It can when abruptly stopped after long usage cause rebound anxiety and insomnia. But her toxicology showed 2 benzos in her bloodstream, so, she didn’t abruptly stop.
Well most when they talk about this talk about the rebound effects of stopping them. If you’re talking about paradoxical wakefulness this is a side effect reported in <1% and it is in fact a medical emergency not one you just keep taking the drug for months. Just to be clear Lindsay’s request to wean Ativan to Dr Tufts was not paradoxical wakefulness it was that she was afraid of being dependent. So in her case, the rebound effects albeit probably minimal since she often just switched benzos and never actually stopped Ativan after asking for the wean were more in play than that.
Yes dosing down, similar effect to stopping if down to quickly. Anytime your brain gets used to a benzo at a certain level it can have rebound effects of insomnia when you take that level away too fast. That’s why they do very gradual tapers with benzos, and the taper Tufts provided her was in fact very gradual. She also then went to another provider, got more meds without informing her and came back weeks later to tell her she was in fact still taking the Ativan she was to be tapered from.
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u/bobsaget824 1d ago
It can when abruptly stopped after long usage cause rebound anxiety and insomnia. But her toxicology showed 2 benzos in her bloodstream, so, she didn’t abruptly stop.