Benzo-Induced Neurological Disorder
What is Benzodiazepine Induced Neurological Disorder or BIND?
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At first, you might think benzo-induced neurological disorder is a type of long-term withdrawal. It shares similar symptoms of benzo withdrawal, but the timeline for recovery is much longer. BIND disrupts your life and makes things like going to work feel impossible.
But what exactly is BIND?
Prescribed or not, anyone who takes benzodiazepines for an extended time is at risk for this condition. BIND can last a year or longer, and while you might have good days, the symptoms of flare-ups can be debilitating. It’s also scary to experience memory loss, seizures, heart palpitations, and vision problems, all common symptoms of this condition.
Changes Healing Center is here with answers to challenging questions about recovery from cognitive impairment caused by BIND.
Understanding Benzodiazepine-Induced Neurological Disorder
It’s hard to know what to expect when BIND symptoms flare up because it affects so many parts of your body. You’ll experience intense physical and mental impairments. At the root cause is damage from long-term benzodiazepine use.
When you live with BIND, flare-ups cause cognitive, emotional, and physical impairments. It’s believed that the root cause of these problems is damage caused by long-term benzodiazepine use.
Over time, the damage gets so severe that it doesn’t go away when you quit using benzos. You aren’t experiencing protracted withdrawal, so you don’t rebound once the drugs completely leave your system. BIND symptoms tend to linger.
Physical Symptoms
Though BIND is caused by neurological damage, that doesn’t stop the condition from affecting your body. During a flare-up, you might have low energy and muscle weakness. Other symptoms include tingling, numbness, muscle tremors, gastrointestinal problems, light sensitivity, and vision changes.
Mood and Mental Symptoms
You might feel powerless when it comes to the cognitive impairments you’re living with after long-term benzodiazepine exposure. Mental fatigue makes it hard to think clearly, and you might feel confused, struggle to concentrate, or suffer from memory loss.
Your mood changes and you feel anxious or depressed most of the time. It’s possible to feel panic or depersonalization, leaving you feeling disconnected from the world around you. Emotions like these make it difficult to know where to turn for help.
Suicidal Thoughts and Attempts in More Than Half of Long-Term Users
One of the frightening things about BIND is the high risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts. You can feel this way even years after you quit benzos.
You might feel hopeless or helpless in treating your condition. Insomnia makes it harder to think clearly or break free from these depressive feelings. If you are recovering from benzodiazepines and start to feel this way, it’s essential to reach out for help.
Over 50% of people who’ve experienced this condition have felt suicidal. This staggering statistic shows why it’s important to re-evaluate whether benzodiazepines are the right option for managing long-term health conditions.
For some people, choosing an alternative to treat anxiety, seizures, and muscle spasms is safer. Few would choose the physical discomfort and cognitive issues that you deal with when living with BIND.
BIND vs. Benzo Withdrawal
People going through withdrawal from benzodiazepines might struggle with insomnia, anxiety, and mood. Withdrawal is caused by benzodiazepine dependence, which means you’ve been using the medication long enough that your body starts to rely on it to feel “normal”. This can happen even when you take your medication as prescribed.
When you quit benzos, there’s an adjustment period your body and brain go through, relearning how to function without benzodiazepines. This is withdrawal. When you’re going through withdrawal, the symptoms experienced start to go away after a few weeks.
With BIND, your symptoms don’t really get better over time. There are periods when they don’t affect you as much. However, people with BIND have flare-ups of their symptoms that are intense and hard to manage.
BIND is much longer-lasting than benzodiazepine withdrawal. It’s also challenging to treat because there’s no direct path to recovery. It varies from person to person, similar to a traumatic brain injury.
Risk Factors for Benzodiazepine-Induced Neurological Dysfunction
Anyone who uses benzodiazepines like Valium, clonazepam, Ativan, and Restoril is at risk of developing BIND with long-term use. High doses, tapering, and using benzos alongside alcohol or street drugs also increase the risk of neurological damage, even after discontinuation.
Even though there are risk factors for developing BIND, genetics and individual tolerance can also play a role. It’s possible to be predisposed to neurological sensitivity, making it more likely you’ll experience damage from using benzo medications.
Why It’s Important to Take Benzos as Originally Prescribed
Benzodiazepines might be prescribed for a number of medical conditions, from muscle spasms to anxiety. They have medical benefits, but like most drugs, there are also risks. Taking anything that depresses your central nervous system for an extended time causes issues.
It’s important to follow your prescription because of the risks associated with using benzodiazepines long-term. For people using benzo street drugs, there’s an added risk of using manufactured pills.
There’s no way to tell if the medications are authentic, and they might contain inaccurate doses, or even other drugs. Some people overdose because these pills contain opioids or deadly fentanyl.
Will Tapering My Dose Reduce Long-Term Effects?
During tapering, the amount of benzodiazepines that you take is slowly reduced under a doctor’s supervision. There’s no guarantee that it will prevent BIND, but tapering is much safer than sudden discontinuation. It also reduces the intensity of withdrawal symptoms.
Getting Treatment for Benzodiazepine Dependence
At Changes Healing Center, the healing process starts with an assessment to help us determine where you need help. For example, many benzodiazepine users have anxiety or another underlying condition that benefits from psychiatry.
Or, maybe your depressive symptoms are so bad that an antidepressant will help.
Healing from benzodiazepine dependence takes more than medical detox. Outside of managing withdrawal symptoms in the short term, we provide a slow tapering schedule and holistic support to reduce symptoms.
We offer our clients benzodiazepine support groups that teach you strategies for living with BIND, even after you’ve successfully stopped using benzodiazepines.
Learning to Manage BIND Symptoms
There aren’t many researched ways to manage benzodiazepine-induced neurological dysfunction. Even when benzos are fully discontinued, there’s a risk of experiencing symptoms, especially for people who develop BIND.
The holistic treatments we offer for central nervous system depressants like benzos, from nutritional and sleep support to evidence-based therapies, all work to help with managing BIND symptoms long-term. You’ll start to recognize your flare-ups and what triggers them, then learn coping skills to keep those symptoms in check.
Get Help Overcoming Benzodiazepine Use at Changes
It is exhausting to deal with the physical and mental symptoms of BIND alone. If you or a loved one is struggling with benzo withdrawal or BIND, reach out to Changes Healing Center today.
We are not just an addiction treatment center. From symptom management to coping skills for ongoing support, we help you learn to do more than just live with your diagnosis. We can help you regain control of your daily life.
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