[Atlantis]

I quote 'rebound' because it's the best way I can describe it. In much the same way medication takes several weeks to take effect, I find discontinuing a medication to actually have a temporary antidepressant effect, if not more so than before, and was wondering if other people experienced this too? Another example I used to experience was an antidepressant effect when staying up all night and feeling better the next morning. Of course, discontinuing a medication does have its side effects and is not something I recommend, and should be done with caution at best.

It's just I've been on 300 mg quetiapine for some time as it has a sedative, anxiolytic (anti-obsessive) effect and is supposed to affect dopamine transmission at high doses, but for a long time it stopped me doing anything as the general anxiety was, in a way, worse. I always felt better going up in dose for a small amount of time, but then my mood 'flattened'. So I started taking less and once I got over the sleepiness I found I was able to perform better, but after two to three weeks, I'm not, and the anxiety has come back...

I'm also on 300 mg clomipramine and 45 mg mirtazapine, and while I've reduced the clomipramine (taking any more just makes me too sleepy now, like I can't get over that initial sedative 'bump'), I think it's the decrease in quetiapine that played the most part in me reinitiating what was giving me axiety before. It's like an antidepressant is blocking the re-uptake of a neurotransmitter, and once that inhibitor is reduced, the brain compensates by making more of said neurotransmitter, thereby increasing mood?