Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome

[HappyEm]

Hi friends,

I wanted to post about my experience with Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome as during the worst of my withdrawal I spent a lot of time on forums researching other peoples experiences. I hope that this benefits others going through it.

The first piece of advice that I want to share is to ensure that you connect with a GP before you begin this process. I did not do this as I had just moved interstate, and it left me feeling very scared and alone when the symptoms were horrible. Make sure that this GP knows your history and that you feel as though you can trust them.

I tapered slightly off medication, however, I probably did not do it slowly enough. I began on a low dose for 2 weeks, and then went completely off it after that. During this time my main question was 'how long will this last!?'. I saw 2 different GP's who told me that everyone was different and that essentially, they didn't really know. During the first two weeks I did not feel any different. It was not until I completely stopped that the symptoms began. My symptoms started 2 days after stopping, and heightened on day 7 and 8. The symptoms that I experienced were nausea, dizziness/head spins, stomach cramps, lethargy, sensitivity to smell, and body aches. Strangely, although I felt extremely nauseous, when I was eating I felt better. On day 7 and 8 I could not do anything productive. I mostly slept. However, after these two peak days, my symptoms finally slowly diminished.

I am now on day 11. I still do not feel fantastic, however I am able to study for my uni courses, eat properly, read, and think more clearly. I am hoping that by Monday (which would make it 2 weeks off AD) I will have fully recovered.

If anyone has questions please ask me 🙂 I would love to help anyone going through this.

[Guest8901]

Hello HappyEm, and thank you so very much for sharing your experience with AD withdrawal. There are so many people going through difficulties with the withdrawal process. So, although everyone is different, reading of your experience will definitely be of benefit to others who are going through anything similar.

Can I take a moment to welcome you to the Beyondblue forums? Like yourself, there are a great number of members here who are here for either the purposes of seeking support or information for themselves, or for passing on knowledge and personal experience of MH issues to others. This is a very supportive and safe place, with many members who are very willing to share of themselves in the hope of helping others. Thank you so much for being one of those members. I hope other readers will feel comfortable in asking questions of you.

Personally I have been on ADs since February this year. I tried to wean off them recently, but was advised that it was not a good time to deal with withdrawals while under a lot of additional pressures at the time. So I remain on a low dose AD until such time as my mental state is a little more stable, after which I will be trying again to withdraw from them. I hope you're still around and active then, because I reckon I'll likely have some questions for you.

Please feel free to browse other threads, and know that you are very welcome to contribute to any existing thread if you feel you have anything to add, or questions of your own to ask. Members will be very happy to hear from you.

Amanda

[startingnew]

Hi HappyEm

Thank you for sharing your experience, its great that things are improving you 🙂

I do have to add in though that everyones experiences are different and varies but sharing your progress is helping others and thats the main thing 🙂

[HappyEm]

Hi Startingnew and Amanda,

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. You're both correct and I should have made it clearer, everyone's experience is different.

Amanda - I do not think that I could have gone through the withdrawals if my life had been busy during this time. I began whilst I was on uni holidays and made sure not to have many commitments during this period. So, I think that you and your GP made a great decision to wait 🙂

[blondguy]

Hi HappyEm

I really like what you have posted....especially your wise words below and thankyou heaps

HappyEm mentioned "The first piece of advice that I want to share is to ensure that you connect with a GP before you begin this process. I did not do this as I had just moved interstate, and it left me feeling very scared and alone when the symptoms were horrible. Make sure that this GP knows your history and that you feel as though you can trust them"

There are some people that have needed to be on AD's like myself....chronic anxiety attacks in traffic...night sweats and continual panic and my life was falling apart in front of me....and I was very anti meds and wasted a decade of my life by not taking them

Is it okay to ask why you were prescribed the AD's in the first place? (just so we can all learn from your experience) There may be some people that may require these meds to function in their lives

Great post and thankyou again 🙂

Paul

[HappyEm]

Hi Paul,

Thank you for reading my post. I am glad that you found it helpful.

When I began taking them, about a year ago, they definitely helped me a lot. I am very thankful for my amazing GP in my hometown for recommending them to me at the time. I can completely understand that people may require them to function in their lives, as I was one of those people. I was prescribed antidepressants for anxiety as well. I didn't experience anxiety attacks, however, I did experience OCD, general anxiety disorder, and social anxiety disorder.

Thank you for reaching out.

[unigirl1994]

Hi HappyEm,

Thanks for sharing your experience here. Theres been a few times where I've forgotton to take my medication/have been out of them on a weekend and cant get a script for a few days. It's a horrible feeling to be nauseous, dizzy, hot and cold and feeling bad for no apparent reason. It took me a long time to realise why I was feeling so bad and correlating it to my medication.

I hope you begin to feel better soon so you can focus fully on your studies. Stay well!

[HappyEm]

Hi Unigirl1994,

It is such a horrible feeling, isn't it! I'm sorry to hear that you have experienced it too.

I am on day 13 off of it now and I feel WAY better than I have over the last 2 weeks. I almost feel as though all symptoms have gone - yay!

[LeeA18]

My ex is wanting to ween off his meds. How long did it take for you? Do you have any habits like drugs or alcohol that you became reliant on when depressed? How did you know it was time to come off them?

I just want to support him without asking a billion questions to him as it might overwhelm him.

Thank you.

[Struggling_mum]

I wanted to share my experience of weaning off AD too, as I tried to do this twice with my GP but the head spins were so bad I didn’t feel safe to drive. I was referred to a psychiatrist who prescribed a “bridging medication” which allowed me to wean with no side effects and then I came off the bridging medication quickly and easily also. Good professional support I think is absolutely key. GP’s are great but sometimes a professional with more specific experience can be beneficial for these more difficult situations.