They include :. Taking too much of a benzodiazepine can be dangerous, and mixing it with alcohol or other substances can be fatal. This article looks at how benzodiazepines work, their uses, and the related side effects and risks. Benzodiazepines alter the activity of the neurons that trigger stress and anxiety reactions. The type of benzodiazepine will determine the potential uses.
Doctors may also prescribe these drugs off-label for various other conditions and issues, including:. Benzodiazepines work by enhancing the effect of a neurotransmitter known as gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that communicate messages between brain cells.
These messages can have either a stimulating or a calming effect. GABA is a neurotransmitter that sends calming messages to the body.
When a person feels anxious, overstimulation occurs in the brain. When people take benzodiazepines, the brain will send messages to counter this overstimulation. This activity can reduce the symptoms of anxiety. There are many different benzodiazepines. They differ in terms of potency, how quickly the body absorbs them, and their uses. This table shows some examples and their uses:. The side effects of benzodiazepine use may include :. More serious effects include:.
A wide range of withdrawal symptoms can occur when stopping benzodiazepines. They include:. Experts do not recommend using benzodiazepines for more than 2 weeks. A person who uses them for 3—4 weeks and then stops suddenly is likely to experience withdrawal symptoms. People who use them in the long term may need to withdraw their use over a 3—12 month period that their doctor should oversee. Stopping slowly with professional help can prevent unwanted effects.
What happens when you stop taking benzodiazepines? Find out here. A benzodiazepine overdose can lead to :. Anyone who shows signs of an overdose or an adverse reaction after taking benzodiazepines will need emergency medical help.
Before starting treatment with benzodiazepines, a person must tell their doctor about every other medication that they are using. Some drugs may intensify the effects of benzodiazepines, while others may make them less effective. It is essential not to use benzodiazepines with opioids or alcohol, as this can lead to life threatening effects. The duration of action of all benzodiazepines is strongly dependent on the duration of their administration. Based on clinical studies and computer simulations, midazolam has the shortest recovery profile followed by lorazepam and diazepam.
Being metabolized by CYP enzymes, midazolam and diazepam have many clinically significant interactions with inhibitors and inducers of CYP3A4 and 2C In addition to pharmacokinetic interactions, benzodiazepines have synergistic interactions with other hypnotics and opioids. Midazolam, diazepam and lorazepam are widely used for sedation and to some extent also for induction and maintenance of anaesthesia. Flumazenil is very useful in reversing benzodiazepine-induced sedation as well as to diagnose or treat benzodiazepine overdose.
Abstract The actions of benzodiazepines are due to the potentiation of the neural inhibition that is mediated by gamma-aminobutyric acid GABA. Publication types Review.
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