Are you taking one of these risky benzo meds and don’t even know it?

While everyone is up in arms over whether Wal-mart was selling fake Echinacea, this may be the most important news you need to know – especially if you’re over 65.

But unless you subscribe to medical journals or make it a point to see what the National Institutes of Health are up to, you’ll never hear about it. Especially during all the hoopla over dietary supplements.

It’s about a common type of drug called benzodiazepine, or “benzo” for short. And even though doctors should be well aware that these meds can be deadly to older people, they’re being given out to seniors like candy.

But even worse, you could be taking one (or more) of them and not even know it.

A drop in the bucket

Those harmless looking little pills that help with anxiety or allow you to get to sleep at night are among the most dangerous – and addictive — drugs you can take.

And while millions of people of all ages get prescriptions for these meds, a new study found that the people most likely to be given an Rx are those over 65.  The very people who are at the highest risk for the serious and scary complications they can cause.

The study also uncovered the fact that women in that age group are twice as likely to be taking a benzo drug.

While the bad news about these meds hits the news every so often, this was the first time researchers looked at exactly who is taking them – and for how long.

And the results of this study were shocking – even to the director of the National Institute of Mental Health. He said it raises some big questions — like why, even though we know that seniors shouldn’t be given these drugs, are so many prescriptions flying off Rx pads and into their hands?

And even worse, instead of being a temporary fix for a few sleepless nights or a case of anxiety, they’re being taken for months – even years on end.

Of course, the NIH and everyone else involved in this study will just stand there shaking their heads and talking about how “worrisome” this is.

But “worrisome” is putting it very mildly.

Taking these pills can make it twice as likely that you’ll suffer a hip fracture or get involved in a car accident. They can also up your risk of suffering from urinary incontinence.

Then there’s the horrible connection between these meds and Alzheimer’s disease.

A study last year found that these drugs can increase your risk of Alzheimer’s by up to 84 percent. I’d say that’s quite a bit more than “worrisome.”

While the study focused on benzo drugs, there’s another class of meds that are just as dangerous, Z drugs.

Z drugs operate in your brain almost exactly the same as benzos do.

And while these benzo and Z drugs have familiar brand names, such as Ambien, Ambien CR, Intermezzo, Lunesta, Valium and Xanax, they can also go by some unfamiliar generic names that include:

• alprazolam
• diazepam
• temazepam
• triazolam
• zolpidem
• eszopiclone

If you’re not sure if you’ve been given one of these meds, your pharmacist should be able to tell you immediately.

As I said, these drugs are highly addictive. And because of that you shouldn’t abruptly stop them, but wean yourself off gradually.

If you’ve been taking these one of these benzo or Z drugs for years, or even just a few months, getting off of them may be one of the hardest things you’ve ever done.

But it’s absolutely the best thing you can do for yourself – and your loved ones.

Source:

“Benzodiazepine often used in older people despite risks” National Institutes of Health, January 12, 2015, nih.gov