Take charge of you and your family's health one step at a time

Benzodiazepine Addiction

Do you do a Rapid Detox for a Benzodiazepine addiction?
(Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, Ativan, etc.)

The class of drugs called benzodiazepines are typically taken for anxiety. The common names of these drugs are Xanax, Diazepam, Clonazepam, Ativan and Klonopin. These drugs are often abused and the user finds it very difficult to break the physical addiction. Some may be using very large amounts of these drugs. We realize that many people that are opiate addicted are also addicted to benzodiazepines.

Benzodiazepine addiction is very serious and withdrawal can be life threatening. We have heard of a few other anesthesia detox facilities offering a rapid detox from benzodiazepines along with the opiate anesthesia detox treatment. We do not advise inducing a rapid detox for this class of drugs. We are aware of very serious adverse effects from administering intravenously the medication that is necessary for the complete removal of these drugs in a rapid way while undergoing the anesthesia opiate detoxification. This is a very dangerous process. The drug used for removing the benzodiazepines from the patient's receptors should only be used in a dire 'emergency situation' such as in the case of an acute and life threatening benzodiazepine overdose.

There are many drug manufacturer warnings associated with using this drug for a benzodiazepine dependent individual. This drug should never be used as a detoxification agent for a benzodiazepine addiction and our doctors would never risk the serious side effects which could include serious anxiety, psychosis, insomnia, muscle pain, burning skin, convulsions, severe depression, seizures, pulmonary edema, catatonic states, and death.

Inducing rapid detox from benzodiazepines is very disruptive and can cause severe anxiety as well as many other side effects. We feel that this is too severe for a patient to endure and this could cause a person to fail with their opiate detoxification treatment because it can closely mimic an opiate withdrawal.

The only humane and safe way to treat this addiction is to slowly wean a patient off of these drugs, with careful medical guidance, along with the use of medications to prevent complications. This weaning process could take a month or longer and can be initiated and completed once the patient returns home. We have successfully helped hundreds of patients with their addiction to these drugs utilizing the "Ashton Method".

If a patient would like to reduce or eliminate their use of these drugs we would assist them with this. We currently do not charge extra for this service and is only offered when we detox the patient for an opiate addiction. We want our patients to be as comfortable as possible and slowly weaning down in dosages is the only sensible and safe way to detox from benzodiazepines.

This medication may cause withdrawal reactions, especially if it has been used regularly for a long time or in high doses (more than 1-4 weeks). Withdrawal symptoms (such as seizures, trouble sleeping, mental/mood changes, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, stomach pain, hallucinations, numbness/tingling of arms and legs, muscle pain, fast heartbeat, short-term memory loss, very high fever, and increased reactions to noise/touch/light) may occur if you suddenly stop using this medication. To prevent withdrawal reactions, the doses need to be reduced gradually with assistance from a medical professional that is familiar with how to guide/assist patients through this process.

This is a youtube video featuring Dr. Ashton, the British doctor who is an authority on Benzodiazepine withdrawals. The RDD Method of Benzodiazepine detox treatment has learned through years of experience that weaning down on these class of drugs is the only safe and comfortable way to detox from Benzodiazepines