Dr. Leeds' Story
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Dr. Leeds tapers benzodiazepines slowly, and on purpose.
Dr. Mark Leeds is an osteopathic physician and deprescribing specialist. He graduated from Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1996, completed his Family Medicine residency in 1999, and has over 26 years in family medicine and over two decades of experience treating medication dependence. He serves on the medical advisory board of the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition and hosts The Rehab Podcast.
Dr. Leeds’ practice is one physician, and he works directly with every patient. Many of his patients were prescribed a benzodiazepine and took it as directed. Physical dependence is not addiction. It is a medical condition caused by the medication, and the treatment has to match the condition.
That means a gradual medical taper. His tapers follow the Ashton Manual, written by Professor C. Heather Ashton, and the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines. A taper takes months, sometimes longer, and the patient sets the pace.
The taper follows the patient, not a calendar.
Dr. Leeds tapers clonazepam (Klonopin), alprazolam (Xanax), lorazepam (Ativan), and the other benzodiazepines, as well as z-drugs such as zolpidem (Ambien). Where it helps, the taper begins with a crossover to diazepam (Valium), as the Ashton Manual describes.
A plan the patient shapes
The first visit is an assessment of the medication, the dose, how long it has been taken, and what has already been tried. Then the patient and Dr. Leeds write the plan together, and the patient keeps the right to pause or decline any step.
Follow-up at every stage
Tapering off benzodiazepines can be hard, and the withdrawal symptoms are real. Dr. Leeds listens to what each patient reports and follows up through every stage of the taper. When symptoms linger after the last dose, as they can in protracted withdrawal, the follow-up continues.
Smaller steps as the dose falls
Reductions get smaller as the dose falls, as the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines describe. If a step is too much, the dose holds until the patient is ready. If the pace feels too slow, patient and doctor may agree to go a bit faster, as tolerated.
A slower taper starts with a conversation.
Many patients are offered a rapid detox: a stay of days or weeks, timed by insurance coverage, with the goal of being off the drug by discharge. A gradual, medically supervised taper over months is the safer path, and it is the care Dr. Leeds provides.
Dr. Leeds sees patients at his Fort Lauderdale office and by telemedicine throughout Florida, Monday to Friday, 10 AM to 2 PM. His practice is concierge, not insurance, so an insurance plan never sets the length of a taper. For more background, read about benzodiazepine dependence, then use the contact form to ask about a consultation.