withdrawal?

Hi,

I was just wondering if anyone knows anything about withdrawal from anti depressants?

What symptoms are there?
How long will it last?
Is it dangerous or just feel awful?
How can you stop withdrawal?

Thanks in advance. I've felt very unwell and exhausted for couple weeks now after stopping my medication. I just wondered if there was a possibility it could be withdrawal? Thanks again

Hello chloejayde: My perspective, with regard to this, is that everyone's experience seems to be different. I've read some horror stories here on PC about members' experiences coming off med's. However, in my case, I've never had any particular difficulty... & I've been on a few different antidepressants over the years.

I've taken myself off of some of the antidepressants I was on. Most recently, I was on Cymbalta. When I decided to go off of it, my pdoc recommended a tapering schedule that took me from the maximum recommended dosage down to zero in two weeks. I thought this was very fast. But I did it & didn't seem to have any particular problems... maybe a bit of "jitteriness" & kind-of a "head cold" sort of feeling for a while afterward.

One thing that I understand is sometimes done is to temporarily substitute a less potent antidepressant for the one a person is coming off of in order to ameliorate the person's withdrawal symptoms. I'm not personally aware of any withdrawal symptoms that are dangerous. They're just uncomfortable. I would say that, based on what I have read as well as experienced myself, what you're experiencing sounds pretty normal to me. If it persists, you may want to check back with your prescriber.

Thanks. I was taking sertraline (also called zoloft I believe) I had been on it for months possibly over a year I'm unsure. I was prescribed 200mg a day and just stopped so I think it very possibly coukd be withdrawal.

Yes, I'd say your symptoms are very likely to be associated with withdrawal. It may take some time for your symptoms to abate considering you were on the max dose and you stopped cold turkey.

Oh so u could still be a while of feeling ill then?

I'm fairly positive that your symptoms are from Zoloft w/d. Some people experience symptoms for a few days or weeks...others experience symptoms for years.

Withdrawal symptoms can be dangerous when driving (and operating heavy machinery) Just like when starting a medication, no one knows for sure what your experience will be. For me, I would get extremely dizzy, spacey and have brain zaps that would make me feel unsafe when driving.

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Thanks I do not drive or operate machinery, so I'm safe in that sense. Thanks for the warning though

I took it for 20 years. Had topped off at 200 mg quite awhile ago. It quit working. My pdoc did a two week taper with introducing Lexapro in the middle. At the end of two weeks, I was off the Zoloft and on a starting therapeutic dosage of Lexapro.

He warned me that I may not feel well during the process. Particularly, he said I may experience flu-like symptoms and I did. I was feeling crummy and called him. He said we could switch to a four-week taper, but it would obviously draw out the process.

I bit the bullet and stayed with the two-week taper. No vomiting or anything like that. Aches and pains, runny nose, hot/cold, lethargic. Basically moderate flu like symptoms.

Considering I'd been on it 20 years, it was a smooth withdrawal and I'm liking Lexapro. I've typically not had too many issues withdrawing with meds although I've always done a taper. No abrupt cut off. Just followed pdoc instructions. I did fine going off the dreaded Effexor, too.

Good luck!