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how the drug works in the body to create a high??

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how the drug works in the body to create a high??

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Sleeping pills and minor tranquillisers are sedative medications. This means they slow down your body and brain's functions. For example, this may be your breathing, heartbeat and thought processes. Most CNS depressants act on the brain by increasing activity of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a chemical that inhibits brain activity. This action causes the drowsy and calming effects that make the medicine effective for anxiety and sleep disorders.

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What are prescription CNS depressants?

Central Nervous System (CNS) depressants are medicines that include sedatives, tranquilizers, and hypnotics. These drugs can slow brain activity, making them useful for treating anxiety, panic, acute stress reactions, and sleep disorders.

CNS depressants cause drowsiness; sedatives are often prescribed to treat sleep disorders like insomnia and hypnotics can induce sleep, whereas tranquilizers are prescribed to treat anxiety or to relieve muscle spasms.

Some examples of CNS depressants grouped by their respective drug class are:

How do people use and misuse prescription CNS depressants?

Most prescription CNS depressants come in pill, capsule, or liquid form, which a person takes by mouth. Misuse of prescription CNS depressants means:

taking medicine in a way or dose other than prescribed

taking someone else's medicine

taking medicine for the effect it causes - to get high

When misusing a prescription CNS depressant, a person can swallow the medicine in its normal form or can crush pills or open capsules.

How do CNS depressants affect the brain?

Most CNS depressants act on the brain by increasing activity of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a chemical that inhibits brain activity. This action causes the drowsy and calming effects that make the medicine effective for anxiety and sleep disorders. People who start taking CNS depressants usually feel sleepy and uncoordinated for the first few days until the body adjusts to these side effects. Other effects from use and misuse can include:

slurred speech

poor concentration

confusion

headache

light-headedness

dizziness

dry mouth

problems with movement and memory

lowered blood pressure

slowed breathing

If a person takes CNS depressants long term, he or she might need larger doses to achieve therapeutic effects. Continued use can also lead to dependence and withdrawal when use is abruptly reduced or stopped. Suddenly stopping can also lead to harmful consequences like seizures.

Can a person overdose on CNS depressants?

Yes, a person can overdose on CNS depressants. An overdose occurs when the person uses enough of a drug to produce life-threatening symptoms or death (read more on our Intentional vs. Unintentional Overdose Deaths webpage).

When people overdose on a CNS depressant, their breathing often slows or stops. This can decrease the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain, a condition called hypoxia. Hypoxia can have short- and long-term mental effects and effects on the nervous system, including coma and permanent brain damage.

How can a CNS depressant overdose be treated?

The most important step to take is to call 911 so a person who has overdosed can receive immediate medical attention. Flumazenil (Romazicon ®) is a medication that medical personnel can use to treat benzodiazepine overdose and has also been shown effective in treating overdose from sleep medicines. The drug might not completely reverse slowed breathing and can lead to seizures in some patients who are taking certain antidepressants. Flumazenil is short acting, and the patient may need more of it every 20 minutes until he or she recovers. For barbiturates and nonbenzodiazepines, body temperature, pulse, breathing, and blood pressure should be monitored while waiting for the drug to be eliminated.

Can prescription CNS depressant use lead to addiction and substance use disorder?

Yes, use or misuse of prescription CNS depressants can lead to problem use, known as a substance use disorder (SUD), which takes the form of addiction in severe cases. Long-term use of prescription CNS depressants, even as prescribed by a doctor, can cause some people to develop a tolerance, which means that they need higher and/or more frequent doses of the drug to get the desired effects. A SUD develops when continued use of the drug leads to negative consequences such as health problems or failure to meet responsibilities at work, school, or home, but despite all that the drug use continues.

Those who have become addicted to a prescription CNS depressant and stop using the drug abruptly may experience a withdrawal. Withdrawal symptoms-which can begin as early as a few hours after the drug was last taken-include:

seizures

shakiness

anxiety

agitation

insomnia

overactive reflexes

increased heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature with sweating

hallucinations

severe cravings

People addicted to prescription CNS depressants should not attempt to stop taking them on their own. Withdrawal symptoms from these drugs can be severe and-in the case of certain medications-potentially life-threatening.

How can people get treatment for prescription CNS depressant addiction?

There isn't a lot of research on treating people for addiction to prescription CNS depressants. However, people addicted to these medications should undergo medically supervised detoxification because the dosage they take should be tapered gradually. Counseling, either in an outpatient or inpatient program, can help people through this process. One type of counseling, cognitive-behavioral therapy, focuses on modifying the person's thinking, expectations, and behaviors while improving ways to cope with life's stresses. Cognitive-behavioral therapy has helped people successfully adapt to stop using benzodiazepines.

Often prescription CNS depressant misuse occurs along with the use of other drugs, such as alcohol or opioids. In those cases, the person should seek treatment that addresses the multiple addictions.

Points to Remember

Prescription CNS depressants are medicines that can slow brain activity to treat anxiety and sleep disorders.

Prescription CNS depressants act on the brain by increasing activity of GABA, a chemical that slows brain activity.

People who start taking prescription CNS depressants usually feel sleepy and uncoordinated at first. They can also have poor concentration, confusion, lowered blood pressure, and slowed breathing.

A person can overdose on prescription CNS depressants. Flumazenil (Romazicon®) can be used to treat benzodiazepine and sleep medicine overdoses. Body temperature, pulse, breathing, and blood pressure should be monitored while waiting for the drug to be eliminated.

Prescription CNS depressant use or misuse can lead to a substance use disorder, which takes the form of addiction in severe cases, even when used as prescribed by a doctor.

Withdrawal symptoms include: seizures; shakiness; anxiety; agitation; insomnia; overactive reflexes; increased heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature; hallucinations; and severe cravings.

Learn More

For more information about prescription CNS depressants, see our:

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Prescription CNS Depressants DrugFacts | National Institute on Drug Abuse

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A plain language research summary of CNS depressants, how they can be misused, and how they affect the brain.

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An overdose on Benzodiazepines is unlikely, but when paired with other depressants, it can be fatal. Some symptoms can include: loss of coordination, visual impairments, hallucinations, confusion, unresponsiveness, low blood pressure, coma

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Tranquilizer Overdose | Signs, Symptoms, & Treatment

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The severity of a tranquilizer overdose depends on the drug and whether the person took other substances. Learn more about overdosing on tranquilizers.

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typically characterized by sleep disturbance, irritability, increased tension and anxiety, panic attacks, hand tremor, sweating, difficulty in concentration, dry wretching and nausea, some weight loss, palpitations, headache, muscular pain and stiffness and a host of perceptual changes.

The most common is a short-lived "rebound" anxiety and insomnia, coming on within 1-4 days of discontinuation, depending on the half-life of the particular drug. The second pattern is the full-blown withdrawal syndrome, usually lasting 10-14 days; finally, a third pattern may represent the return of anxiety symptoms which then persist until some form of treatment is instituted.

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Abstract

Physiological dependence on benzodiazepines is accompanied by a withdrawal syndrome which is typically characterized by sleep disturbance, irritability, increased tension and anxiety, panic attacks, hand tremor, sweating, difficulty in concentration, dry wretching and nausea, some weight loss, palpitations, headache, muscular pain and stiffness and a host of perceptual changes. Instances are also reported within the high-dosage category of more serious developments such as seizures and psychotic reactions. Withdrawal from normal dosage benzodiazepine treatment can result in a number of symptomatic patterns. The most common is a short-lived "rebound" anxiety and insomnia, coming on within 1-4 days of discontinuation, depending on the half-life of the particular drug. The second pattern is the full-blown withdrawal syndrome, usually lasting 10-14 days; finally, a third pattern may represent the return of anxiety symptoms which then persist until some form of treatment is instituted. Physiological dependence on benzodiazepines can occur following prolonged treatment with therapeutic doses, but it is not clear what proportion of patients are likely to experience a withdrawal syndrome. It is also unknown to what extent the risk of physiological dependence is dependent upon a minimum duration of exposure or dosage of these drugs. Withdrawal phenomena appear to be more severe following withdrawal from high doses or short-acting benzodiazepines. Dependence on alcohol or other sedatives may increase the risk of benzodiazepine dependence, but it has proved difficult to demonstrate unequivocally differences in the relative abuse potential of individual benzodiazepines.

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substance withdrawal syndrome / physiopathology*

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substance withdrawal syndrome / psychology

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national center for biotechnology information

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The benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome - PubMed

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Physiological dependence on benzodiazepines is accompanied by a withdrawal syndrome which is typically characterized by sleep disturbance, irritability, increased tension and anxiety, panic attacks, hand tremor, sweating, difficulty in concentration, dry wretching and nausea, some weight loss, palpi ...

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Treatment for recovery on tranquilizers include medication-assisted treatment, which is a way to easy-off of drugs. Impatient addiction treatment facilities are recommended, this includes therapy, support groups, and evaluations. Outpatient treatment includes counseling and therapy resources.

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The journey to overcome sedative addiction starts here - with treatment tailored to your needs and compassionate care.

What are sedatives?

Sedatives are sometimes called depressants and work to slow activity in your brain and nervous system. They generally come in the form of a pill or tablet and are prescribed by doctors to treat disorders including panic attacks, insomnia and seizures.

Sedatives can be broken into three main categories, including:

Benzodiazepines

Barbiturates

Sleeping medications

Benzodiazepines

Prescribed to treat severe stress, sleep disorders and panic attacks, benzodiazepines are the most commonly prescribed sedatives. They affect the brain in a similar way to alcohol, which is an effect that sometimes leads to substance misuse (using a prescription outside of directions from a doctor) and addiction.

Common benzodiazepines include:

Alprazolam (Xanax)

Clonazepam (Klonopin)

Diazepam (Valium)

Lorazepam (Ativan)

Temazepam (Restoril)

Barbiturates

Commonly prescribed by doctors to treat seizure disorders and extreme pain, barbiturates have the effect of causing calm and sleepiness. They may make a person feel drunk and intoxicated, which makes them highly addictive. When someone stops taking barbiturates, they can experience some adverse side effects, which is why inpatient care and medication-assisted treatment are often necessary for treatment.

Types of barbiturates include:

Amytal (Amobarbital)

Fiorinal/Fioricet (Butalbital)

Luminal (Phenobarbital)

Nembutal (Pentobarbital)

Seconal (Secobarbital)

Sleeping medications

Also called "sleeping pills," these are meant to help people who have trouble getting to or staying asleep. They are meant as a temporary solution or insomnia and are often prescribed only for a short period of time. Sleeping medications work by depressing the central nervous system enough to help someone relax and fall asleep.

Sometimes, people become dependent on these pills and form an addiction. While sleeping pills are largely non-habit forming, people can become reliant on them and can develop a tolerance to them that leads to substance misuse.

Types of sleeping pills include:

Eszopiclone (Lunesta)

Temazepam (Restoril)

Triazolam (Halcion)

Zaleplon (Sonata)

Zolpidem (Ambien)

Signs of sedative addiction

Each sedative affects the brain in different ways, but most can help people who struggle with feeling calm and relaxed or sleeping. However, when sedatives are misused for a euphoric effect, it can lead to addiction.

While sedative addiction isn't always easy to spot, some key symptoms include:

Anxiety

Confusion

Impaired judgment

Inability to focus or concentrate

Mood swings

Slow or shallow breathing

Slurred speech

Treatment for sedative addiction

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, reaching out for help is a powerful first step in overcoming addiction. At Geisinger Marworth, we create a treatment plan that focuses on the individual, with a treatment path that works best for you and your needs.

Treatments for sedative addiction may include:

Medication sedative treatment

Medication-assisted treatment (MAT), also referred to as "medications for addiction treatment," focuses on treating the whole person, not just symptoms. MAT is an effective way to overcome drug and alcohol addiction and works by easing someone off a substance, which reduces the likelihood of an overdose while lessening withdrawal symptoms.

We use medications that treat acute or chronic pain and help treat sedative addiction, including:

Buprenorphine (Suboxone®)

IM Buprenorphine (Sublocade®)

Extended-release naltrexone (Vivitrol®)

Learn more about medication-assisted treatment at Geisinger Marworth.

Inpatient addiction treatment

With inpatient care, you'll have 24/7 support and live at our facility, located on a 27-acre former governor's estate, for the duration of your stay. Inpatient addiction treatment services include:

Inpatient addiction treatment services include:

Learn more about inpatient addiction treatment at Geisinger Marworth.

Outpatient addiction treatment

If you're looking for addiction treatment for you or a loved one that accommodates your needs and unique, personal situations (including work schedules), outpatient addiction treatment can help.

We take a holistic approach to your care that puts you at the center through a combination of treatment with medical, spiritual and emotional support. In fact, our outpatient treatment centers are recognized as a Center of Excellence.

Our outpatient addiction services include:

Learn more about outpatient addiction treatment at Geisinger Marworth.

Addiction treatment at Geisinger Marworth

The addiction treatment at Geisinger Marworth team has helped countless people recover from addictions. No matter what your situation may be, we're here for you with:

Compassionate, confidential care - More than 40,000 individuals have turned to Geisinger Marworth for help with drug and alcohol addiction. With counselors available 24/7, we focus on treating the whole person - not just the symptoms of addiction. That's why you'll find a variety of treatments, including recreational therapy, medication-assisted therapy and more.

Leading-edge therapies - We offer many paths to help you achieve long-lasting recovery. Overcoming alcohol or drug addiction is possible. Everyone's journey is unique, which is why we offer a wide range of specialized services and treatments. You'll find treatment programs in clinics and hospitals throughout our region, so you can receive support close to home.

Backed by a healthcare system - As part of Geisinger health system, locations throughout northeast, central and south-central Pennsylvania mean you don't have to travel far to get the care and help you need. For inpatient or outpatient addiction treatment, find an addiction treatment center that's close to you by calling 866-362-6344.

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With addiction treatment that's highly specialized and tailored to your unique needs, we can help you overcome addiction to sedatives addiction. Learn more.