How can I come off my anti-depressants? What's the best way? How long should I take to do it?

Answer 1

I am no medical expert. I am a mom in my late 40s who weaned my teenaged son off of several psychiatric drugs. He became suicidal and hallucinated AFTER the meds. The drugs were causing more problems than he had in the beginning.

I highly suggest you read "Your Drug May Be Your Problem: How and Why to Stop Taking Psychiatric Medications by Peter R. Breggin M.D. and David Cohen Ph.D.

The key is to take is SLOW. The doctors never tell you of the side affects of quitting these drugs cold turkey. The book provides invaluable pointers on how to ease yourself off these meds and to become more aware of yourself as a person and face your problems.

I wish I could say my son is perfect now. He still has many problems, but he is not walking around like a zombie, hallucinating or wanting to take his own life.

God bless you!

Answer 2

Hi~ I am on Lexapro. I love it. I use it for Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I had a psych nurse practitioner explain to me that you need to be on any mood altering prescription med for at least a year to allow your brain to heal from any damage that has been done to it when it was not getting the chemicals it needed during what ever trauma it was going through. After one year you can try and come off by tapering your dosage back under a docs supervision. If you need to go back on again try coming off again in 6 months to a year. If after that you need to go back on you'll probably need to be on them the rest of your life.
DO NOT go cold turkey. I just did that b/c my husband and I are pregnant with our second child. I thought it would be best for the baby if I did it this way. I went through horrible with drawls! Heart palpitations, crying jags, mood swings. It took 3 weeks to get it out of my system. I'm fine now. But the tapering would have been so much easier on my body and mind.
Call the MD that put you on it and discuss with him what the best way to come off would be or even if you should. Good luck!

Answer 3

I'd have to concur with what some others have already said. These medications generally need to be reduced slowly, so work with the your doctor to come up with a plan to do so.

You may also want to think about monitoring your mood or anxiety level as you reduce your medications. Having a plan in place to manage these (if it should become an issue) could be helpful. A good plan could include exercise, eating a healthy diet, therapy, meditation, etc.

Answer 4

Only your doctor should be giving you this advice. They will usually taper you off of them if they feel that you do not need them anymore. Not to sound harsh..but most mental patients are "doing good" because of the medicine...when they feel good they think they dont need the medicine anymore and will go off the meds and right back into depression. Please discuss this with your doctor...he/she knows you best. I know that these meds are expensive and there is programs to help people get their meds if they cant afford them.
Best wishes.

Answer 5

First you need to speak with your doctor and get their instructions. But typically they will give you a system for tapering off, decreasing your dosage over time. This will decrease the event of side effects and unpleasant symptoms.

Answer 6

You should seek medical advice from your doctor first who will probably cut you dosage down and then take you off them slowly altogether. Good luck with coming off them its hard..........

Answer 7

I'm assuming you got put on them by a doctor? Then THAT is who you need to talk to for answers to this question! It is too dangerous to ask for these folks to answer!!