Physical symptoms, like muscle aches or tremors, might persist or worsen. Insomnia and mood swings might also be pronounced during this phase, making it challenging for individuals to cope with daily activities. Anyone experiencing troubling symptoms from withdrawal, such as suicidal thoughts or tendencies, should seek immediate medical care. In most cases of benzo withdrawal, suddenly stopping the medication is not recommended, as it can be dangerous. Withdrawal management rarely leads to sustained abstinence from alcohol.

• The lists below include some of the main side effects reported in clinical trials of Ativan for its FDA-approved uses.
• It’s incredibly important to follow your doctor’s guidance when you stop taking benzodiazepines.
• The greater the amount of opioid used by the patient the greater the dose of codeine phosphate required to control withdrawal symptoms.

Management of benzodiazepine withdrawal

According to the National Center for PTSD, the most beneficial kind of therapy for benzodiazepine withdrawal is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This type of therapy can help you challenge and reframe unhelpful severe benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome beliefs and behaviors and replace them with more productive ones. Though therapy generally can’t address withdrawal symptoms specifically, it can help improve some symptoms, like anxiety and insomnia.

The chart below lists some protracted benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms:

In the first week of tapering off, your doctor may reduce your dose as much as 30% to get you to a safe amount. After that first leap, the steps become smaller, usually 5% to 10% of the original dose. Depending on your situation, your doctor may reduce your dose on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis.

Ativan for alcohol withdrawal

Call your doctor right away if you develop serious side effects while taking Ativan. If the side effects seem life threatening or you think you’re having a medical emergency, call 911 or your local emergency number immediately. Any information given on this site should not be substituted for the advice of a healthcare provider who is well-informed about benzodiazepine dependency and withdrawal. Patients with chronic alcoholism or intravenous drug use should be evaluated for inpatient and outpatient treatment programs.

The findings of a large survey support the FDA’s “boxed warning” from 2020.

Medical detox

The way Ativan works

• There may be a genetic predisposition or gene expression phenomenon that occurs during the withdrawal syndrome to shift into a protracted withdrawal syndrome and damaged central nervous system [4].
• This helps to relieve benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms and prevent the development of seizures.
• Patients should be offered psychological care to address these symptoms.
• The acute phase peaks in a few weeks, followed by a subacute phase lasting weeks to months.
• This may involve very large amounts of diazepam, many times greater than would be prescribed for patients in moderate alcohol withdrawal.