Phenazepam withdrawal syndrome.

Phenazepam is one of the most popular tranquilizers, which doctors most often prescribe for anxiety disorders and panic attacks. It would seem, can such a necessary drug for calming agitated nerves cause the opposite process and a severe deterioration in health? If you take it regularly, nothing terrible happens, but long-term use of the drug or exceeding the dose can lead to dependence on the drug, and stopping its use causes a very unpleasant and painful phenomenon - Phenazepam withdrawal syndrome. This condition is in many ways similar to the withdrawal symptoms observed in drug addicts when they stop taking drugs, because tranquilizers belong to the category of psychotropic drugs with all the side effects characteristic of this group.

Let's try to figure out whether there is always a need to take Phenazepam and other tranquilizers for neuropsychiatric disorders? If the drug is prescribed by a doctor, how to take it correctly so as not to harm yourself and not provoke drug addiction? What to do if the addiction to tranquilizers has already formed, and refusal of an unsafe drug threatens imaginary and real health problems?

Withdrawal of tranquilizers

In our troubled times, few can boast of strong nerves. Poor ecology, hectic pace of life, the desire to achieve success in the professional field by all means lead to the fact that over time we begin to experience symptoms of malaise: physical and emotional fatigue that is not relieved even by sleep, insomnia, nervousness, headaches and dizziness, fluctuations in blood pressure, the emergence of anxiety and fear of the future.

All this leads to a decrease in working capacity and a search for an opportunity to restore it. Understanding that first of all it is necessary to calm the nerves, many seek calm in medications, and the most popular of them are sedatives and antidepressants. The second most popular are tranquilizers, which are characterized by a complex effect, i.e. the effect from taking them will be stronger than from using other sedatives.

Not everyone knows that tranquilizers are drugs whose use is recommended only in severe cases, when other types of sedatives and neuroleptics do not help. At the same time, the course of treatment with such drugs is strictly limited to 3-4 weeks (as prescribed by a doctor in especially severe situations, a maximum of 2 months), but in most cases they are prescribed symptomatically to relieve anxiety and fear of death.

What are tranquilizers, and in particular Phenazepam? These are psychotropic drugs, the beneficial effect of which is provided by the effect on the nerve centers of the brain. Tranquilizers have an inhibitory effect on the central nervous system, due to which neuromuscular relaxation occurs. As a result, we feel calm and calm, experiences recede into the background, drowsiness and apathy appear. Such an effect of drugs helps to reduce the negative impact of stress factors on a person, reduce anxiety and irritability, restore emotional calm, and establish a good night's sleep.

Tranquilizers have the following beneficial effects:

• anxiolytic, i.e. reduction of anxiety, fear, emotional tension,
• sedative (calms the nerves and also reduces anxiety and restlessness),
• sleeping pill (insomnia goes away and the process of falling asleep improves, restoring a full night's rest),
• anticonvulsant (prevents the spread of convulsive impulses),
• muscle relaxant (promotes relaxation of smooth muscles, inhibits the reactions of motor nerves).

But despite all the benefits that tranquilizers provide, these drugs have many side effects and contraindications. Let's consider them using the same Phenazepam as an example.

Since Phenazepam is considered a psychotropic drug that inhibits mental processes in the nervous system, it suffers first. Patients may experience drowsiness, impaired concentration and coordination of movements, headaches, weakness, fatigue, impaired pronunciation of sounds and words due to weakening of the nervous regulation of the articular apparatus (dysarthria), memory loss, etc. Moreover, occasionally existing symptoms of anxiety, irritability, insomnia may intensify, hallucinations and a desire to commit suicide may appear.

Tranquilizers can cause changes in the blood composition, which manifests itself in weakness, fever, changes in skin color, headaches, etc. They can disrupt liver function and negatively affect the digestive system, provoke urinary incontinence or urinary retention in the body, disrupting kidney function, and affect the strength of sexual desire (libido). Women may experience painful menstruation while taking Phenazepam.

Other side effects include decreased blood pressure (hypotension), increased heart rate (tachycardia), dual vision (diplopia), etc.

All the above symptoms may occur with varying frequency and it is impossible to predict their occurrence. The likelihood of their occurrence can be reduced if you do not exceed the recommended doses of the drug (and for various disorders they may be different, so a doctor's consultation is simply necessary) and the duration of the prescribed course of treatment. The same measures will help prevent a more unpleasant and dangerous situation - the development of Phenazepam withdrawal syndrome, which is also characteristic of other tranquilizers. This syndrome occurs when a person stops taking the above psychotropic drugs. When you resume taking the drugs, the symptoms of the withdrawal syndrome disappear. But further long-term use of tranquilizers will negatively affect the physical and mental state of a person, causing personality changes, impaired cognitive abilities (attention, memory, etc.), decreased control over one's behavior and social maladjustment, sleep problems, the appearance of phobias, decreased performance, the appearance of suicidal thoughts, etc.

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Is there an alternative?

When the psycho-emotional and physical state begins to negatively affect relationships with family, friends and colleagues, becomes an obstacle to good study and work, prevents one from achieving what one wants, a person wants to return to his previous working capacity and good health by any means. One cannot blame a person for this, but one must still approach the choice of medications to restore a normal psychophysical state wisely.

Tranquilizers are potent drugs, and there is not always a need to take them. Sedatives and antidepressants can calm the nerves no worse than tranquilizers, and neuroleptics are great for correcting vegetative deviations and cognitive functions. At the same time, the above-mentioned types of drugs actually have a therapeutic effect, while many doctors classify tranquilizers as symptomatic drugs that do not treat, but only relieve unpleasant symptoms.

How safe are antidepressants and neuroleptics? Let's be honest, you shouldn't be careless about the above-mentioned groups of drugs. Take, for example, one of the safest antidepressants with a minimum set of side effects - selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Let's consider their effect on humans based on the drug Cipralex.

The drug increases the concentration of the "happiness hormone", which is one of the main neurotransmitters (serotonin), due to which a person's anxiety and irritability go away, mood improves, sleep improves, etc. But long-term use of such drugs (especially when the recommended doses are exceeded) can have the opposite effect or lead to the body no longer being able to independently produce the neurotransmitter so necessary for maintaining psychoemotional balance, i.e. drug dependence will occur. When the antidepressant is discontinued, the patient will experience a withdrawal syndrome similar to that observed after stopping taking tranquilizers.

Now, regarding neuroleptics. These antipsychotic drugs (for example, Chlorprothixene) block dopamine receptors. As a result, the production of the neurotransmitter dopamine decreases, which is responsible for sexual desire, falling in love, affects the motivational sphere and attention, and supports the desire to achieve goals. All these moments are associated with certain experiences, nervous tension, and lack of sleep. If you reduce the production of dopamine, a person becomes calmer, more balanced, and gets the opportunity to rest and relax normally.

Some mental disorders (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder) are associated with high levels of dopamine. Therefore, to stabilize such patients, it is simply necessary to reduce the production of this neurotransmitter. In cases of depression, withdrawal, epilepsy, mental retardation, anxiety states and panic attacks, such drugs are prescribed with great caution, because a decrease in dopamine levels in such situations can only worsen the patient's condition. Therefore, they are prescribed symptomatically (once) or in a short course.

When talking about antidepressants and neuroleptics, we are again dealing with potent drugs intended for the treatment of serious diseases (depression, psychosis, autonomic and panic disorders, withdrawal syndrome, epilepsy and oligophrenia in combination with mental disorders, etc.). This list includes autonomic disorders, the most popular of which is somatoform autonomic dysfunction of the nervous system, better known to many as vegetative-vascular dystonia (VVD).

VSD - what is it? Doctors can make this diagnosis to more than 80% of the population of our country, but not everyone knows what this health disorder is and how to treat it.

VSD is considered one of the strangest and most ambiguous human diseases with multiple real and imaginary symptoms. It is important to understand that the symptom complex that occurs with VSD is a secondary manifestation of already existing mental or somatic diseases, organic brain damage, hormonal shifts (often found in adolescents). Thus, VSD syndrome is a consequence of existing diseases, which is what causes the diversity of its symptoms.

One of the most common manifestations of vegetative-vascular dystonia is anxiety and the nervous tension it causes. Therefore, such patients tend to invent non-existent diseases and their manifestations in addition to the existing symptoms, which only complicates the doctor's correct diagnosis and often becomes the reason for prescribing inadequate treatment. At the same time, the many different manifestations of VSD necessitate the appointment of a whole list of various drugs with sedative properties, vitamins, vegetative stabilizers, antioxidants, antihypoxic agents, sleeping pills, nootropics. Such a large list of drugs requires considerable financial costs and does not always give good treatment results.

Patients with VSD, having discovered that the prescribed drugs do not help, begin to show unique cognitive abilities and curiosity in an effort to find a medicine that would help them quickly get rid of all the symptoms. And they find such a medicine in the "face" of tranquilizers, without thinking about the consequences of taking them.

Prescribed doses at random and long-term use of Phenazepam, Diazepam and other psychotropics lead to the body getting used to the insidious helpers and no longer wanting to do without their help. But if a person took tranquilizers symptomatically, only in case of increased anxiety and panic attacks, nothing like this would happen.

Neuroleptics and antidepressants can be considered a kind of alternative to tranquilizers, but these drugs can also cause drug addiction, which means they require special caution in use. The safest and most cost-effective will be herbal sedatives and calming agents (tincture of motherwort, mint, lemon balm, Corvalol, Barboval), as well as the simplest natural vasodilators that have a positive effect on the cardiovascular system (Validol). And if these relatively safe drugs in terms of their effect on the body and their withdrawal do not help, then there is a need to consult a doctor for a prescription for stronger drugs.

Pathogenesis

But let's return to tranquilizers and try to understand why Phenazepam withdrawal syndrome (or other drugs of this group) occurs. What causes such a strong dependence and the appearance of multiple symptoms that greatly reduce a person's quality of life?

There are various substances in nature that can cause addiction in humans: narcotics, psychotropic drugs, alcohol, nicotine. At the same time, addiction to different substances develops differently. Most quickly, a person gets used to drugs and psychotropics, which dramatically affect the functioning of the brain, causing states of euphoria, relaxation, calm.

There is a popular wisdom that a person gets used to good things quickly. It is clear that for the central nervous system a feeling of calm and peace will be preferable to anxiety and tension, it is not surprising that after stopping taking tranquilizers and antidepressants, in an attempt to regain peace, the body will show a kind of protest and demand medicinal help.

But man is a rational being and cannot blindly obey only the signals of his body, therefore many doctors in the pathogenesis of benzodiazepine addiction, against the background of which the withdrawal syndrome of Phenazepam, as one of the popular benzodiazepines, occurs, assign a large role to the personal characteristics of a person and the peculiarities of his psyche.

Phenazepam is a drug that has an inhibitory effect on the central nervous system due to its effect on the receptors of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which in turn reduces the excitability of neurons in the brain. This explains the sedative, anxiolytic and some hypnotic effect of the tranquilizer.

But when taking tranquilizers when feeling unwell, a person expects the condition to improve, i.e. he sets himself up for a positive result, and when relief comes, it is perceived as euphoria. BUT the effect of the drug ends and there is a fear of recurrence of symptoms, because, as we have already mentioned, tranquilizers are more of an "ambulance" than full-fledged drugs. It is clear that in the absence of a therapeutic effect, the symptoms of VSD or another pathology, for which doctors can prescribe Phenazepam, will soon return and the person's hand willy-nilly will reach for the cherished pill.

Scientists conducted research and concluded that not all patients develop dependence on tranquilizers (indicators range from 0.5% to 7%). Most patients with withdrawal syndrome have passive-dependent personality traits or some deviations in mental health, which makes them more impressionable with increased anxiety about anything. Such patients believe that tranquilizers, and in particular Phenazepam, are the only treatment that can help them. They make this conclusion only on the basis of the fact that the drug quickly helped to relieve existing manifestations of health problems, including imaginary symptoms.

Patients with benzodiazepine addiction tend to fixate on physical symptoms and even cause them to appear on their own in the hope of getting a drug that will give them a feeling of euphoria. But there is also a group of patients who, knowing that Phenazepam is a potent drug, set themselves up for the worst when it is discontinued: they invent non-existent symptoms, exaggerate existing manifestations, and panic in advance. In the end, both of them prefer to continue taking tranquilizers.

This behavior is again associated with an increased level of anxiety, which may create the impression that one pill of the drug is not enough, and it is necessary to increase the dose, which some do. Having achieved the desired effect, the patient no longer wants to reduce the dosage, which only worsens the addiction. At the same time, anxiety and fear are added to the already existing symptoms that always arise when canceling psychotropic drugs, which stimulate the appearance of an obsessive thought about a saving pill and an irresistible desire to get it.

Take, for example, patients with VSD. Doctors can make such a diagnosis for 80 percent or more of the population, but not everyone goes to the doctor with serious complaints of pressure surges, constant headaches and dizziness, nervousness, unexplained fears, problems with the heart, breathing, urination, etc. Many simply do not pay attention to such symptoms and do not see the need to stuff themselves with drugs, while others are so fixated on their physical sensations that they see no other way to cope with their problems except asking the doctor to prescribe potent drugs.

Withdrawal symptoms when discontinuing Phenazepam occur against the background of increased manifestations of VSD that were previously present. All these symptoms were present in a person before, but they were less pronounced. Substances that affect the nervous system, which is the controlling organ for many other organs and systems of the body, cannot but cause disruptions in their work. This, as well as the increased level of anxiety due to the fear that without the drug the symptoms will return, explains the increase in multiple symptoms of local and general malaise.

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Symptoms Phenazepam withdrawal syndrome

Those who have already faced the problem of refusing to take tranquilizers know what kind of torment can await patients who have not learned to cope with stress and the resulting discomfort in non-drug ways. But those who are still looking for a “magic” pill should think carefully about whether there are really any significant reasons for prescribing potent drugs that, although highly effective, quickly relieving unpleasant symptoms, have only a temporary effect and can cause addiction? What should you be prepared for after the end of the course of treatment?

Addiction is a condition when a person does not have the will (or loses it) to resist the force that has subdued him. In the case of Phenazepam withdrawal syndrome, this force is the drug, which provides temporary relief, calm, and euphoria. People with self-control, understanding the seriousness of the situation, will not take tranquilizers unless absolutely necessary, and those who are prone to regularly succumbing to weakness, after a while, when trying to stop taking tranquilizers, may encounter symptoms of abrupt Phenazepam withdrawal:

• anxiety and irritability reappear and even intensify,
• headaches and dizziness return,
• a person begins to feel tired, there is a feeling of lack of strength to live on, which is often accompanied by thoughts of suicide or another extreme - fear of death if a pill is not taken,
• difficulties with falling asleep arise again, which is largely associated with thoughts about the desired relief in the form of a tranquilizer pill; at night, a person may be tormented by nightmares and early awakenings,
• patients are characterized by instability of emotional state, frequent mood swings, outbursts of anger or aggression, hysterical fits,

Among the physical symptoms, it is also worth highlighting: hyperhidrosis, the appearance of episodes similar to hot flashes, when a person is thrown into heat and then into cold, a feeling of difficulty breathing or suffocation. Patients may complain of nausea, painful spasms of internal organs, rapid heartbeat. Flu-like symptoms often appear: a temperature in the subfebrile range, nasal congestion, a sensation of a foreign body in the throat, muscles begin to ache, aches in the joints appear.

It should be noted that symptoms will vary slightly among different people depending on the diagnosis for which the drug was prescribed. This once again confirms that withdrawal syndrome is not a separate health disorder, but a consequence of incorrect treatment of an existing disease.

The severity of the symptoms of Phenazepam withdrawal syndrome depends not only on the patient's personal characteristics and mental properties, but also on the dosage and duration of taking the drug. Benzodiazepines are characterized by the fact that over time, in order to achieve the desired effect, it is necessary to increase the dose of the drug, and the higher the dosage, the stronger the dependence and the harder it is to refuse treatment.

Doctors recommend not to abuse the drug and take it for no more than 1 month, explaining that with longer use, drug dependence can develop. The opinion of doctors is confirmed by the fact that the question of how to get off Phenazepem is most often asked by those who took the drug regularly in the usual dosage for 3 or more months. And if the dose was higher than prescribed, then dependence can develop even after 1.5-2 months.

How can you tell if a person has developed a dependence on tranquilizers? The first signs of such a condition are the return of symptoms of an existing disease (but in a more pronounced form) combined with obsessive thoughts about the benefits of the drug if you missed a dose. The rapid appearance of the first symptoms of malaise is due to the fact that the active elimination of the main dose of the drug occurs in the first week after its cancellation. It is during these days that those who have been on tranquilizers for a long time have to face the appearance of flu-like symptoms, which not everyone associates with withdrawal syndrome.

As the active substance is removed from the body, the malaise intensifies and its clinical picture becomes more capacious. The hardest time to restrain yourself is between 1.5 and 3 weeks after taking the last pill, because, judging by the patients themselves, they fall into a real hell during this period, similar to the withdrawal syndrome from alcohol abuse.

In this regard, special attention should be paid to vegetative disorders observed in most people who have taken tranquilizers for more than 2 months. We are talking about vegetative crises, which were previously called panic attacks. This condition develops unexpectedly and lasts for about 10 minutes, during which the patient may experience several of the following symptoms:

• increased heartbeat and the feeling that the heart is about to jump out of the chest,
• rapid pulse (tachycardia), combined with a noticeable pulsation of blood vessels,
• hyperhidrosis (increased sweating) without any apparent reason,
• chills that appear regardless of the ambient temperature, a feeling of trembling not only outside but also inside,
• difficulty breathing, as if the person is not getting enough air,
• shortness of breath that occurs even at rest,
• discomfort behind the breastbone in the heart area, pain in the heart,
• unpleasant sensations in the stomach, a person may even feel nauseous,
• sudden dizziness, a feeling of lightness and weightlessness, unreality of what is happening, a state close to fainting,
• paresthesia of the extremities (a feeling of loss of sensitivity, numbness or tingling in the arms and legs),
• hot flashes, which are characterized by alternating episodes of intense heat and cold,
• the emergence of fear of death (the patient feels that if he does not take the drug now, he may die from the symptoms that have appeared).

The manifestations of vegetative crises are similar to a state of severe fear, but there are no reasons for it, i.e. the symptoms appear out of nowhere. Patients may experience all or some of the listed symptoms. At the same time, everyone's sensitivity to them is different. Some people endure their condition so hard that they develop a fear of going crazy because of it.

In severe cases of withdrawal syndrome after the withdrawal of tranquilizers, a person's cognitive sphere may be impaired (memory and attention deteriorate), problems with communication and a tendency to antisocial behavior appear. When vegetative crises become the cause of altered behavior, they speak of severe panic disorder, requiring correction with the involvement of specialists (psychologist or psychiatrist).

It is impossible to give a clear answer to the question of how long the withdrawal syndrome of Phenazepam lasts. Narcologists give a period of 2-3 weeks for abstinence, but much depends on the characteristics of the excretory system, the patient's health condition and the patient's subjective attitude to his condition. But even after 3 weeks, many patients continue to have a condition that doctors diagnose as depression, which requires treatment with antidepressants.

How dangerous is this condition?

Phenazepam withdrawal syndrome, despite such "terrible" symptoms, is just a response of the body. Something similar can be observed if a small child is deprived of his favorite toy: the baby will start to be capricious, have trouble falling asleep, complain of a non-existent ailment in connection with such an important loss, demand the return of his property, etc., but he will never harm himself and his health because of a really insignificant reason. This is our body. There is no need to be afraid that the heart may stop or a stroke may occur due to the withdrawal of tranquilizers.

The most dangerous consequence of withdrawal syndrome can be depersonalization of personality, when a person seems to observe himself from the outside and it seems to him that he is unable to control his thoughts and actions. But such a personality disorder is usually characteristic of people who had mental disorders even before the prescription of drugs, and especially if the person had previously had episodes of antisocial behavior.

Yes, tranquilizers help the patient to relax and even push aside some conventions accepted in society, which makes a person more free and even uninhibited in communication and behavior. But when their effect stops, the person regains the ability to fully control his thoughts and actions. So the appearance of unpleasant symptoms of tranquilizer withdrawal syndrome can hardly explain the loss of self-control.

As for physical symptoms such as palpitations, increased blood pressure, sudden pain on the left side of the chest during panic attacks, in most cases, especially among young people, they have no medical basis. A person is physically healthy, but his psycho-emotional state (tension of the nervous system) provokes the emergence of vegetative symptoms that have nothing to do with the actual state of the body.

Phenazepam withdrawal syndrome can be called a non-life-threatening complication after long-term use of the drug. Despite all the difficulties, if you have the will and desire, you can successfully survive it and forget it like a bad dream. It is much worse if a person cannot resist the temptation and endure a difficult 2-3 weeks, so he returns to taking the drug again.

Over time, his body will no longer be able to cope with stress on its own, and the addiction will become even stronger. Some people, even while taking tranquilizers, develop deep depression, inexplicable fears or aggression, their behavior changes for the worse, which creates problems in communication and relationships. Let's remember that something similar is observed with drug addicts, when a normal guy or girl eventually turns into a person with antisocial tendencies.

One of the properties of benzodiazepines is the need to gradually increase the dose to achieve the desired result. If the drugs are taken for a long time, regularly increasing the dosage, at some point even a handful of pills will stop helping, and the person will start looking for other ways to relax, because without them he can no longer imagine a normal life. In the absence of the opportunity to buy the drug in a pharmacy, an addicted patient may decide to steal, rob, or even worse, want to part with life. It turns out that what a person ran from, that is what he returned to. Without the help of a psychologist and psychiatrist, it will be very difficult for such people to return themselves to society, restore their former respect and desire to live a normal life.

Unfortunately, not all people can cope with the symptoms of tranquilizer withdrawal syndrome on their own. Some patients return to their previous treatment, others try to cope with inexplicable panic on their own, although they do not always do it correctly.

Fears that appear against the background of abstinence can have different nature: some people are afraid of dying, others are afraid of a heart attack, others become afraid of being alone in their own apartment, and others begin to be afraid of traveling in transport, and others are afraid of not behaving in the best way in communication, believing that they have poor control over themselves. And this is far from a complete list of all kinds of fears.

One of the incorrect ways to cope with them is to try to avoid situations associated with experiences, for example, to refuse to travel, stop communicating with people, etc. A person withdraws into himself, loses communication skills, his thoughts revolve around his own fears, which can eventually lead to depression or, worse, to serious mental disorders. It would seem that a person has managed to get rid of a harmful addiction, but instead he has developed a new problem that requires taking other psychoactive drugs, for example, antidepressants, which can also cause addiction.

It turns out to be a vicious circle that only a specialist can break. Timely diagnosis of withdrawal syndrome and appropriate treatment help to avoid unpleasant withdrawal symptoms and the above-described consequences and complications in a person's socialization, allowing him to be a full-fledged member of society.

Diagnostics Phenazepam withdrawal syndrome

Despite the scary stories that you can hear from people on the street or doctors at clinics, in real life, addiction to benzodiazepines does not develop that often. Even long-term use of these drugs in therapeutic doses causes such complications in isolated cases. We are usually talking about patients who have developed an increased sensitivity of the body to psychoactive substances, which often happens against the background of previous abuse of alcohol, antidepressants, opioid drugs, etc., or there is some hereditary predisposition to such reactions to tranquilizers.

As for the rest, experience shows that the appearance of physical dependence and withdrawal syndrome can be expected if a person has been taking Phenazepam or any other benzodiazepine drug for a long time (more than 2-3 months) in a dosage twice or even three times higher than the recommended one. When the drug is abruptly discontinued, previously diagnosed symptoms of anxiety return, due to which vegetative symptoms arise and intensify, most of which are far-fetched.

In order to understand that a person has developed a dependence on tranquilizers, you do not need to be a medical specialist. The symptoms of benzodiazepine dependence are generally similar to withdrawal symptoms from alcohol abuse or barbiturate poisoning. A person's sleep is disturbed, anxiety and unexplained restlessness appear, sensitivity to loud sounds and bright light increases, sweating increases, nausea and abdominal discomfort may occur unrelated to food intake, the temperature rises, and flu-like symptoms develop.

Often you can hear complaints about a strong heartbeat, a rapid palpable pulse, painful sensations in the heart area, headaches. In severe situations, excessive excitement or, conversely, apathy, outbursts of aggression, thoughts of suicide, convulsive syndrome, muscle weakness and pain in them may appear. Particularly characteristic of benzodiazepine addiction and withdrawal syndrome of this type of drugs, according to some authors, are twitching of individual muscle groups (myoclonic seizures), unusually acute perception of sounds, problems with urination (urinary incontinence in a state of wakefulness, i.e. during the daytime).

When contacting a doctor with such symptoms, it is worth immediately clarifying how long the person took tranquilizers and in what dosage, whether the appearance of painful symptoms is associated with the withdrawal of the drug (usually the first signs appear on the second day after taking the last pill, gradually acquiring new symptoms as the drug is eliminated from the body). Usually the patient is conscious and is able to independently tell about the reasons for the change in his health, but in other circumstances, the patient's relatives can tell about this. In extreme cases, information about the appointment of tranquilizers can be found in the patient's medical record.

When diagnosing withdrawal syndrome due to cessation of tranquilizers, no tests usually need to be done. Differential diagnostics are usually necessary when the doctor cannot obtain the necessary information from the above sources, which often happens if the patient takes drugs without a doctor's prescription and hides it.

The clinical picture of Phenazepam withdrawal syndrome generally resembles withdrawal syndrome in alcoholism and barbiturate poisoning, similar to the manifestations of withdrawal syndrome of antidepressants and other psychotropic substances. In this case, it is very important to determine which substance caused the painful symptoms, which can be done in the laboratory, because it takes a certain amount of time to remove these substances from the body. And the sooner a person seeks help, the easier it will be to do so.

It is wrong to rely only on the existing symptoms, because the clinical picture of withdrawal depends on many factors: the substance taken, the duration of its use, the dosage, the psychophysical characteristics of the patient's body, age, combination with other psychoactive substances (for example, with alcohol), etc. Nevertheless, it is necessary to determine the reason for withdrawal, because the appointment of effective treatment depends on it, which will help alleviate the patient's condition.

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Treatment Phenazepam withdrawal syndrome

To avoid the development of withdrawal syndrome of Phenazepam and other tranquilizers, you need to know how to properly cancel Phenazepam to minimize withdrawal symptoms. Doctors insist that this should be done gradually over several weeks, once every 2-3 days, reducing the dose of the drug by 10-15, and in the absence of severe malaise, by 20%.

If, after stopping tranquilizers, the patient begins to experience increased symptoms of the previously diagnosed disease for which the drug was prescribed, it makes sense to return to the usual dosage, and from that moment on, begin a gradual reduction in the tranquilizer dosage.

Doctors are also considering other ways to resolve the issue of how to alleviate the withdrawal syndrome of Phenazepam. After all, this is a drug, the instructions for which say that it is not recommended for long-term use. The second option for treating the withdrawal syndrome is to replace Phenazepam with another tranquilizer that allows for long-term use (for example, Prazepam). But even in this case, the requirement remains to gradually reduce the dosage of the drug taken.

The third option is to replace benzodiazepines with barbiturates, which also have a sedative and hypnotic effect. In most cases, we are talking about long-acting drugs, which makes it possible to use smaller doses. But barbiturates are also psychoactive substances, and therefore can cause addiction, so you should not abuse them. Gradually, you will have to give up these assistants, giving preference to psychotherapeutic methods, relaxation techniques, yoga, etc.

Tranquilizers can also be replaced in the treatment of withdrawal with other drugs with anxiolytic action. Thus, the drug "Atarax" based on hydroxyl dihydrochloride does not belong to the category of strong psychotropic drugs and does not cause addiction, therefore, in the absence of contraindications, it is successfully used for Phenazepam withdrawal syndrome. It helps to eliminate psychomotor agitation, characteristic of withdrawal, reduce irritability and anxiety, as well as internal tension, the cause of which are existing mental or somatic diseases.

Some withdrawal symptoms, such as physical pain or increased anxiety, can be relieved with safer medications. In the first case, analgesics or NSAIDs can be prescribed, in the second - beta-blockers, antidepressants or herbal sedatives. In any case, the doctor should prescribe a treatment plan individually, based on the underlying disease, previous prescriptions and combination of medications, the patient's psychoemotional state and, of course, the existing symptom complex.

Very often, the transition to other drugs is accompanied by a feeling that they do not help, and a desire to return to taking tranquilizers, which will help quickly and completely relieve all unpleasant symptoms. Here, the person's attitude and knowledge of what other methods can be used to achieve relaxation and calm are very important.

If a general practitioner can prescribe medication for withdrawal, and in difficult situations, a narcologist, then only a specialist in psychology and psychotherapy can provide knowledge to the patient about relaxation methods and professional psychological assistance. Psychotherapy is especially important for patients with mental disorders, people with suicidal tendencies and weak will.

The success of treatment largely depends on the patient's desire to get rid of the unhealthy dependence on tranquilizers, his patience, willpower, and the help of his family and friends. It has been noted that if during this period the patient feels the support of his loved ones, he endures all the hardships of the Phenazepam withdrawal syndrome much easier. The support of loved ones is especially important for those who have suicidal thoughts, because who can better protect a loved one from a rash act.

Typically, patients with Phenazepam withdrawal syndrome are treated on an outpatient basis. If necessary, they will have to attend psychotherapy sessions and see their doctor regularly until their mental and physical condition is completely stabilized. Patients with mental disorders, as well as those whose environment does not facilitate the withdrawal of psychotropic drugs, require inpatient treatment, followed by long-term outpatient treatment.

Prevention

Few of those people who have experienced all the hardships of withdrawal syndrome will want to go through it again. And to avoid this, you need to not only learn to relax using meditation and relaxation techniques, but also pay close attention to the prescriptions that the doctor makes.

Quite often Phenazepam is prescribed for VSD, although in most cases such a prescription is not necessary. After all, VSD is a disorder that occurs against the background of other diseases, and it is enough to pay attention to them, prescribing the appropriate treatment, so that the symptoms of vegetative-vascular dystonia disappear on their own.

But VSD is such a complex and ambiguous diagnosis, but not all doctors are eager to fill their heads with multiple tests to get to the bottom of the true cause of such a disorder. That's where incorrect prescriptions come to light, because, in fact, tranquilizers are capable of removing almost all symptoms of VSD, even at the cost of addiction.

On the other hand, addiction does not occur if you take the medicine in the doses recommended by the instructions. Thus, the compliance of the dose taken and the recommended one is a kind of prevention of addiction to tranquilizers. But it is better to refuse strong drugs in favor of herbal sedatives and psychotherapeutic relaxation techniques.

If you treat your health and doctor's prescriptions thoughtfully, you can successfully avoid not only such a nuisance as Phenazepam withdrawal syndrome, but also many other problems with physical and mental health. It is important to always remember the truism that our health is in our hands.

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Forecast

Phenazepam withdrawal syndrome is a logical result of incorrect prescription or administration of a drug from the tranquilizer group of drugs. The result does not depend on who is to blame: the doctor or the patient, so instead of looking for someone to blame, you need to take measures to alleviate this unpleasant and painful condition as quickly as possible. And this can only be done through the joint efforts of a psychologist, doctor and patient.

True, the prognosis for treating tranquilizer addiction is not always favorable. There is a certain portion of patients who subsequently break down and start taking psychotropics again, even if there is no longer a need for this. To consolidate the results of treatment, it is very important to create conditions for the patient so that he does not experience the impact of stress factors and feels the support of those close to him.

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