PEBC: What You Need to Know: Benzodiazepines

Many Examples:

Short-Acting: Triazolam, Alprazolam

Long-Acting: Diazepam, Clonazepam

Many Indications:

Anxiety, sleep, alcohol withdrawal, muscle relaxant, seizures

Works quickly, but hard to taper once taken for a long time

Many Adverse Effects:

dizziness, drowsiness, slurred speech, confusion, loss of balance, memory impairment, falls

*dependence, especially in the elderly - try to promote minimal use and deprescribing

**if tapering, better to switch from short-acting agents to long-acting agents to prevent withdrawal

Drug Interactions:

-CNS and respiratory depression when combined with other CNS agents like opioids, alcohol

-for overdose, use flumazenil as a reversal agent