Whatever the case, you’re feeling more emotionally stable and better equipped to face the world sans medication. If you’ve been taking medication to manage your depression, there may come a time when you want to stop using it. But it’s vital that you do so carefully, with the help of a doctor, says psychiatrist Andrew Coulter, MD, MA.
Discontinuation Syndrome vs. Relapse
- They can help you taper your doses down to help you avoid or minimize symptoms.
- Antidepressant withdrawal is not usually physically harmful, but the symptoms can be very uncomfortable.
- Certain medications carry an increased chance of withdrawal symptoms, including paroxetine (Paxil).
- Read on to learn more about the symptoms of Prozac withdrawal, including how long they last.
- If you don’t like the antidepressant you’ve been taking, share those concerns with your doctor so you can work together to determine a better option.
- If you have no trouble at all making reductions, then you may be able to speed up your tapering plan.
They can work with you on a detailed taper-off plan that will work best for you and your needs. Abruptly stopping antidepressants can lead to rebound depression, in which symptoms return more intensely than before. It is important for doctors to determine the difference between withdrawal symptoms and returning symptoms, such as the recurrence of depression.
It may be that another antidepressant would be a better option or that other therapies could help manage some of the adverse effects of antidepressant use. Symptoms may appear within 2 days of stopping antidepressant use and persist for several weeks. These chemicals are called neurotransmitters, and they include serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.
You are more likely to get these symptoms (and for them to be worse) if you stop taking an antidepressant suddenly or if you reduce the dose quickly. If you think you are experiencing any medical condition you should seek immediate medical attention from a doctor or other professional healthcare provider. Each works differently in the brain, has different side effects, and may create different withdrawal experiences after being discontinued.
Appendix 2: Potential types of withdrawal symptoms
Stopping antidepressants following long-term use may increase the risk of having withdrawal symptoms. Discontinuation symptoms appear within a few days or weeks of stopping antidepressants, whereas returning depressive symptoms develop after some weeks and tend to come on gradually. The best way to avoid or reduce these withdrawal-like symptoms is to not stop antidepressants abruptly. Specifically, the American Psychiatric Association recommends tapering antidepressants over the course of “at least several weeks.” However, some people’s symptoms can be severe enough to impact their daily lives.
Withdrawal symptoms
(See the chart “Antidepressant drugs and their half-lives.”) Examples include venlafaxine (Effexor), sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil), and citalopram (Celexa). Extended-release versions of these drugs enter the body more slowly but leave it just as fast. Antidepressants with a longer half-life, chiefly fluoxetine, cause fewer problems on discontinuation.
Because there’s a risk for symptoms when stopping an antidepressant, a doctor can recommend how to taper safely. Ideally, this can help you enjoy the benefits of quitting antidepressants without the drawbacks. If at any time you’re not sure if a symptom is “normal” or safe, you should contact a healthcare provider. They can advise you if you should start taking your medicine again and in what dosage, or discuss an alternative plan.
How your doctor will guide you
This means that the beads have a coating that allows the drug inside them to be released into the body slowly. Check with your pharmacist that the brand you are taking does contain these beads as this is not the case for all brands. There are also other ways to make up smaller doses of antidepressants for tapering. This should make it possible for you to create smaller doses of your antidepressant, allowing you to follow a how to wean off prozac slower tapering plan. How you reduce your dose of antidepressant will depend on what dosages are available in tablet and liquid form in the UK. If the antidepressant you are on isn’t available in a liquid form, you may need to change to a similar antidepressant that is available as a liquid.
For one, stopping your medication can set you back in your treatment, increasing the time it will take to start feeling like yourself again. Antidepressants are not considered addictive in the sense that people generally don’t take them in an attempt to get the “high” experienced with other drugs. However, it is possible to develop a physical dependence on these medications, particularly when they’ve been used for long periods of time.
This can help ensure you are not taking your medication for longer than necessary. Antidepressants are medications prescribed for conditions such as depression, generalised anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). You can find out more about how they work, why they are prescribed, their effects and side-effects, and alternative treatments in our separate resource on antidepressants. If you have questions about any medical matter, you should consult your doctor or other professional healthcare provider without delay.