FloridaTaper
Evidence-based information on benzodiazepine tapering, withdrawal, and BIND
FloridaTaper publishes careful, evidence-informed writing on benzodiazepine tapering, withdrawal, and recovery — for patients, families, and clinicians.
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Latest articles
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Using an Oral Syringe for Liquid Benzodiazepine Tapering: A Simple Guide to Precise Measurement
There is a scene almost everyone in a benzodiazepine taper knows by heart. A tablet on the kitchen counter, a pill splitter poised above it, a press and a snap, and then…
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Compounding Pharmacy Concentrations Explained: Understanding the Math Behind Your Liquid Taper
The first time you read the label on a compounded liquid, it can feel like a pop quiz you did not study for. One milligram per milliliter. Numbers, slashes, abbreviations. If word…
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The Two-Syringe Method: Using Dual Concentrations to Achieve Precise Benzodiazepine Dose Reductions
In the middle of a benzodiazepine taper, the numbers get small. Smaller than tablets. Smaller than half tablets. Smaller than anything a pill splitter could dream of producing. That is the plan…
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Gabapentin and Pregabalin During Benzodiazepine Tapering: Borrowed Relief That Creates a Future Debt
In many tapering stories there comes a moment when someone offers a cushion. We can add gabapentin, they say. It will take the edge off. And when you have been white-knuckling a…
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Flexeril for Muscle Spasms in Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Is an Option, Not the Treatment
Withdrawal muscle pain has a habit of arriving at night: a calf cramp at two in the morning that closes like a fist, shoulders that have sat up around the ears for…
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When Promethazine Does Not Help Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Symptoms: Why a Potent Antihistamine Can Produce Zero Effect
In short: Promethazine can do nothing in benzodiazepine withdrawal because it works mainly by blocking histamine, while withdrawal sleeplessness most likely comes from a gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system that is still recovering,…
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Why Propranolol, Clonidine, and Hydroxyzine Cannot Reach the Root of Benzodiazepine Withdrawal
Three prescriptions, and the same withdrawal underneath. Propranolol, clonidine, and hydroxyzine are the three comfort medications most often added during a benzodiazepine taper, and for some patients they do little or nothing.…
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How Everyday Stress and Family Emergencies Trigger Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Flares, and Why Holding Your Taper Is Not Failure
Why did one bad day bring all of the symptoms back? Patients describe the same pattern so often that it deserves a plain answer. A stretch of good days, then a surprise…
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Spreading Out Your Diazepam Doses: Why Timing Matters More Than You Think During a Crossover Taper
If you are partway through a switch from alprazolam (Xanax) or lorazepam (Ativan) to diazepam (Valium), you may have run into a puzzle. Everyone told you diazepam was the smooth one, the…
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Benzodiazepine-Induced Neurological Dysfunction: Why Standard Psychiatric Treatment Can Make Things Worse
In short: Benzodiazepine-Induced Neurological Dysfunction (BIND) is the set of neurological symptoms that can occur while a person is still taking a benzodiazepine at a steady dose, during a taper, and after…