The Benefits and Hidden Risks of Benzodiazepine Use for Chemo Patients
Even under the best possible circumstances, a cancer diagnosis is frightening. The course of the disease can be unpredictable, and chemotherapy, when needed, can be debilitating. Many cancer patients deal with anxiety and depression, some for years after they’ve completed treatment.
Benzodiazepines can help with all of these issues. In some ways, they seem like miracle drugs, perfectly designed to treat a wide range of symptoms that plague patients in cancer treatment. Benzos can help chemo patients with anxiety, insomnia, nausea and vomiting. They may even help prevent what doctors call ‘anticipatory vomiting’ for patients who come to associate chemo with nausea.
Benzos are particularly attractive because they treat multiple symptoms at once. Rather than taking several drugs to deal with anxiety, pain, and nausea, a patient can simply take a benzo and get all these benefits in one pill.
The benefits of treating these serious mental and physical symptoms are huge. Undergoing chemo is incredibly challenging, and there’s no question that cancer patients need help dealing with their mental health challenges.
But benzo use also comes with risks, risks that many patients aren’t aware of when they begin taking these drugs.
For instance, benzos are generally prescribed and most effective for episodic and short-term use — that is, days to weeks — and rarely for long-term use many cancer patients need. Unfortunately, cancer patients are seldom offered the first-line and non-medication treatments suggested for use before resorting to benzos.
What’s more, the urgent nature of the cancer crisis often leads health care providers to focus on a short-term treatment plan. That means, benzos are often prescribed to help manage the effects of cancer and cancer treatment without a plan to taper the patient off of benzos. And, with improvements in cancer treatment and recovery, many patients find recovering from long-term benzo-induced symptoms even tougher than recovering from the actual cancer symptoms benzos were used to alleviate.
It’s extremely common for cancer patients to continue to struggle with mental health challenges after they’ve completed treatment and even after they’re cancer-free. One study found that nearly 8% of breast cancer survivors who were no longer in chemo treatment were still taking benzos for anxiety. That’s much higher than the 3% of the total population who take benzos. Of course, breast cancer survivors are dealing with unique mental health challenges. But long-term benzo use greatly increases the risk of dependence and substance abuse.
Our founder Adnan Asar, has written about his family’s personal story with benzo use associated with cancer. His wife, Donna, was prescribed benzos to help with chemo-related symptoms, but after only a short period she experienced withdrawal symptoms when she tried to stop using the medication. She was told that her only options were to quit cold turkey, or stay on the medication for the rest of her life.
Fortunately for patients, this either / or isn’t true. Evidence-based treatments now exist that can help patients safely taper their benzo use, under the supervision of licensed professional counselors. Patients can taper slowly with breaks as necessary, working with their counselor to ensure that they can manage their symptoms — while they learn new strategies to manage their mental health issues without the medication.
Cancer patients are dealing with an enormous, life-or-death challenge. The mental health consequences of facing a diagnosis and going through treatment can be severe. These patients need effective medications that can help them deal with these challenges, along with the severe physical symptoms that come with chemo.
But cancer patients also need to know about the risks of taking benzos for an extended period of time, that they’re really intended to be a short-term strategy. While benzos can be enormously helpful to cancer patients as they’re going through treatment, the risk of dependence, withdrawal symptoms and substance use issues means they can’t be a long-term solution.
Fortunately, there is a solution. Patients can plan in advance to work through a medication titration program once they’re finished with treatment. They can work with a trained professional who can guide them through a safe tapering program, and they can learn new ways to manage their mental health without benzos — either with alternative medications, strategies like cognitive behavioral therapy, or both.
A cancer diagnosis is always frightening. But patients should be aware of the benefits and risks of any treatment, and they deserve to get the help they need both during chemo and afterwards.
Learn more about our work to help physicians and patients at Skyler Health.
