First of all, the psych profession is NOT the most knowledgeable about how to get off these meds; they are quite bad at it actually, and much suffering has occurred due to discontinuation syndrome from stopping these meds too quickly.

I am not familiar with all the drugs in your cocktail, but the fact that you are on so many makes it much more complicated.

The best resource you can access with regards to safely coming off meds is surviving antidepressants dot org. The whole forum is about withdrawing from antidepressants and other psych drugs. They advocate a 10% per month tapering schedule to minimize harm. My p-doc was okay with me coming off Remeron and Effexor (one at a time) but said it was OCD that I was coming off so slowly and measuring my dosages with a milligram scale. I had my own horror story trying to come off Effexor last year, landing me on Remeron, and then Effexor again when the Remeron quickly pooped out, probably because I was still in WD from the Effexor. When I took that first dose of Effexor, I felt normal within an hour! These drugs are not supposed to work until around four weeks, so that was a sure sign of dependency.

I think people really misunderstand how these drugs work and think that once it is out of their system they shouldn't have withdrawal. These drugs when first taken CREATE an imbalance of neurotransmitters. The brain gradually compensates by up or down-regulating receptors trying to regain homeostasis. Then, when the drug is reduced or cold turkey'd, the brain and nervous system once again have an imbalance of neurotransmitters since the drug is no longer there either blocking reuptake or causing higher secretion, whatever the mode of action. Once again, it takes time for the neurons to adjust, sometimes a very long time depending on how long you were on the drug and how high the dosage. During this time, you are suffering withdrawal symptoms, physical and/or mental. Often times, a p-doc will say the patient has relapsed and throw you on another drug. In reality, the emotional turmoil is due to withdrawal.

So, half lives do affect onset of symptoms; short ones cause more rapid onset, and longer ones delay WD symptoms, which may develop a head of steam when the drug is finally out of the system.

Each drug will result in WD when it is no longer in the system, even if a new AD is added, if they work by different mechanisms.

I would advise you to go to SA.org and check in with the very knowledgeable folks who have been in the trenches.