Background: The availability of nonapproved psychoactive substances with addiction potential from internet sources poses a significant threat to public health. Polysubstance abuse or inadvertent contamination of preparations may result in clinically challenging intoxication and withdrawal syndromes.
Case report: We report a case of a 32-year-old male with an approximate 2-year history of taking internet-obtained etizolam and tianeptine who presented to the hospital following an overdose. He experienced subsequent withdrawal symptoms consistent with benzodiazepine and opioid withdrawal. Initial attempts at managing symptoms with chlordiazepoxide 25 mg every 6 hours did not relieve his symptoms. On day 3 of admission, addiction medicine was consulted and his regimen was changed to diazepam 80 mg daily with additional as-needed diazepam based on etizolam equivalence. He also received a 5-day methadone taper with plans to transition to buprenorphine in the outpatient setting. Upon discharge he was referred to an addiction medicine specialist who was willing to continue a slow diazepam taper and initiate medications for opioid use disorder to manage both substance use disorders.
Discussion: This case report demonstrates the effectiveness of diazepam in managing benzodiazepine withdrawal from etizolam while concurrently using methadone to manage opioid withdrawal symptoms from tianeptine in a hospitalized patient following overdose. We highlight the importance of a warm handoff in considering the outpatient discharge plan.
Keywords: benzodiazepine; diazepam; etizolam; tianeptine; withdrawal.
© 2022 AAPP. The Mental Health Clinician is a publication of the American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists.