Benzodiazepines - Articles - Page 5

How to Come Off a Psych Med Part 2: Antidepressants, Stimulants, and Benzos

March 11, 2021

Swapnil Gupta, MD

Associate Professor at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Co-author of Deprescribing in Psychiatry (Oxford, 2019). Dr. Gupta has disclosed that she has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

What do you do when a patient comes to you on a high dose of Adderall and Klonopin without any clear reason to be on them? Swapnil Gupta tackles this in part II of our interview on deprescribing, and describes how to fine-tune and microdose antidepressants and benzodiazepines to manage withdrawal symptoms.

Buspirone: Still Effective After All These Years?

February 3, 2021

Eugene Rubin, MD.

Eugene Rubin, MD. Psychiatrist in private practice, Bingham Farms, MI. Dr. Rubin has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Buspirone (Buspar) is approved for generalized anxiety disorder, but its efficacy there is often questioned. Here we find out how it stacks up against the benzos and SSRIs, and explore its off-label potential in depression, sexual dysfunction, alcoholism, traumatic brain injury, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

Rest Easy: Benzos, Z-Drugs, and Dementia

December 31, 2020

James Jenkins, MD.

James Jenkins, MD. Dr. Jenkins has disclosed that he has stock in Alkermes, Sage Therapeutics, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Trevena, and Viatris. Dr. Aiken has reviewed this article and has found no evidence of bias pertaining to this educational activity.

It may not be perfect, but this study has the best data yet on the controversial link between benzodiazepines and dementia.

Is Ramelteon an Effective Hypnotic?

November 12, 2020

Randall Moore, MD, JD. and Chris Aiken, MD.

Randall Moore, MD, JD. Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. Chris Aiken, MD. Editor-in-Chief of TCPR. Practicing psychiatrist, Winston-Salem, NC. Dr. Moore and Dr. Aiken have disclosed that they have no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Ramelteon (Rozerem) is one of the safer sleep medications, but how well does its efficacy stack up against other hypnotics? The answer surprised us.

How to Safely Prescribe Z-Drugs

August 13, 2020

There’s good reason to be careful prescribing Z-drugs. Here’s an overview of Dr. Reban Aziz’s recent article in The Carlat Addiction Treatment Report.Safety Tips Go short-term or intermittent to reduce the potential for adverse events and withdrawal. Avoid for SUD or complex sleep disorders. Use as last resort after considering...

EXPERT Q&A

Benzodiazepines: Old Medicines, New Concerns

June 10, 2020

Kenneth Morford, MD

Kenneth Morford, MD
Assistant Professor and Program Director, Collaborative Behavioral Health & Addiction Medicine in Primary Care (CHAMP) at Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Morford has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Benzodiazepine use is on the rise, and is implicated with a significant portion of opioid-related overdose deaths. Dr. Morford gives the latest on benzodiazepine prevalence and suggests strategies to employ in addiction treatment settings when working with patients who use benzodiazepines.

Benzodiazepines: New Risks for an Old Drug

September 1, 2018

Chris Aiken, MD

Chris Aiken, MD Editor-in-Chief of The Carlat Psychiatry Report Practicing psychiatrist, Winston-Salem, NC. Dr. Aiken has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

In the May 2018 issue of TCPR, we wrote about using benzodiazepines for anxiety and other disorders, and we got some reader feedback that we did not provide a thorough enough review of medication risks. So, in a follow-up article this month, I will focus on two groups where benzos pose the greatest risks: opioid users and the elderly.

Benzodiazepines in Children and Adolescents

March 1, 2018

Murat Pakyurek, MD

Murat Pakyurek, MD Director, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Division, University of California, Davis Medical Center Dr. Pakyurek has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Because of their quick action, benzodiazepines (BZDs) are frequently prescribed to treat patients with anxiety and other conditions. However, clinicians need to consider the potential for unintended and problematic consequences of benzodiazepine use.

CLINICAL UPDATE

Medication Treatment of Anxiety Disorders in Substance Abusers

May 1, 2016

Daniel Carlat, MD

Daniel Carlat, MD

Editor-in-Chief, Publisher, The Carlat Report.

Dr. Carlat has disclosed that he has no relevant relationships or financial interests in any commercial company pertaining to this educational activity.

While benzodiazepines are effective anti-anxiety workhorses for many patients, most guidelines tell us to avoid prescribing them to substance abusers. The concern is that the benzo high will remind patients of their substances of choice, and that benzo withdrawal symptoms will lead to old substance abuse habits.

EXPERT Q&A

Benzodiazepines: Dependence, Tolerance, and Addiction

May 1, 2016

Alex Stalcup, MD

Alex Stalcup, MD
Medical director of the New Leaf Treatment Center in Lafayette, CA.
Dr. Stalcup has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this
educational activity.

One good way to think of benzodiazepines is that they are literally, physiologically anyway, alcohol in a pill. Especially the fast-onset/fast-offset benzodiazepines like alprazolam (Xanax) have a very similar pharmacologic profile to alcohol. This discussion with Dr. Alex Stalcum covers strategies of using benzodiazepines as anxiety treatments for substance-abusing patients.