Why does benzodiazepine withdrawal can cause all kinds of respiratory infections?

[THE_REAL_OBLIVION]

If you look around on the internet, many authoritative and not-so-authoritative websites claim that benzo withdrawal can cause infection of the sinuses, pharynx, larynx, ears(otitis) and can even degenerate in bronchitis?

I'm trying to make sense of that one. I'm currently going very slowly in a valium taper (from valium, used it to get rid of 4mg rivotril a day down to 20mg valium a day 4 years ago, I couldn't go lower at the pace me and my psychiatrist decided to take (drops of 5mg per week, started at 55mg of valium). We're going 1mg every 10 days right now, am scripted 10's, 5's and 2's(never had seen 2mg valium before heh) so to make it possible to go 1mg less a week. After 5 days with no valium because I fucked up with what I had for these 2 weeks (dispensed it every 2 weeks) due to some pretty bad life circumstances, which are now resolved, the kind of chronic sinusitis I had that was coming and going degenerated in full blown bronchitis, I'll say that I had a cold before that, with some fever and need to use my Symbicort inhaler which only really is needed when I am ill or going to be doing some physical exercise (biking for a long while especially). Just by looking at my throat, my doctor said "there's one hell of a party back there" and with some x-rays of my sinuses and lungs I was put on Cefzil. When I got my valium script after those 5 hellish days, symptoms almost entirely disappeared (only had been 2 days on Cefzil so I doubt it was enough to get rid of the sinusitis, which was chronic and I should have done something about it before, for sure.

How can that be explained? Why does a GABA-A benzo sub-complex agonist withdrawal would cause, directly, one to get respiratory tract infections? Does it cause such turmoil in the human body that it weakens the immune system ? I just can't find papers or anything other than lists of symptoms with respiratory tract infections in them.

If this isn't complex enough of an issue, I have no problem with this being moved to OD, thank you.

 

[dopamimetic]

This is just plain guessing, but the brain & body chemicals aren't that separated as one might think in many ways ... e.g. excessive psychostimulant use can lead to a breakdown of the immune system (okay, a great part of this is due to the lifestyle etc.) and withdrawing from GABAergics probably means a surge in glutamate, which can be associated with free radicals (not to speak of the downstream changes in endorphin/enkephalin/dynorphin systems, dopamine and all that) and an overall impact on equilibrium - I'm not anywhere near to understand this big picture really, but it starts to make some sense..

Increased Glutamatergic Neurotransmission and Oxidative Stress After Alcohol Withdrawal
Glutamate-induced increase of extracellular glutamate through N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors in ethanol withdrawal
Neuroimmune Regulation of GABAergic Neurons Within the Ventral Tegmental Area During Withdrawal from Chronic Morphine
(Markers of Glutamatergic Neurotransmission and Oxidative Stress Associated With Tardive Dyskinesia)

And so on ... I know that ethanol isn't exactly a pure GABAergic, but it's the most researched one seemingly.

If this isn't complex enough of an issue, I have no problem with this being moved to OD, thank you.

At least in my eyes, it indeed is a very complex issue that might scrape on some yet-to-be-puzzled-together things in regards of tolerance, withdrawal, PAWS, mental disorders, etc...

 

[THE_REAL_OBLIVION]

That was some nice reads, thanks.