Abstinence syndrome from therapeutic doses of oxazepam.

A patient developed severe anxiety, moodswing, depression, and thinking disorder 24 hours after abruptly stopping oxazepam, of which he had taken 30 mg 3 times a day for two months, for anxiety and panic attacks. Oxazepam was restarted and tapered off gradually; nevertheless, a relatively severe abstinence syndrome occurred. Muscular fasciculations and moodswing were very marked. The patient also experienced significant anxiety, depression, moodswing, and muscular fasciculations for two months after detoxication from oxazepam. Subsequently, the patient's panic attacks were treated successfully with propranolol hydrochloride. This report concludes with a brief review of the literature on benzodiazepine withdrawal.