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Neuroleptic-induced deficit syndrome and Benzodiazepine poisoning and withdrawal

A case of an elderly female who was exhibiting bizarre behavior with auditory and visual hallucinations. Notably she was on two antipsychotic medications.
A discussion on how one would approach this case - paranoia, dual antipsychotic therapy, long term benzodiazepines, possibly Neuroleptic induced deficit syndrome was discussed. A paper of interest - How to distinguish between the neuroleptic-induced deficit syndrome, depression and disease-related negative symptoms in schizophrenia.
The topic of long term benzodiazepines use and its risks benefits came up and Dr. Nemes talked about two treatment approaches to get people off of benzodiazepines.

  1. The first approach would be to switch them to a long acting benzodiazepine and then taper it down safely so that the patient has no more withdrawal symptoms.
  2. The second approach would be to switch the patient to an appropriate anti seizure medication like Phenobarbital and then stop the benzodiazepine.

We closed on the topic of Post acute withdrawal from benzodiazepines.
Please follow the link to read more on the Benzodiazepine poisoning and withdrawal


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