Am J Psychiatry 1989; 146:860-865
Copyright © 1989 by American Psychiatric Association
Relapse and rebound following discontinuation of benzodiazepine treatment of panic attacks: alprazolam versus diazepam
PP Roy-Byrne, SR Dager, DS Cowley, P Vitaliano and DL Dunner
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle 98195.
The authors assessed the effects of partial tapering followed by abrupt
discontinuation of alprazolam, diazepam, and placebo in 40 patients with
panic attacks. The anxiety scores and frequency of panic attacks of the
three groups did not differ at the end of the initial 2-week taper, but 1
week after abrupt discontinuation of the remaining medication, patients
formerly taking alprazolam had greater increases in anxiety but no more
panic attacks than did the other patients. Because of low statistical
power, differences in benzodiazepine half- lives, absence of multiple
ratings, and imbalances between groups in clinical characteristics, these
findings must be viewed as preliminary.
