<p>So we know that repeated withdrawal from GABAeric substances like alcohol and benzodiazepines will cause kindling and worsen future withdrawal symptoms. Also, it appears that withdrawal from alcohol is responsible for most of the brain damage, since binge drinkers have more brain damage than alcoholics. </p>

<p>Wouldn't it be possible then, to take a long acting benzodiazepine or slowly sip alcohol throughout the next day to taper off and therefore mitigate the risk from this? The benzo route seems more effective because the half life of alcohol is fairly low and withdrawal will most likely occur when sleeping. </p>

<p>I could not find any studies about this. Is there any evidence to support this? </p>

<p>Source: <a href="https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh22-1/25-34.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh22-1/25-34.pdf</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-23T19:04:38.213Z
Could you add sources to your claims in the first paragraph? I've never heard of this before (interesting stuff, if it's true :-)
AliceD
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-23T20:06:13.857Z
I added a source, but although not scientific, the Wikipedia has some good info about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindling_(sedative%E2%80%93hypnotic_withdrawal)
Daniel Grover
<neuroscience><psychopharmacology><alcohol>
Can tapering reduce the risk of sedative kindling and brain damage?
Daniel Grover
# Can tapering reduce the risk of sedative kindling and brain damage?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-07-23)

So we know that repeated withdrawal from GABAeric substances like alcohol and benzodiazepines will cause kindling and worsen future withdrawal symptoms. Also, it appears that withdrawal from alcohol is responsible for most of the brain damage, since binge drinkers have more brain damage than alcoholics.

Wouldn't it be possible then, to take a long acting benzodiazepine or slowly sip alcohol throughout the next day to taper off and therefore mitigate the risk from this? The benzo route seems more effective because the half life of alcohol is fairly low and withdrawal will most likely occur when sleeping.

I could not find any studies about this. Is there any evidence to support this?

Source: <https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh22-1/25-34.pdf>

**Tags:** neuroscience, psychopharmacology, alcohol

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Could you add sources to your claims in the first paragraph? I've never heard of this before (interesting stuff, if it's true :-)  
> **username_0**: I added a source, but although not scientific, the Wikipedia has some good info about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindling_(sedative%E2%80%93hypnotic_withdrawal)  

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## 0 answers

