirium, hallucinations and even seizures which can lead to death. As for its solution, a medical detox program is an effective option.
