Benzodiazepine abuse among athletes: Pain relief or just a weapon against insomnia? A clinical case study. (2nd September 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zamboni, Lorenzo; Lugoboni, Fabio; Zandonai, Thomas
• Is Part Of: Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports. Volume 29:Number 12(2019)
• Page Start: 1937
• Page End: 1940
• Publication Date: 2019-09-02
• Subjects: addiction medicine -- clinical pharmacology -- drug abuse -- sleep medicine -- sports; Sports medicine -- Periodicals; Sports -- Physiological aspects -- Periodicals; Sports -- Periodicals; 617.1027
• DOI: 10.1111/sms.13540
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0905-7188

Abstract

Abstract : It is widely recognized that benzodiazepine abuse can potentially induce addiction. Benzodiazepine addiction among athletes is a new and growing phenomenon that we are encountering among our patients. We describe a case of lormetazepam addiction in a female competitive marathon runner. A 30‐year‐old female elite athlete developed lormetazepam addiction after increasing her daily benzodiazepine dosage in an attempt to achieve better sleep and enhanced performances during training. She was hospitalized for 7 days to undergo benzodiazepine detoxification. Her lormetazepam daily dosage on admission was 18 vials (20 ml × 18 = 360 ml). This report highlights the risk of athletes becoming addicted to benzodiazepines used to combat insomnia and pain. There is a need for clinical and epidemiological research to investigate the effects of this addiction, with a view to better protecting the health of athletes.