Most of the people that live in a developed country knows somebody who takes benzodiazepines to treat his anxiety, sleeplessness, ...etc. It is a treatment so approved that almost all the patients and doctors think is totally harmless. Nevertheless, its abuse could cause dependence and in case you try to cancel it inadequately, withdrawal symptoms.
These withdrawal symptoms are different if the dose is disrupted quickly or gradually. The correct way of this disruption must be gradual, without urgency, but even in this way appears some secondary effects, very different between a patient and another. Which are these symptoms? There are countless, as panic attack, midriasis, nightmares, insomnia, xerostomy, flushing sensation, headache, nausea and vomit...and much more. And what are the effects if you cancel the treatment quickly? There is some chance of delirium tremens, psicosis, mania, confusion, attempted suicide, even coma.
However, if you take benzodiazepines that do not mean you are going to have some of these symptoms. The dependence to the benzodiazepines appears when you are taking them during more of around four weeks.
Knowing this, the best way to prevent all of these problems is to choose very cautiously the patient who will use these drugs. The selected patient should be a person who benefits with the treatment and the use of the pills will be a short time. The article I share is about the main risk factors which resolve who has more possibilities of use benzodiazepines during a long period of time. Their conclusions are that being woman, smoker and/or user of other two prescriptions of similar drugs like benzodiazepine increase of a sustained benzodiazepine use.
Once to this point, I ask;
Are you agree with these risk factors? Why do you think that?
Do you think that there is a abuse in the consumption of these drugs?
Do you relate its use with our present life style?
Click here to check the article:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2739598/
Hi everyone!
ResponderEliminarFirst, I do agree that smoking or taking other similar drugs are risk factors for developing dependence on benzodiazepines. It is known that tobacco is an addictive substance with a certain anxiolytic capacity so that in a way you are already dependent on a substance to keep calm at bay. We no longer speak if you also take other drugs similar to those, you can develop tolerance and thus need higher doses of these drugs or benzodiazepines and involves more risk of developing dependency.
I consider that we are not accustomed to dealing with a certain level of anxiety and, although it is not possible to generalize, many patients take this drug in order to relieve a short-term evil without looking at the damages in the long term. Or that once seen the effects of benzodiazepines at the most acute time, they are not willing to try other less harmful measures once they are stabilized.
Raquel.
Hello class!
ResponderEliminarI completely agree with you, Raquel.
As we all know Benzodiazepines are some of the most addictive drugs in our sanitary system. In my point of view, our society has become more sensitive and intolerant in front of anxiety and psychological pain, which are basic and natural reactions. So, if I were the one who could prescribe these types of drugs, I would try to explain to each patient that maybe they don’t need to mask their natural feelings with an anxiolytic. Maybe they only need to express their emotions, to be human and to live the natural cycle of their life events. We, as a future doctors and as humans, we can help them by understanding and listening to them. Secondly if it’s insufficient we can try some psychological therapies, and in the last option, when other therapies are not efficient, we can start with a strictly scheduled pharmacologic treatment. But it can’t go as a unique treatment. We must combine it with some other pedagogic personal treatments.
Finally, I’ll only add that we, as future doctors we are going to be, we have the duty of inform patients, that Benzodiazepines (and all drugs in general) are not harmless. And we must be aware to no falling in the same vicious cycle of prescribing drugs instead of trying more inoffensive measures.
Noemí
Hello everyone!
ResponderEliminarWell, about this topic and the first question you posed, I agree with Raquel about what she said in the sense that people who smoke and consume any kind of drug makes you more vulnerable than the rest of the people to become addicted to benzodiacepines and to suffer its withdrawal symptoms. To be user of other two prescriptions of similar drugs could be a risk factor as well. The reason of my conclusion is that being “addicted” to any kind of thing may predispose. For example, when someone smokes tobacco, he could probably try cannabis or at less more probably than someone who doesn´t smoke anything I think.
I also believe that we all will be agree about the fact that there´s an overuse of benzodiacepines. Talking about the doctors, the reason could be that to prescript them is an easy and faster choice than looking for other better and effective options in each case. On the other hand, talking about patients, there´s probably a lot of misinformation, so that they don´t understand the risks or they ignore and/or undervalue what doctors tell them.
Finally, I guess that its use is very related with our lifestyle at present, where everything go so fast and we look for easy and prompt solutions. Maybe each time we think less about long-term consequences if the instant results are those which we want.
Good afternoon!
ResponderEliminarI agree with factors you said before. With being a smoker or user of other similar kind of drugs, I have the same opinion María has, I think if you are already addicted to something you could easily become addicted to something else. Moreover statistics say that women are more likely to suffer from psychiatric disseases, so, due to anxiety, depression, insomnia... they might be the main consumers of this type of drug.
I think that there is an over consumption of them because people is getting used to use drug in order to solve their problems instead of changing some habits. For example when someone can't sleep or is anxious directly wants some drugs, and if we tell them first to try to practise some physical activities or try to eat healthier they may think that we are not taking their problem seriously enough. And finally doctors end up giving this "dangerous" treatment to people who don´t actually need it.
I absolutly relate the use of benzodiazepines to our actual lifestyle. We have to deal with too many stress and not only because of problems or something gone wrong but because we deal with more thing than we should and we try to have all fixed together. But I think that it is something completely imposible, maybe when we learn that, we will have less stress or sleep disorders and we won´t need this drugs in our ordinary life.
Good evening Andrea!
EliminarI completely agree with you in regards to the factors associated with the use of Benzodiazepines. If you have an addictive personality (for instance if you are an alcoholic or a drug user) and you encounter this medication, then you may as well add it to your list of addictions; BZD are highly addictive and you need to have an incredibly strong willpower in order to being able to reduce and finally quit using them. This is most definitely not a walk in the park as you are more prone to depression if you have other additions.
Usually you start taking BZD when you have trouble sleeping or have some levels of anxiety that can’t be managed using other kinds of therapy, such as cognitive behavioural therapy. The problem with BZD is that other than being highly addictive, they have also a very high rate of both withdrawal syndrome and abstinence syndrome. This can lead to a serious drug addiction of prescription drugs as you start craving them so that you don’t experience the withdrawal symptoms.
We as doctors-to-be need to raise awareness to the fact that these medications are only to be taken when absolutely needed and for a very short period of time and thereby avoid future complications and long-term effects. People need to be reminded that psychiatric conditions such as depression and anxiety may actually get better with counselling and therapy and that in some selected cases we can fend off the use of BZD.
Nowadays, we have a very busy lifestyle, with all the hustle and bustle of living in a city. We are truly a bundle of nerves most of the time as all our responsibilities pile up and all our time seems to vanish somehow. Sometimes ignorance is bliss, but not in this situation. More awareness means more prevention, and more prevention means better habits, better choices and a better life.
Hello everyone!
ResponderEliminarThough there are considerable benefits to taking benzodiazepines, there are certainly side effects that should not be overlooked. I believe that people who take more medication are more prone to taking benzodiazepines, because being sick causes some level of anxiety. Additionally, as we get older, chronic diseases become more and more prevalent, and these are the ones that really make us feel like a cat on hot bricks. The problem is the increased risk of drug-drug interactions, such as additive side effects, which can increase the sedation, confusion or delirium. It can be problematic in the elderly since there is more risk of falling and fractures.
Hello everybody!
ResponderEliminarBenzodiazepines are one of the most useful families of anxiolytic drugs. They are effective, sure, and its effects appear fastly. For these reasons, they are the first line of treatment in patients who suffer anxiety.
Nevertheless, even they are advisable in many cases, I strongly believe that health service is overusing them. Not only because our accelerate pace of life has increased the prevalence of anxiety; but because their misuse. For example, some doctors prescribe them and forget retiring the drug from the patient’s drug list after a while. Others, simply prescribe benzodiazepines in order to solve easily (and fastly) patients’ symptoms that could be solved with hygiene and dietetic measures.
Moreover, apart from the high rate of prescription, because of benzodiazepines are extremely addictive, patients don’t reduce the intake (above all women, smokers and/or users of other similar drugs). I totally agree with my partners (Raquel & Co.) about why being smoker, user of other similar drugs, etc; are risk factors.
Cheers!!
Hi everyone!
ResponderEliminarFirstly, say that I am agree with many of the contributions that you have done along this week. However, I think that the most alarming thing of the consumption of benzodiazepines is not the high number of people that take it, nor the side effects, it is the increase younger people that need take this drug for be comfortable and without anxiety, for sleep… Maybe this could cause, slowly, that more and more patients are addicted to this drug, or maybe that we will need new drugs or more dose if these patients have vital challenges and new anxious situations.
Responding your question ,Pili, I think that this could be relate with our present lifestyle, the way that the world works by now: urgency, immediacy, haste… There are a lot of cases that benzodiazepines are indicated, but in the actual society a lot of times we don’t spend our time in something that really be worth, and we attempt to resolve it taking pills, which we needn’t.
Carlos