Ceasing anti-depressants

[Talitha]

Hi there,

I am considering ceasing anti-depressants that I have been on for over twenty years. I realise I need to slowly wean off the medication and will first seek advice from my GP. I would like to know who else has ceased their medication after a long time and if you suffered any side effects?

Also, did your depression/anxiety return or were you able to function without medication?

[geoff]

Hello Talitha, I'm not a doctor, however, if I need a script because I have run out of AD's after being on them longer than 20 years, I tend to fall rather quickly, so having guidance from your doctor needs to be considered, which is what you're going to do.

Stopping these AD's hopefully means that all that has caused this has been spoken about with a psychologist and that any triggers that may happen, you will be able to cope with or any other similar points won't cause a negative reaction because you need to be able tohandle any of these without breaking down.

If you do fall then to recover will need to be a short time, rather than how it was before.

I do really hope you can stop them but please don't be scared if you need to recommence once again after a review with your doctor because in twenty years there has been a great advancement in the production of different AD's.

Best wishes.

Geoff.

[mmMekitty]

Hello Talitha,

Welcome to the forum.

I can't answer your questions about your meds. Your GP (or other mental health professional you might be seeing) really is the one to talk to, & to ask any questions about possible effects you might experience.

I think I can say, I used to but now I don't take such meds anymore. I consulted my Psychiatrist about it before stopping them, & continued to see him regularly throughout the process. We talked about all the questions you have, & I did find that very helpful.

However, I'm not going to tell you what my experience was, because my experience may have nothing in common with what you may experience. It would be impossible to extrapolate & give you any useful idea about what you might experience from a handful of anecdotes from us here.

I'm sorry I can't help any more than that.

All the best,

mmMekitty

[rhinoceros]

I was on SNRI medication for 12 years. It's taken 5 years to wean off. I'd reduce the dose by about 10% at a time, and hold that until the withdrawal symptoms are gone, usually a month or so. I had medication compounded for me at the appropriate doses by a compounding pharmacy.

The withdrawals vary from drug to drug, but the main thing I experienced was brain fog, increased anxiety, excessive sweating, and at times worse depression.

I'm now AD med free and doing okay.

It's not something that can be done quickly though.

[Guest_1643]

Hi, Is it possible to see a psychiatrist instead of a gp? Tapering ads should be done very carefully, whoever you do it with should be informed on current teachings in the issue, as many are unaware.

[geoff]

Hello Talitha, if you feel confident, then directing yourself in another direction, in other words, completely change what you have been doing into doing something else, nothing like before but what you enjoy

Geoff.