Benzodiazepines

Get treated for benzodiazepines

At Fresh Start benzodiazepine dependence can be treated with flumazenil. This aims to counter the physical addiction by clearing away the benzodiazepine molecules from the brain. When someone has been using benzodiazepines for some time, they often find that they need a higher and higher dose to achieve the same effect. This is because prolonged use makes the receptors in the brain that detect them less sensitive. Flumazenil restores these receptors'’ sensitivity.

What is flumazenil?

Flumazenil’s primary use with patients has been to reverse the affects of sedation used in surgery or other medical procedures and to treat benzodiazepine overdose. It is usually administered as a single injection, with the dose and frequency being based on the patient's response.

Flumazenil is currently registered for use in Australia and is one of the main drugs used in Australia for benzodiazepine overdose.