If you’re wanting to stop your antidepressant because of unwanted side effects, consider discussing other medication options for your symptoms with your doctor. Every medication works in a unique way and has different side effects. Antidepressants with a longer half-life, such as Prozac, are less likely to cause problems on discontinuation. The term half-life refers to how quickly the amount of a drug in the body reduces by half. As with many other antidepressants, fluoxetine carries a black box warning.
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Most healthcare providers will recommend gradually tapering antidepressant doses over the course of several weeks. However, some medications may require longer periods of tapering, such as paroxetine and venlafaxine. Stopping your antidepressant can cause physical and mental health effects whether you stop abruptly or taper off slowly.
Antidepressant withdrawal is not usually physically harmful, but the symptoms can be very uncomfortable. And you may have a relapse of whatever condition you were taking the antidepressant for. Read on to find out more about the symptoms, possible complications, and how to manage them while you transition off your medicine. Antidepressant withdrawal symptoms can vary according to how long you’ve been taking your medication and which medication you take, among other things.
It’s also best to reduce the dose slowly if you have had withdrawal symptoms in the past. Some people need to get down to a very low dose before stopping, as low as 2% of the original dose. Besides easing the transition, tapering the dose decreases the risk that depression will recur.
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Nancy has a lifetime of experience with depression, experiencing firsthand how devastating this illness can be. Remember that everyone is different when it comes to weaning off antidepressants. Some people can taper off an antidepressant—even one with a short half-life—in a matter of weeks without any significant symptoms. Others may have bothersome symptoms and require that the drug be tapered over a period of months. Nancy Schimelpfening, MS is the administrator for the non-profit depression support group Depression Sanctuary.
This is to prevent any withdrawal symptoms you might get as a reaction to coming off antidepressants suddenly. To go off your antidepressant safely, you will need to reduce your dose over time. You’ll generally need to stay on the lesser dose for 2-6 weeks between dose reductions. Your doctor will help you decide on which doses to take and the schedule for the dose reductions.
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- These symptoms can be very uncomfortable, and you also run the risk of having a relapse of depression or anxiety.
- With discontinuation syndrome, the symptoms eventually go away, usually within one to three weeks.
- Stopping your antidepressant can cause physical and mental health effects whether you stop abruptly or taper off slowly.
- This may help keep you motivated as you go through the ups and downs of the withdrawal process.
- If you or someone you know has any of the following symptoms in response to reducing or discontinuing antidepressants, seek medical help immediately.
The length of your tapering $will depend, in part, on what antidepressant you take (and its dosage), as various medications stay in the bloodstream for different lengths of time. If you’ve experienced negative side effects since you started taking antidepressants, you may understandably feel inclined to stop using them. Instead, Dr. Coulter says it’s important that you communicate these issues to your doctor so they can work with you to figure out a switch. When you’re in how to wean off prozac the midst of depression, it can feel like you’re completely alone — but statistics-wise, that couldn’t be further from the truth. One important aspect of quitting Prozac that you should be aware of is that there is a risk that symptoms of major depression will return.
This can also help your doctor determine if the tapering off schedule they developed is working or if a change is needed. When your depression is at a stable and safe level, you might decide with your doctor that it’s time to bring down your dosage or stop taking medication for depression. Knowing what to expect and having a doctor-approved game plan may help minimize your symptoms of withdrawal.
Doctors do not recommend stopping antidepressant use abruptly because it may lead to more severe symptoms. If depression or anxiety recurs after stopping an antidepressant, it is often a gradual process that slowly worsens over time. In contrast, symptoms related to antidepressant withdrawal tend to occur quickly (days rather than weeks) and slowly improve over time.
With the help of a healthcare or mental health professional, you may be able to successfully transition to a lower dose depression medication or no medication at all. Remember that talking with a healthcare or mental health professional before trying any of these remedies is crucial to minimizing any unwanted side effects. If your symptoms are severe, it may be recommended that you go back to taking your medication at your original dose temporarily. The next time, the plan may involve tapering off the medication more slowly.