A 44-year male has anxiety for which he was put on alprazolam therapy for 3 years. His family notices no improvement and he develops slurring of speech after taking few pegs of alcohol. He decided to stop using the drug to prevent dependence. He was admitted to hospital with severe withdrawal symptoms. Which is accurate statement for Alprazolam use :-
High-Yield Explanation
Benzodiazepines can cause dependence with withdrawal symptoms i.e anxiety and agitation seen on stoppage of drug. Tolerance develops with these drugs and dose needs to be increased. Additive CNS depression can occur with ethanol.