[CobolCapsule]

My research tells me there are quite a few people that can discontinue a medication with relatively few withdrawals if any at all. I have had no withdrawals so far.

Do Most people seem to be able to taper off a med in a month or two?

Is it in the minority that people have trouble getting off meds with withdrawal symptoms?
The reason i ask is because i am doing a very slow taper of risperidone, and would like to speed it up, and don't know if i am just waisting time by continuing to take it, and habituate my system to the drug more.

I would like to here from anybody that has discontinued a medication, or may know more about this subject than i do.

Thank you

[Skeezyks]

Helo CobolCapsule: The Skeezyks is one of those people who don't experience any significant difficulty going off med's. (I'm no longer on any at all.) I've taken myself off of med's numerous times in the past without consulting my doctors. Most recently I had been on the maximum recommended dosage of Cymbalta for well over a year. When I decided to go off of it, I decided this time I would consult my pdoc. He recommended a withdrawl schedule that would take me off of the med over the course of 2 weeks. I thought this seemed very fast. But, since I had not had any serious difficulties with previous med's, & that was what he was recommending, I decided to go with it. And it was fine... no significant issues.

I know I've read, here on PC, many accounts of difficulties members have had coming off of various med's (including Cymbalta.) But I simply have not had any of those experiences.

[*Laurie*]

In my experience, withdrawal (or not) depends entirely upon the medication one is going off of.

[CobolCapsule]

Well i have experienced no withdrawal with a 20% a month taper of risperidone, and would like to speed it up, but i am hesitant with some of the stories i have read.

Does anybody know if its in the minority that people experience significant withdrawal, and most people dont have a problem with a month or two taper? Except for benzos..

[kecanoe]

From what I have read there is a small but significant minority who have protracted withdrawal symptoms. The problem is that there doesn't seem to be anyway to predict who will suffer and who will be ok. I was on a total of 7 meds-if I had followed the advice of survivingantidepressants I would have taken 14 years to get off meds. That seemed a bit long. What I have done is hold after each drop in meds for a month to see if I am having any reaction. And if I am not sure, I hold for another month. In the last year I have stopped taking Abilify and Buspar. Decreased welbutrin, nortriptylene, xanax. and I have not changed cyclobenzaprine. So I seem to be ok with tapering for a month or two. But I am always ready to try a small updose and I do take my time between drops.

[ChildlikeEmpress]

I think it really depends on the medication and the person. I've had no symptoms with some, but Cymbalta for example was horrifying for me. I had to go back on it (I was trying to speed things up, too). Personally I think it's a good idea to take it slow.

[CobolCapsule]

I suppose i could speed things up, since it is a minority that suffers protracted withdrawal, but i have read of people doing fine with a taper only to be hit hard at a lower dose, or a month after discontinuation.

Tapering has allowed me to maintain sleep, since i tried cutting my dose in half once, which caused me to sleep just 3 hours.

Ive also considered staying at a low dose of risperidone, like .5mg. It does help keep my emotions in check, and i have not had an outburst since being on it, which is almost two years.

Short term and long term side effects are dose dependent, so its not like 3mg was a high dose. I just didn't feel i needed to even be on that dose, so i am lowering it.

The only known cardiovascular risk that isn't dose dependent is tachycardia, and the chances of that are 1-10%. The others are either extremely rare less than 1%, or are dose dependent.
The EPS risk is completely dose dependent, and all other risks are either rare or extremely rare or dose dependent.

Kecanoe- How long were you on abilify?

[kecanoe]

About 3 years on abilify

[Misssy2]

I think that all medication discontinuation can be different.
I got off an antidepressent after 8 years..cold turkey no real problems.