Benzodiazepines may affect breathing, leading to serious complications like respiratory depression. Proper medical supervision is crucial to minimize these risks and ensure safety. If a person experiences respiratory exacerbations, especially those with pre-existing respiratory conditions like COPD, immediate medical help should be sought. Benzodiazepines alone can cause respiratory depression, and when mixed with other sedating medications, they can lead to severe, life-threatening outcomes. By staying on top of benzodiazepine administration and understanding how benzodiazepines cause respiratory depression, you can use these medications safely and effectively.
Can You Overdose on Sleeping Pills?
- The problem begins when people mix this drug with other drugs and/ or alcohol, resulting in a mixture that can cause irreversible harm.
- Mixing sedatives increases the risk of dangerous respiratory depression, unconsciousness, and overdose.
- Misuse also shows up when someone runs out early, takes pills “just in case,” or uses them to calm anxiety instead of sleep.
- The effects of benzodiazepines may be potentiated if taken in combination with other central nervous system (CNS) depressants, such as alcohol and opioids.
- Chloride channel opening results in membrane hyperpolarization, which inhibits cellular excitation.
Respiratory depression (hypoventilation) is when you breathe too slowly or shallowly, preventing proper gas exchange in your lungs. Gas exchange is when oxygen moves from the air sacs (alveoli) in your lungs to your blood, and carbon dioxide (CO2) moves from your blood to https://estudiored.com/alcoholic-nose-rhinophyma-and-alcohol/ your lungs. The CO2 — which is a waste product that your body can’t use — then leaves your body when you breathe out. Acute management consists of maintaining airway, respiration, and haemodynamic support while excluding other diagnoses. Loves the misery of alpine climbing and working in austere environments (namely tertiary trauma centres). Supporter of FOAMed, lifelong education and trying to find that elusive peak performance.
Medical Professionals
- Blood and urine toxicology screen results sent as routine part of clinical care (i.e., no confirmatory gas chromatographic method coupled with mass spectrometry) were recorded to confirm exposure.
- It can be caused by various factors, including the use of certain medications, such as benzodiazepines.
- However, this study included a small sample size, so a larger study using this standardized counseling method would increase the validity of the results of this study 73.
One study showed that replacing BZD with a 45 day captodiamine led to a decrease in severity of withdrawal symptoms in patients taking BZD for six months 70. Another interesting finding was that after the discontinuation of captodamine treatment, there was no emergence of alcohol rehab withdrawal symptoms, suggesting that captodiamine might have a different mechanism of anxiolysis than BZD 70. Additionally, during captodiamine treatment, psychomotor function improved in all areas tested from beginning to end of treatment 70. It must be noted that these patients were taking relatively low doses of BZD pre-treatment 70.
What Is Respiratory Depression? Do Benzodiazepines Cause Respiratory Depression?
Over time, some people begin using to avoid withdrawal rather than to feel good. Get compassionate evidence- based and holistic substance abuse treatment in https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/benzodiazepine-overdose-signs-symptoms-and-treatment/ Arizona. Cleveland Clinic’s health articles are based on evidence-backed information and review by medical professionals to ensure accuracy, reliability, and up-to-date clinical standards.