If people around you realize that you're discontinuing antidepressants and may occasionally be irritable or tearful, they'll be less likely to take it personally. A close friend or family member may also be able to recognize signs of recurring depression that you might not perceive. Complete the taper. By the time you stop taking the medication, your dose will be tiny. You may already have been cutting your pills in half or using a liquid formula to achieve progressively smaller doses.
Some psychiatrists prescribe a single milligram tablet of fluoxetine the day after the last dose of a shorter-acting antidepressant in order to ease its final washout from the body, although this approach hasn't been tested in a clinical trial. Check in with your clinician one month after you've stopped the medication altogether. At this follow-up appointment, she or he will check to make sure discontinuation symptoms have eased and there are no signs of returning depression.
Ongoing monthly check-ins may be advised. To learn what you can do to get the sleep you need for optimal health, safety, and well-being, but the Harvard Special Health Report Improving Sleep: A guide to a good night's rest. As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles.
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I want to get healthier. The symptoms of tiredness , disrupted sleep, and irritation can make everyday activities more difficult. Sometimes, discontinuation symptoms can resemble a relapse. However, while discontinuation symptoms usually start within a few days, signs of a relapse take longer — typically 2—3 weeks — to appear.
If a person has concerns that depression is returning, they might wish to seek medical advice. In some cases, a doctor may prescribe medication to help with discontinuation symptoms. Discontinuation symptoms usually start within a few days. Research from says that they tend to last for 1—2 weeks , but it can be longer in some cases. Some newer research has shown that, although it is uncommon, discontinuation symptoms can last up to 79 weeks.
Having a good support network in place or someone understanding to talk to during this time can be beneficial. Getting sufficient rest, eating well, and exercising regularly can reduce symptoms for some people. A doctor will be able to offer information and advice. Being involved with the decision-making and planning at each stage of the treatment can help reduce the risk of an unpleasant experience.
It may also help if the person keeps a chart to track their progress. They can share this with their doctor. A doctor will often advise an individual to stop taking antidepressants gradually, which is known as tapering.
A person slowly reduces the dosage of medication over time until they are no longer taking it. The time that it takes to taper off antidepressants will depend on the drug and how long a person has been taking it. A doctor can advise on this process and the best way to approach it. In some cases, a doctor may recommend switching to another medication as a step toward discontinuing the drug.
They may suggest switching to a drug with a longer half-life and then gradually lowering the dosage. Family and friends can support a person while they stop taking antidepressants. Supportive psychotherapy may also help. Deciding to discontinue antidepressant use needs serious consideration. With appropriate support, many people stop safely, although they may experience uncomfortable adverse effects.
Withdrawal symptoms from certain medications can lead to suicidal thoughts. If this happens, it is vital to seek urgent support. People can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the United States on or visit their website for support and information. Your doctor can create a schedule for you to gradually taper off of your medication in order to help minimize or avoid developing discontinuation syndrome.
Some types of antidepressants seem to be more likely to cause discontinuation syndrome than others, but you can develop it from any type.
Although discontinuing an antidepressant does involve a type of withdrawal , this doesn't mean that you're addicted to the antidepressant. When you're addicted to a substance like drugs or alcohol, it causes changes in your brain that lead to cravings, the need for an increased amount of the substance, and a strong desire to use the substance even though it often causes negative outcomes.
Antidepressants don't cause these long-term brain changes nor do they lead to cravings or addiction. Symptoms of antidepressant discontinuation syndrome tend to be mild. They usually start within two to four days, and last just a week or two. Symptoms include:. For some people, discontinuation symptoms can make it feel as though their depression or anxiety is coming back, and indeed, stopping your antidepressant may increase your risk of relapse.
The biggest difference between the two is that discontinuation symptoms typically begin within a few days after stopping your antidepressant whereas a relapse normally takes longer to occur and the symptoms develop more gradually.
Another difference is that discontinuation syndrome often involves physical symptoms that aren't associated with depression or anxiety, such as dizziness, nausea , or flu-like symptoms. With discontinuation syndrome, the symptoms eventually go away, usually within one to three weeks. But if you're having a relapse of your depression or anxiety, the symptoms don't go away and may even get worse.
Additionally, if you start an antidepressant again, discontinuation symptoms will resolve quickly, but depression or anxiety will take longer to respond. Here are some tips to help you avoid discontinuation syndrome and get relief if it does happen to you. Certain antidepressants, such as Effexor venlafaxine , leave your system quickly and therefore are more likely to cause withdrawal symptoms. This can happen even when you're simply a little late taking your regular dose.
If you happen to forget your antidepressant, it's OK to go ahead and take it as soon as you realize you missed it. The exception is if it's close to your next scheduled dose; in that case, wait until then and get back on track.
Let's say you're taking a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor SSRI but it isn't working very well for you, or it's causing side effects that you can't live with. Rather than stopping it cold turkey and potentially causing discontinuation syndrome, talk to your doctor about switching to another medication, especially if you haven't been on it for long. Prozac fluoxetine , for example, has a very long half-life , meaning that after you stop taking it, it leaves your body more slowly than most other SSRIs.
For this reason, you're unlikely to have extreme withdrawal symptoms with Prozac. In fact, you should be able to easily go straight from Prozac fluoxetine to any other antidepressant except for one in the class of monoamine oxidase inhibitors MAOIs.
These medications have more safety concerns and potentially have more side effects than the newer drugs, so it's unlikely your doctor would put you on one unless trials of other antidepressants have not been adequately effective. If you and your doctor have decided it's time for you to stop taking your antidepressant, it's possible to avoid discontinuation syndrome altogether.
Even if you're tempted to, the key is to not quit all of a sudden, but instead to taper off your medication. Tapering means gradually decreasing your dose over an extended period of time.
How you'll do this will depend on how long you've been taking the drug, how high your dose is if you're on a low dose you'll be able to taper off more quickly , and any other factors your doctor may consider. Sometimes, even if you are slow and deliberate when weaning yourself off an antidepressant, you still may experience symptoms of discontinuation syndrome. One possible way to get relief is to take a dose of Prozac fluoxetine along with medications like Zoloft sertraline and Lexapro escitalopram that you are trying to taper.
Your symptoms will likely go away within a few hours. And because of Prozac's long half-life, it will help smooth out the taper.
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