Mark Leeds, D.O. is an osteopathic physician and deprescribing specialist in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He helps patients come off benzodiazepines and sleeping pills with a slow, patient-directed taper guided by the Ashton Manual and the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines. Physical dependence is not addiction, and a careful taper is measured in months, not days.
Key Takeaways Palpitations, a pounding or racing heart, and chest tightness during a benzodiazepine taper usually come from an overactive autonomic nervous system, and in…
Key Takeaways Weight can go up or down during a clonazepam (Klonopin) taper, the change is usually modest and temporary, and it is never a…
Can caffeine make derealization worse during a benzodiazepine taper? It can, and for some patients it clearly does. Derealization is the feeling that the world…
Key Takeaways The Ashton Manual recommends regular moderate exercise during withdrawal, and gentle movement can make withdrawal days more tolerable. Exercise supports a gradual, medically…
Key Takeaways Ringing, hissing, or buzzing in the ears is a documented benzodiazepine withdrawal symptom, listed in the Ashton Manual and named among the symptoms…
Key Takeaways Light sensitivity, blurred or double vision, and sore, dry or gritty eyes during a benzodiazepine taper are a recognized withdrawal symptom, often called…
Why does sleep fall apart when a benzodiazepine dose comes down? Benzodiazepines put people to sleep by enhancing the action of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the…
Benzodiazepine tapering and Klonopin withdrawal can be uncomfortable. As patients reduce their dose of a benzodiazepine such as Klonopin (clonazepam), they may experience a range…
Does NAC help with benzodiazepine withdrawal? Nobody knows. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has never been properly tested in people who are tapering a benzodiazepine, so there is…
What does benzodiazepine withdrawal feel like? Benzodiazepine withdrawal is the set of symptoms that appears when a body adapted to the drug gets less of…
What was the Lisa Ling benzo episode? On October 6, 2019, CNN, the cable news network, aired “The Benzos Crisis,” an episode of its documentary…
Does creatine help with benzodiazepine withdrawal? Patients in the middle of a benzodiazepine taper sometimes ask about creatine. The question is nearly always the same:…
