Benzodiazepines are often called ‘benzos’. They are medicines used to treat anxiety or difficulty sleeping. Z-drugs include zopiclone and zolpidem. They are used to help with difficulty sleeping. They work in a similar way to benzodiazepines, so they are often grouped together.
These medications are usually only recommended for short-term use, as longer use can lead to dependence and may worsen sleep problems over time. It’s recommended that benzodiazepines and z-drugs should normally only be taken for a few weeks for anxiety or difficulty sleeping.
People who take them for longer than this can have the following side effects:
• sluggish or fuzzy thinking (‘brain fog’)
• struggling to concentrate or remember things
• feel emotionally numb
• feel anxious or depressed (down or sad). That might mean that they find it difficult to cope with things like meeting new people or new situations or find it hard to leave the house.
People can also develop tolerance, which means that, over time, the medicine does not work as well as it did at first. If you have tolerance, you may have found you need to increase your dose to get the same effects. This can lead to more side effects.
If you have any of these problems you might want to stop taking your benzo or z-drug. You might also want to stop if you feel you no longer need it to help with the problem you started taking it for. But stopping taking a benzo or z-drug is not straightforward. If you have been taking one for more than a few weeks, you may find you develop dependence.
If you have been taking one of these medicines for more than a few weeks, it is important to reduce the dose slowly. If you reduce the dose too quickly you are far more likely to get withdrawal effects, which can be very serious and sometimes life-threatening. Stopping your medicine will usually take many weeks or months and could take up to a year or even longer.
Please see link for further information:
NG215 Patient decision aid full version on should I stop my benzodiazepine or z-drug?
If you would like to discuss your medication or arrange a review, please contact the surgery to book an appointment with a GP or practice pharmacist.