Recovering From the Use of Benzodiazepines Can Be Time-Consuming
Detoxing from benzodiazepines can be complicated. Patients are still being prescribed benzodiazepines to treat mental health conditions, including severe anxiety. They may have been using these medications to try to control their anxiety for several years.
Extended Withdrawals
All substance use patients will need to give themselves time to expel the drugs from all their systems. Patients who have become dependent on benzodiazepines can actually spend years withdrawing from these chemically unique substances without the right treatments.
It’s relatively common for untreated benzodiazepine withdrawal processes to at least last for several months. Those patients will also probably be going without a type of medication that they were using to hold back the symptoms of exhaustion and anxiety.
Patients have not usually prescribed benzodiazepines unless they have particularly acute anxiety symptoms. Feeling those symptoms return can be harrowing for a lot of patients.
However, researchers are making progress all the time regarding the treatment of even extreme anxiety disorders. Patients who may have been prescribed benzodiazepine medications ten years ago may be prescribed something completely different today, and the new medications will not carry the same drastic medical risks and problems.
Health Risks
Continuing a substance abuse problem is always going to be dangerous for patients. This is still true for prescription drugs, especially when those drugs are used heavily enough.
Some medical professionals are reevaluating benzodiazepines more recently because these medications are capable of causing patients medical problems beyond the substance abuse itself. There are patients who will stick to a prescribed medication regimen involving benzodiazepines, and they could still suffer from some unique medical concerns.
There’s an increasing amount of scientific evidence that suggests that benzodiazepines can have a profoundly negative effect on a person’s cognitive abilities. Many people are concerned about suffering from these particular medical consequences as a result of consuming alcohol and similar substances. Some patients might already seek treatment at https://www.vsmdetoxaustin.com/ centers in the hopes of preserving their cognitive abilities.
The cognitive effects of using benzodiazepines have not received as much attention as the cognitive effects of alcohol consumption. This is partly a function of the fact that alcohol is used much more widely, and plenty of individuals consume alcohol recreationally.
However, it’s possible that benzodiazepines can have a much more dire effect on a person’s cognitive abilities than alcohol, or at least a comparable one. Patients might suddenly become less coordinated, and their ability to react can suffer.
Some patients may have a difficult time staying awake or controlling their physical movements after taking the benzodiazepines for long enough. Essentially, these are medications that can potentially cause patients to eventually become physically disabled. They could also develop new mental disabilities in the form of memory problems.
Full Recovery
Patients who seek out treatment for their dependence on benzodiazepines almost as soon as they become aware of it may be able to reverse many of the associated cognitive effects. However, they will usually not be able to expect definable cognitive results immediately, and some of them might be permanent.
It may at least take months for patients to see their cognitive problems subside. They might have to take physical therapy to get back some of the motor coordination that they once had. Patients can also use memory training exercises to try to repair the damage that they sustained related to those skills.
A person who has been taking benzodiazepines for several years on a regular basis might find it much more difficult to completely reverse all these effects. However, these patients will certainly avoid experiencing any new symptoms, and their existing concerns might become more manageable.
