Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Syndrome - Prognosis

Prognosis

See also: Protracted withdrawal syndrome

The success rate of a minimal intervention where rapid withdrawal is first tried, followed by a systematic tapered discontinuation if the first try was unsuccessful, ranges from 25 to 100% with a median of 58%. Congnitive behavioral therapy was useful to improve success rates for panic disorder, melatonin for insomnia, as was flumazenil and sodium valproate. A ten-year follow-up found that more than half of those who had successfully withdrawn from long-term use were still abstinent two years later, and that if they were able to maintain this state at two years, they were likely to maintain this state at the ten-year followup. One study found that after one year of abstinence from long-term use of benzodiazepines, cognitive, neurological and intellectual impairments had returned to normal.

Those who had a prior psychiatric diagnosis had a similar success rate from a gradual taper at a two-year follow-up. Withdrawal from benzodiazepines did not lead to an increased use of antidepressants.

Read more about this topic:  Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Syndrome