What Are Benzos?
Benzodiazepines or ‘Benzos’ are depressant prescription medications that are intended to slow down the messages traveling along the neural pathways in the brain. They are typically prescribed by doctors as mild tranquilizers to relieve stress, manage anxiety disorders, and help people sleep. The most popular forms of benzos are Xanax (xannies) and Valium. These both have a high risk of overdose due to their popular mixed-use with alcohol. They also create dependence in users, even when used as prescribed. They can also cause withdrawal symptoms, making them one of the most common prescription drug addiction sources.
Benzo Withdrawal Symptoms
The use of benzos heavily affects the user’s brain and creates feelings of calm, decreased anxiety, and euphoria. The body easily adapts to the chemicals in benzodiazepines and the user feels they can no longer function without them. When someone stops taking benzos, the brain takes time to return to normal function without them. In the meantime, people can experience benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, nausea, anxiety disorder, difficulty sleeping, paranoia, and seizures.
What Happens During Medical Detox for Benzos
The symptoms of benzodiazepine withdrawal are often considered some of the hardest to endure because you face re-experiencing the symptoms you originally took the benzos to treat. For this reason, many treatment facilities use other prescriptions to lessen the effect of benzo withdrawal through medical detox.
This begins with tapering down the dose of benzos over time and then using another detox medication such as Clonazepam or Ativan. The individual would take these in even smaller doses until they can manage the remaining symptoms of withdrawal without intervention.
This type of detox is medically supervised and often carried out during inpatient rehab at a residential treatment center. The process can take anywhere from several days to 2 weeks depending on how long the benzos were in use and how severely they were abused. However, the withdrawal timeline extends even further due to the psychological effects of benzodiazepine addiction. These symptoms can be addressed with treatment programs through outpatient rehab facilities.
The Benefits of Medical Detox for Benzos
Stopping use and going through benzodiazepine detox on your own can be incredibly difficult and uncomfortable. This increases the chances of relapse, as you might chase relief yourself of your symptoms. It is not recommended to begin detoxing at home. You can alleviate some of the symptoms and shorten the duration of the withdrawal phase. You can do this by entering inpatient treatment and utilizing a capable benzodiazepine rehab facility with the help of medical professionals. Medical benzodiazepine detox paired with treatment plans increases the success rate of permanently ending benzodiazepine abuse.
Benzo Detox at The Detox Center of LA
At the Detox Center of LA, we understand your concern about going through withdrawal symptoms on your own. We created the Benzo Detox recovery center to help make this process as easy and stress-free for you as possible. Using a team of doctors, nurses, and counselors, we facilitate a medically-assisted detox process to combat withdrawal symptoms such as physical pain, anxiety, and depression.
Our medical professionals will also assist with accountability and are able to respond with medical treatment and trauma-informed therapy, should any issues arise during the detox process. A cornerstone of Benzo Detox at The Detox Center of LA is dual diagnosis treatment to target the underlying issues that benzos were originally prescribed to treat. This way, you can successfully detox from benzos without returning to a physical dependence on the medication. Call our team at (888) 346-4350 to speak to us about benzodiazepine detox.
