When did you know you were ready to stop taking antidepressants?

Safely by tapering, of course

I'm in month 3 of Lexapro and the side effects are awful. I have to take Ativan to counter the side effects and that can become addictive. I've been waiting for the side effects to fade and the Lexapro to kick in, but here I am at this crossroads where I wonder whether Lexapro is even right for me, or I need a higher dose? I'd hate to up my dosage only to increase the side effects and make my eventual taper-off more lengthy.

TIA

When I developed a receding hairline, I freaked out and decided I couldn't take it any more as I had a bunch of other nasty side-effects. It wasn't a one day thing, but I did stop taking them except when I felt I needed them.

Shortly thereafter I learned about amino acids and how they are used by the body to produce the neurotransmitters ADs worked on. It seemed logical to me that taking something to produce them was the sensible thing to do so I bought some, and started taking them. I was amazed at how better I felt, especially because I hadn't realized how many of my crazy symptoms were really unrecognized side-effects.

That was about 9.5 years ago, and my mood is better than it's been in 25 years. I was on meds for 13 years with very limited success. My husband is amazed at the difference in my life from when we got married when I was undiagnosed with bipolar 2, and now my mood is very stable.

Here's some links on the subject of treating depression with amino acids. St. John's Wort is known to be very effective in controlling depression as it increases serotonin in the brain. I've never used it simply because the amino acids have done a great job.

This is a brain function questionnaire that shows the emotions and feeling related to each neurotransmitter:

http://drjolee.com/Brain-Function-Questionnaire.pdf

Two article on using amino acids to treat depression:

https://www.integrativepsychiatry.ne...epression.html

Treating Depression Naturally Is Possible ? Clean's The New Black

I knew when I had to change health insurers & the out-of-pocket cost skyrocketed!

When they keep making things worse not better. If the side effects are still so bad after 3 months maybe you should try a mood stabilizer instead?

I am curious. What side effects? I have not had any.

Lexapro makes me feel anxious nonstop. Nauseous, poor appetite, exhausted, sexual side effects, cannot sleep unless taken with Ativan... and these factors combined just make me worry all the time. Ativan is the only thing that makes me feel normal. Everything I've read, plus what I've been told, says this could either be my body still adjusting OR an indicator that Lexapro isn't right for me. It would be very unfortunate to assume the latter, increase dosage, only to have things get worse. I'm personally leaning toward weaning off (with my doctor) since I wasn't like this at all before meds. I was going through a period of high stress that resulted in anxiety attacks, but things just got SO MUCH WORSE as soon as I began treating my anxiety with pharmaceuticals.

Thanks for the reply My understanding is that mood stabilizers are prescribed for bipolar and schizophrenia? I have neither.

I'm so sorry you had to go through that!!!

For me, it was when I was unable to function as an adult in day to day life and my work was affected. It took away my lucid moments - it was a time for a change.

When they didn't work or gave me side effects. I went through a lot of antidepressants. My pdoc finally switched me to a mood stabilizer and I was a whole lot better.

For me that would be my psychiatrist's ddcision.

I think 3 months is long enough to give a medication a fair trial. I would ask for a different med. Supposedly different people react differently to different meds.
Mood stabilizers are sometimes added when a person's depression is not responding to other meds. Small doses of antipsychotics are also used to "boost" antidepressants. But I would think a dr would try a different antidepressant before a mood stabilizer or antipsychotic.

I don't plan to stop taking antidepressants in the foreseeable future. Depression is a health problem, and my depression is pretty much 100% biological, so I would only stop taking them if I get some other treatment that somehow fixes the problem permanently.

Now, I have considered no longer taking the particular drug I'm currently on, because it causes weight gain, and combined with some other factors, I have gained too much weight. But I would switch to another antidepressant.

It can take a while for effects to build up, which is why you often have to wait a while to see if the meds are going to have any positive results, and sometimes effects including side effects are worse at the beginning, but if the side effects are still intolerable after a couple weeks, they're probably going to stay intolerable. Raising the dose will raise the side effects.

I think you should ask for a different med at this point.

Mood stabilizers are very strong medications. There are several antidepressants that would be better suited to try if someone has a bad reaction to the first, before you consider a mood stabilizer.

I tapered off my Cymbalta after 18 months, and I had probably an 80% reduction in my anxiety and had a good system of coping techniques (CBT, exercise, journaling) to manage residual anxiety. I had a spike in anxiety and mood swings for the first month I was off of it, then it settled down and I've done fine since then.