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How long do you continue benzodiazepines in patients who have recovered from catatonia?

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Psychiatry · South Broward Hospital District

This really is patient-dependent (as everything is in psychiatry). I have a patient currently who I have tried and tapered off over a year, but when I recently finally got him off completely, he started to become manic and catatonic again. I had him on an equivalent of 24 mg of Ativan in inpatient a...

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Psychiatry · Seattle Neuropsychiatric Treatment Center

As others have already responded, it is case-dependent. In an otherwise healthy patient whose underlying medical or psychiatric condition causing catatonia had stabilized, there is likely a way to gradually taper off benzodiazepines without a risk of relapse.

However there are other cases that are mo...

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Psychiatry · Massachusetts General Hospital

I primarily work in the inpatient setting, so I typically assume I will send lysed patients home with the lowest-effective-dose of BZDs and adjuncts, tapered over time. I like to see stability at home and handoff to outpatient providers to very carefully continue tapering only if the patient remains...

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