Situation and problem of administration methods and the intermission of hypnotics.
The results of a questionnaire survey suggested four problems that might prolong the administration of benzodiazepine hypnotics without suspending the medication. First, psychiatrists did not actively consider the necessity of suspension of medication with hypnotics. Second, the period between improvement of insomnia and initiation of dose reduction was long, whereas the period between initiation of dose reduction and discontinuation was short. Third, to suspend medication of a hypnotic, every-other-day administration was used for the very short-acting and short-acting types, and substitution of the intermediate-acting or long-action type for the drugs with a short half-life were performed frequently. Finally, dose reduction and intermission of medication induced rebound insomnia, withdrawal symptoms, and recurrence of insomnia.
Uchimura
Naohisa
N
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kurume University, Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. naohisa@med.kurume-u.ac.jp
Takeuchi
Noboru
N
Kuwahara
Hiroo
H
Nose
Iwao
I
Hashizume
Yuji
Y
Shirakawa
Shinichiro
S
Ohyama
Tetsu
T
Maeda
Hisao
H
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D001569:Benzodiazepines