By: Jose Reyes

Jose Reyes — Fri, 23 Aug 2019 21:41:17 +0000

The first time I stopped cold turkey and that earned me three days on the special floor at the local hospital. The second time, I attempted to taper off with my physician’s permission, but he did not provide any guidance, I ended up divorced. The third time, I was provided with a detailed schedule how to taper and I was successful, the only side effect was some insomnia for about three days, no other side effects. They place you on these medications to help your depression, they tell you not to stop them because of the adverse effects if you do, but they never provide you with the how to get off. I was fortunate that my psychiatrist took another position, and his partner decided to bring a Physician Assistant onboard, she warned about the problems associated with tapering off, but she provided me with monitoring and the detail taper schedule, otherwise I would still be on medication that I don’t need. If you believe that you no longer need to be on these medications, ask for a detail taper schedule prior to stopping them. It is possible to wean off, but it does take discipline and guidance.

By: BeenThereDoneThat

BeenThereDoneThat — Tue, 30 Oct 2018 15:44:04 +0000

Withdrawal syndrome also occurs when trying to discontinue these drugs in a responsible manner and it happens more often than the medical profession wants you to believe. I tried discontinuing Effexor by 5%-10% per month over the course of two years and still ended up experiencing severe withdrawal syndrome. Because not much is known about how they actually affect the brain, doctors should be very cautious when prescribing them. Basically, once you start them, you are pretty much given a life-sentence of taking these drugs because they alter the way the brain functions and can be very dangerous when trying to stop.

Comments on: Antidepressant Discontinuation Syndrome DSM-5 995.29 (T43.205A)

By: Jose Reyes

By: BeenThereDoneThat