Benefits of Getting Off Antidepressants: What to Know
They will probably suggest that you go back to the last dose at which you felt well. Withdrawal symptoms usually improve quickly (in days or even hours) if you restart your antidepressant. This is much quicker than the weeks that antidepressants will normally take to relieve symptoms of anxiety or depression that have returned. There have been reports of other antidepressants causing withdrawal symptoms that start weeks after stopping. Brain chemicals called neurotransmitters (such as serotonin and noradrenaline) are involved.
- It’s generally not a good idea to make a big change like going off your medication when you’re under a lot of stress or you’re already going through a big change.
- Antidepressant withdrawal, also called discontinuation syndrome, is when you experience withdrawal symptoms after abruptly stopping or greatly reducing the dosage of an antidepressant medication.
- This is important because withdrawal symptoms typically begin when a drug is about 90% out of your body.
- There are also other ways to make up smaller doses of antidepressants for tapering.
Allow another 2 to 4 weeks and repeat, with further periods of lowering the dose and waiting if needed. How long you take an antidepressant for depends on why you were prescribed them and whether you have had to take them before. Ask your prescriber when is best to start to reduce and then stop taking your antidepressant. A lack of energy and a depressed mood will likely make exercise the last thing you want to do. Exercise can help keep depression at bay by increasing the release of feel-good endorphins and providing a positive outlet for stress. If you are withdrawing from an SSRI, symptoms often occur in stages.
Prozac Withdrawal Signs and Symptoms
Participants who discontinued rapidly (over one to seven days) were more likely to relapse within a few months than those who reduced the dose gradually over two or more weeks. See your doctor if you get severe withdrawal symptoms after you stop taking antidepressants. Alternative approaches can be used, such as reintroducing another antidepressant from the same group and reducing the dose more slowly, or stopping completely and managing your symptoms. About 27%-86% of people who try to stop taking an antidepressant have symptoms, especially when they suddenly stop taking their medicine.
Discontinuation vs. relapse
A doctor may consider how to wean off prozac tapering the dosage of Prozac to help avoid or reduce withdrawal. People can also try using self-care strategies, such as exercising, getting regular sleep, and following a balanced diet, to help minimize potential symptoms. Fluoxetine is a medication that belongs to a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). The half-life of a drug refers to the time at which half of the medication is eliminated from your body and half remains. In general, drugs with short half-lives require a longer tapering period compared with drugs with long half-lives. Research suggests that people who participate in psychotherapy while discontinuing antidepressants are less likely to relapse than those who do not.
You should always contact your doctor or other qualified healthcare professional before starting, changing, or stopping any kind of health treatment. Below is an example that can help you to understand the principles of diluting liquid antidepressants to taper off your medication. It is best to discuss this with your prescriber or pharmacist so you feel confident to undertake a process like the one below. If you have no trouble at all making reductions, then you may be able to speed up your tapering plan. You might be able to leave less time between dose reductions or take less steps.
Discontinuation symptoms
However, in some cases, symptoms can occasionally continue for up to 1 year. The duration of withdrawal symptoms from other antidepressants can also vary greatly. However, in general, people will experience symptoms within a couple days of drug cessation, which may last for up to 2 weeks. A 2019 review of existing research reports that 56% of people experience withdrawal effects when stopping various antidepressants. Fluoxetine withdrawal symptoms may occur when a person stops taking the medication. These symptoms may develop because of the rapid changes in the brain’s serotonin levels following antidepressant cessation.
Which Drugs Are Most Likely to Cause Antidepressant Withdrawal?
The experience of antidepressant withdrawal can vary greatly from one person to the next. Factors affecting withdrawal—including how long symptoms last—include the type of antidepressant taken, its dosage, and the length of time the drug has been used. Another method to help manage withdrawal symptoms is to restart taking the medication at the dose the person was taking when the symptoms began. Several factors may influence the duration of symptoms, including the drug’s half-life. This is a measurement of the time it takes for the drug’s active substance to reduce by half in the body. Drugs with a short half-life typically cause more withdrawal symptoms than those with a long half-life.