[Use of anxiolytic atarax as a substitutive drug for benzodiazepine tranquilizers].

The study aimed at investigating of efficacy of hydroxyzine (atarax) as a substitutive drug used in case of benzodiazepine tranquilizers (BDT) withdrawal in patients who received BDT for more than 3 months. Fifty-nine patients with protracted chronic anxiety-phobic disorders were divided into 2 groups: in the first (main) one, BDT were withdrawn at once with the following assignment of substitutive therapy with atarax and in the second (control) group the withdrawal was continuous during 14 days with the simultaneous assignment of a substitutive placebo therapy. In the first group (resumed the BDT therapy because of worsening of their state 23,3% patients finished their participation in the study ahead of time as compared to 65,6% of those in the control group. The Hamilton Anxiety Scale scores were more reduced in the main group than in the control one. The results obtained suggest that atarax is worth to be used as a substitutive drug for BDT.