Randomised trial, 2000
Does having used benzodiazepines before make withdrawal symptoms worse when stopping them?
No. Analysis of data from three clinical trials found that prior benzodiazepine use did not increase symptoms when stopping the medication, either in people with PMS or anxiety disorder.
What they did
Analysis of data pooled from three published double-blind randomized trials: one giving alprazolam to people with PMS and two giving diazepam or lorazepam to people with anxiety disorder. Treatment was either continuous for 8 weeks or intermittent for 2 weeks with at least 2 weeks without medication. Researchers examined whether prior benzodiazepine use predicted worse symptoms when stopping.
What they found
PMS patients had no increase in symptoms and no difference from placebo-treated subjects when stopping alprazolam in the follicular phase of their menstrual cycle. Anxiety disorder patients showed no difference in discontinuation symptoms based on whether they had used benzodiazepines before or how long ago they last used them.
What it means for you
Short-term, low-dose benzodiazepine treatment does not appear to cause worse withdrawal symptoms even if you have used them before. These findings apply only to brief treatment at low doses.
3
Number of published trials analyzed
8 weeks
Continuous treatment duration
2 weeks
Intermittent treatment duration
About the study
- Original title
- Prior benzodiazepine exposure and benzodiazepine treatment outcome
- Authors
- Rickels K, Freeman EW
- Journal
- The Journal of clinical psychiatry
- Year
- 2000
- Study design
- Randomised trial
- What was tested
- Brief benzodiazepine therapy (8 weeks continuous or 2-week intermittent courses)
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.4088/jcp.v61n0603
Topics
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