Triazolam 427Drawbacks.Triazolam has been likened toflunitrazepamin ability to cause
amnesia. Memory trouble has been scientifically demonstrated after triazolam
dosage, and an experiment measured continued memory impairment a week
after taking the compound. Triazolam is associated with “traveler’s amnesia”
when people on the go (such as airline passengers) take the drug for a quick
sleep and rouse themselves for activity before the substance has worn off; they
forget things they did while under the drug’s influence. That condition is
sometimes associated with simultaneously ingestingalcohol, an unwise prac-
tice with any benzodiazepine class substance. The amnesia can be startling.
Physicians have taken triazolam to promote a good night’s sleep, attended to
professional duties the next day (including carrying out medical procedures),
and suddenly realized they have no memory of anything they have done in
that time period. Colleagues and patients observed nothing amiss; by coinci-
dence one doctor was videotaped during the “blackout” period, and the vid-
eotape showed him acting normally. Such an effect can happen without drugs;
some car drivers suddenly realize they have gone for several blocks or miles
with no recollection of stoplights or turnoffs. Under triazolam amnesia people
function normally and do not do anything they would not ordinarily do but
simply fail to acquire memory of what they did. Flumazenil is a drug that
counteracts benzodiazepine effects, and U.S. Army research has determined
that administering flumazenil with triazolam prevents the memory trouble.
Triazolam may promote extraverted behavior, mania, aggression, halluci-
nations (visual, auditory, tactile), confusion, and difficulty in communicating.
These responses are mostly limited to users who are elderly or who have a
prior history of psychiatric difficulties. A study of psychiatric patients receiv-
ing high dosage of triazolam documented that they engaged in alarming con-
duct (ranging from self-induced vomiting to panic attacks and suicide
attempts) with no memory of the activity after the drug wore off. Persons who
commit violent acts after taking triazolam seem to be persons who are already
psychologically abnormal. In the general population such effects are unusual:
Examination of results from clinical trials testing the drug on over 5,400 per-
sons revealed no reports of psychotic reaction. Nonetheless, in the early 1990s
unwanted psychological effects prompted a ban against triazolam by govern-
ments around the world (although not by the United States). After further
consideration, most of those countries restored access to the drug. Two au-
thorities have suggested that the most sensible approach is simply to avoid
prescribing the drug to persons who are elderly or mentally ill.
A study in Finland concluded that despite occasional bizarre behavior
prompted by the drug, triazolam was not associated with violent death; in-
deed, in fatalities the drug was detected less often than would be expected by
chance. A comparison of psychiatric patient records found that triazolam is
no more prone to lower someone’s inhibitions than temazepam, and an ex-
periment testing adverse effects in normal volunteers found little difference
between those two drugs in comparable dosing.
A reviewer who examined dozens of scientific studies involving thousands
of triazolam users found unwanted sedation to be the only adverse effect
reliably associated with medical doses of the substance, although a reviewer
of studies sponsored by the manufacturer noted occasional complaints of