Quitting Your Antidepressant Medication

Suddenly stopping your antidepressant medication can produce horrible side-effects.

HealthyPlace.com Expert Depression Patient and author, Julie Fast, discusses antidepressant withdrawl symptoms and how doctors usually help a patient off their antidepressant.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• quitting antidepressant
• antidepressants
• antidepressant withdrawl
• mental health
• psychology
• psychiatry
• healthyplace
• julie fast

[razzo086]

@Mirilsa lmao agreed but ive gone of my antidepressant cold turkey for 5 days but im doing fine so far, heres hoping it keeps well

[Mirilsa]

well this isnt very motivating to stop.

[PRETALIATION]

@caketheory AGREED - Blatant lies and verbal gymnastics to avoid saying : ANTI DEPRESSANTS ARE ADDICTIVE and withdrawal occurs upon cessation''

She is an author.

She wants to sell books - videos etc.

DEPRESSION is NOT a disease.

[PRETALIATION]

ANTI DEPRESSANTS ARE ADDICTIVE ! SHE IS DESCRIBING WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS.

This cow even uses the term 'cold turkey'

[franksherry]

scottyb453 & caketheory,

I'm not saying it is know for certain" what the "cause" of severe depression is but there is definitely chemical changes that takes place in a person's body who has depression. This is different from saying, a person is chemically deficient or imbalanced and therefore they "need" an antidepressant. Chemicals have been measured to be different in people who are depressed from those who are not. They just don't know what's a normal range is for for each individual.

[scottyb453]

@franksherry there is actually no evidence that there is a chemical imbalance in those that are depressed. Every study that has supposedly proved to have found a biological origin to depression has been refuted. The chemical imbalance theory of psychiatric disorders is dubious at best. In fact the antidepressants cause a chemical imbalance in the brain.

[ethicomm]

If I failed to take my antidepressants for 3 or 4 days I usually got what I'd call brain flutters and flu-like symptoms. I recently tapered myself off of Wellbutrin and Effexor due to the $85 a month costs. So far the only thing I've noticed is being more impatient in traffic plus I had a few down days. Generally speaking it should be possible to stop your antidepressants but I'd think it's best to talk to your doctor first (unlike me). Good luck to those looking to try stopping.

[franksherry]

caketheory,

Depression has very real biological chemical reactions in the body. We only are now, beginning to test hormones (eg. seratonin levels) and chemical levels in the body that influence how a person "feels". I'm not saying I am pro antidepressant meds, because I feel there are many ways we can influence how we feel in more natural/alternative ways first. However, there is certainly a place for meds in severe cases until we understand more biologically how depression happens.

[franksherry]

The truth is that this advice about not stopping "cold turkey" antidepressant meds is excellent advice. I have experienced this first hand & have to equate the "muscle tightness" to feeling as though my own muscles wanted to "break my bones"! It was horrible & took many weeks of physical therapy to help relax the muscles & reduce the pain.

As far as the study that showed antidepressants being no better than a placebo, that was referring to mild to mod cases of depression (not severe cases).

[caketheory]

Yes I have and I've had severe mental illness myself. Infact my illness was so severe I was actually given psychosurgery which is only given as an absolute last resort.