The Benzodiazepines

"Benzodiazepines were developed to treat legitimate medical needs. However, unbridled success and prescribing beyond their intended duration of use and the available data has led to excessive prescribing, extended utilization beyond good therapeutic practice, and unintended adverse effects and substance use disorder. This book is the first to bring to light and discuss the largely unrecognized and enigmatic problem of an exceedingly prolonged withdrawal syndrome from benzodiazepines that can persist for months or years in susceptible patients, and the medical need for better evidence-based prescribing of benzodiazepines, and a call for the recognition and better treatment of the prolonged withdrawal syndrome"--

FROM THE BACK COVER: Are you--or is someone you care about--taking tranquilizers or sleeping pills? You could be at risk of addiction without even knowing it. Benzos are the most commonly prescribed tranquilizers and sleeping pills, in use by millions of people. Doctors prescribe these drugs routinely without ever warning patients that regular use may cause a dangerous dependency. For many people, Benzos are much harder to quit than heroin, cocaine, crack and other illegal substances, even when taken under a physician's supervision. Benzo Withdrawal may last for months, even years. Get the facts about the drugs in your medicine cabinet--facts the pharmaceutical companies, and even the FDA, don't want you to know. The Benzo Book recounts the author's experience as an unwitting addict, with full details about minimizing withdrawal symptoms, and exposes the sociological, medical and economic factors which cause this widespread--yet largely unknown--problem.

To comment at length on the importance of the benzodiazepines seems superfluous within the scope of this preface. No other class of active substances has experienced an even approximately compa rable advance in the past two decades. It is therefore not surprising that the formerly dominant barbiturates and bromocarbamides have had to give way in many fields to the benzodiazepines, which now rank first (Proudfoot and Park [1828]). Closely linked with the great therapeutic importance of the benzodia zepines are analytical problems. Detection and the determination of blood levels can be necessary under therapeutic aspects, for instance in working out optimally effective levels in the treatment of epileptic conditions ("drug monitoring"), but also in connection with questions at issue in toxicology and traffic medicine. A toxicological analysis can be subdivided into the following steps: Detection (identification including screening) Determination (e. g. blood, plasma or serum levels) Interpretation of the analytical results. This book is intended as a contribution to each of these chapters: The part "Analytical Data" (pp.I-122) gives a comprehensive collec tion of data, e.g. general and chromatographic data (TLC, GLC) as well as spectra (UV, IR, MS) of 19 commercial preparations, 23 important metabolites and 18 hydrolysis derivatives. Information about biotransformation and the possible formation of aminobenzo phenone derivatives is also given. The most important analytical methods are presented in an extensive review on pp.123-204 in order to make it possible to select the optimum method on the basis of the essential data.

This manual attempts to provide simple, adequate and evidence-based information to health care professionals in primary health care especially in low- and middle-income countries to be able to provide pharmacological treatment to persons with mental disorders. The manual contains basic principles of prescribing followed by chapters on medicines used in psychotic disorders; depressive disorders; bipolar disorders; generalized anxiety and sleep disorders; obsessive compulsive disorders and panic attacks; and alcohol and opioid dependence. The annexes provide information on evidence retrieval, assessment and synthesis and the peer view process.

Beyond Benzos - Benzo Addiction, Benzo Withdrawal, and Long-term Recovery from Benzodiazepines Now termed by some as the world's deadliest pill, the class of drugs known as benzodiazepines are on the cusp of racing past opiates to earn the label as this nation's most widely abused class of drugs. With over 150 million prescriptions written annually in the U.S. alone for such popular drugs as Xanax, Ativan, Klonopin, and Valium, benzo addiction has reached epidemic proportions in this country and many are still not willing to give it the press it deserves. Let's change that. Benzodiazepine addiction is something that is inherently difficult to treat because of the stigma attached to it, the often unresolved underlying issues, and the difficulty of benzo withdrawal. Beyond Benzos can help. Written as a guide to benzodiazepine addiction and recovery by someone who has been there, these drugs and the steps needed to break free from them are dissected at every level. To the millions of people and their loved ones trapped in the vicious circle of benzo addiction, there is a solution to break free from the madness. Author Taite Adams not only explains how benzos work but gives the reader their options for benzo withdrawal and long term recovery from addiction. Whether taking benzos for an anxiety disorder, insomnia or another issue, Adams offers hope, inspiration, and solutions for a life Beyond Benzos . Tags: benzo addiction, benzodiazepines, xanax withdrawal, prescription drug addiction, benzo withdrawal, benzodiazepine withdrawal, xanax addiction, klonopin addiction, benzos, ativan addiction

Written by the foremost authority in the field, this volume is a comprehensive review of the multifaceted phenomenon of hepatotoxicity. Dr. Zimmerman examines the interface between chemicals and the liver; the latest research in experimental hepatotoxicology; the hepatotoxic risks of household, industrial, and environmental chemicals; and the adverse effects of drugs on the liver. This thoroughly revised, updated Second Edition features a greatly expanded section on the wide variety of drugs that can cause liver injury. For quick reference, an appendix lists these medications and their associated hepatic injuries. Also included are in-depth discussions of drug metabolism and factors affecting susceptibility to liver injury.

Prominent experts explain the pharmacology and metabolism of benzodiazepines (LDB) and g-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) and offer powerful and effective methodologies that will enable better detection of these drugs in various body fluids, as well as in hair. The techniques include highly sensitive immunoassay detection of LDBs, the detection of Rohypnol® and other LDBs by mass spectrometry, and the ultrasensitive detection of GHB. State-of-the-art and highly practical, Benzodiazepines and GHB: Detection and Pharmacology offers toxicologists, forensic scientists, and clinical chemists today's most effective methods for detecting these widely abused drugs that are sometimes found associated with criminal acts.