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Benzodiazepine withdrawal in Tunisia: never a hard stop.
Sleeping pills and anti-anxiety drugs can be stopped — but not all at once. Stopping benzodiazepines abruptly exposes the patient to a real seizure risk, to rebound anxiety and to severe insomnia. Withdrawal is therefore a slow, planned taper, step by step, under medical supervision. At Clinique Espoir, in Tunis, the protocol is decided after examination — never in advance and never alone.
The signs of withdrawal
- Rebound anxiety: the anxiety comes back, often stronger than before the treatment.
- Severe insomnia; the sleeping pills no longer work, or the doses keep rising.
- Muscle pain, perceptual disturbances.
- A real seizure risk if stopped abruptly — this is what rules out the hard stop.
One of these signs alone is enough to justify a call, and the call commits you to nothing. If life is in danger — a seizure, confusion, loss of consciousness — dial 190 (SAMU), then call us: we prepare for the arrival. To know what to do right now, three questions are enough to point the way.
The care at the clinic
Never a hard stop: a switch to a molecule with a long half-life, then a slow, planned taper, step by step, with the anxiety supported alongside. The withdrawal syndrome is treated, not endured. The stay follows the same path for everyone:
- Admission assessment: clinical examination, blood work-up, assessment of how severe the dependence is and screening for associated disorders — anxiety, depression, sleep, suicide risk.
- Medically supervised withdrawal: a protocol specific to the substance, tapering doses, vital signs checked several times a day, prevention of seizures.
- Stabilisation: sleep falls back into place and the disorder — often the anxiety — that started the prescription is treated.
- Work on craving, then the aftermath: cognitive behavioural therapy, identifying at-risk situations, and close follow-up consultations after discharge.
The detail is on the home page: the protocol, from the first day to the last, and the Benzodiazepines and sleeping pills entry among the other substances treated.
How long?
Several weeks to several months. Slowness is not failure, it is the protocol: each step is taken once the previous one is stable.
These durations are indicative: they vary with how long use has gone on, the quantities, age and general health. The protocol is decided after examination.
For the family
You do not need the patient’s consent to ask for advice: a first call serves to describe the situation and gauge how urgent it is. Counting the tablets or hiding the boxes shifts the conflict onto surveillance and masks the illness — and above all, never force an abrupt stop yourself. If he or she refuses to hear about it, the page He refuses to come: what can you do? details what helps — and what closes the door.
Two questions people don’t dare ask
Can sleeping pills be stopped at home?
Not alone: stopping benzodiazepines without medical supervision exposes the patient to seizures. The decision is made after examination, never in advance and never alone, and the rule never changes — no hard stop, a planned taper, step by step.
Will it stay confidential?
Medical confidentiality covers the entire stay. No information is passed to an employer, an administration or any third party without the patient’s written consent.
The information on this page is general and does not replace a medical consultation. No treatment, no stop and no dose change should ever be decided from this website.
Request an appointment for benzodiazepine withdrawal →
Before admission: preparing the stay, what to bring.
Other substances: alcohol · opiates · cannabis · cocaine and stimulants · pregabalin.