What type of drug is benzodiazepine?

Benzodiazepine is a class of controlled drugs used for many things but most as major tranquilizers. Some of the more popular brand names of types of benzos are Xanax, Klonapin, Ativan, and Valium. These drugs are usually prescribed to get a person through a short term crisis and are not usually prescribed for long term use as they are highly physically and psychologically addictive. If you have been taking one on a regular basis for more than 2 weeks do NOT stop taking it without consulting your doctor as some of the withdrawal side effects can be serious, i.e., seizures.

For anxiety, most people are now prescribed SSRIs with a "side" of a benzo for really bad days.

Other uses include (depending on the drug):

control nausea

pre-op tranquilizer

relieve minor chemotherapy symptoms

calm elderly dementia patients

headache (tension)

to help withdrawal from other medications

These are very powerful drugs and emergency rooms report that most fatal overdoses they see are from benzodiazepines, especially if mixed with alcohol.

For more information go to www.benzo.org