[Zedsdead]

I began taking pristiq as I was going through tough times and couldn't control the crying episodes and suicidal thoughts. They really saved my life and am forever grateful.
2 years later, I have managed to change my life situation and found other ways to help the depression and anxiety. I feel that I am finally level headed. Due to the expense of pristiq I think I would like to wean myself. I have my taper process set, I was looking for experiences of people that have come off anti depressants and how they feel.

If you stopped your ADs, that originally helped you. Did you revert back to depression? Did you feel different after?
Any info would be great. Thank You!

[still_crazy]

i stopped wellbutrin without a taper. probably not ideal, but...i just got tired of it. it wasn't terrible, but i was feeling kind of...both jittery and too apathetic. so...

i was a bit tired for a couple days. pensive for about 1 week or so. depression comes, depression goes; no major problems.

stopping paxil was more difficult. the notorious "brain zaps" hit, big time. increased anxiety. a touch of insomnia. and yet...

i decided it was worth it. better to deal with that than keep on going thru life waaay too detached and oddly tranquilized.

its worth noting that psych drugs don't fix "imbalances..." they create them. I'm not saying that to come down hard on psych drugs, just sayin...they artifically alter brain chemistry, with the hopes that doing so will help you feel and do better. sometimes its the best thing ever, sometimes it proves to be a nightmare. I think most peoples' experiences fall in between those two extremes.

i wish you well.

[Zedsdead]

Originally Posted by still_crazy

i stopped wellbutrin without a taper. probably not ideal, but...i just got tired of it. it wasn't terrible, but i was feeling kind of...both jittery and too apathetic. so...

i was a bit tired for a couple days. pensive for about 1 week or so. depression comes, depression goes; no major problems.

stopping paxil was more difficult. the notorious "brain zaps" hit, big time. increased anxiety. a touch of insomnia. and yet...

i decided it was worth it. better to deal with that than keep on going thru life waaay too detached and oddly tranquilized.

its worth noting that psych drugs don't fix "imbalances..." they create them. I'm not saying that to come down hard on psych drugs, just sayin...they artifically alter brain chemistry, with the hopes that doing so will help you feel and do better. sometimes its the best thing ever, sometimes it proves to be a nightmare. I think most peoples' experiences fall in between those two extremes.

i wish you well.

Thank you for the honest reply. I am not looking forward to the withdrawal, but prepared. Are you completely off ADs now? Do you feel better or worse... or no difference?
I have read a lot of experiences about the actual taper and experiences of starting.. but I can't really find anything about life after stopping.
I spent a lot of my life severely depressed, after starting pristiq, I got myself together and improved things quite a bit. I learned I was in an abusive relationship and quit that too. I'm happier than I ever have been to be honest, which makes me wonder if stopping is a good idea.
I'm just not content with the side effects.. tiredness and they are interfering with my bladder. Plus I do still have odd phases of anxiety and depression.. so what is the point of the massive expense and the bad side effects!
I guess I don't want to go through the withdrawals and then end up back on them again. Hmm.

[*Laurie*]

Yes, a number of times. Withdrawal is never fun and must be done slowly. In my experience, though, AD withdrawal is no where near as horrid as benzo w/d is.

I always had to go back on AD's eventually.

[Nammu]

I will never go back on them. Withdrawal was a ***** but once it was over things were much better.

[BiPolarJoe]

I've done it and even with a long taper, it can be difficult. You can search 'antidepressant discontinuation syndrome' to give you an idea as to what could be some symptoms.

[Zedsdead]

Thank you all.. I am definitely prepared for the worst regarding the symptoms of tapering. I'm going to try supplementing with amino acids along with possibly a dose of Prozac if the symptoms are too much.

I'm more curious about after the symptoms. When we would be successfully free from the ADs. I know it's impossible to foresee how I will be... but it seems that most experiences I read tend to go back on ADs anyway after quitting. Which leads me to question even tapering.

I feel I am equipped to handle depression if it rears again... yet the meds also stopped a lot of other horrible symptoms I had. I guess I will just have to see for myself.

[7Manzerzz]

I take paroxetine, but give up 3 years, since then my life has only worsened, because of environmental factors, not because of the remedy.

[Carmina]

Yes I stopped and don't intend to restart - it's not been easy but I feel better off without them in the long term

I thought I was equipped to handle depression this time, turns out that wasn't the case but in a way that was a good thing because it finally forced me to find better ways, get a proper diagnosis, therapy etc. When on ADs I was just avoiding everything, they kept me functioning but barely, it was just enough to keep going but not to really be me.

[possum220]

Years ago I stopped taking aropax. Didnt seem to affect me at the time. 6 months later I fell in a heap. Different strokes for different folks.

I stupidly stopped cold turkey a few years ago because antidepressants didn't do anything, nor did the antipsychoctics (sp). Luckily I didn't notice any side effects from stopping cold turkey.

[marcoleap]

I was on Zoloft 150mg for 17 years for dysthymia and generalized anxiety disorder. A few years ago, with the approval of my psychiatrist, I tapered off the Zoloft very slowly--over the course of 2 years. My depression and anxiety returned full force along with withdrawal symptoms. I had to increase the dose of the Zoloft to 200mg and add 1mg of Abilify and Klonopin as needed. It's more than a year and a half since reinstating the Zoloft, and I'm still not back to normal, even with the other meds. Please think carefully about the benefits and potential risks of discontinuing your medication. Here is an article by a psychiatrist who has seen many patients with severe SSRI withdrawal: How to Avoid Severe SSRI Withdrawal Symptoms? - Mad In America Even with extremely slow tapers, the withdrawal can be brutal and show up many months after the medication is discontinued. I'm not saying you should stay on your antidepressant, but just think carefully about why you're doing it and what the risks are. Talk to more than one psychiatrist if you can, and get as much information as possible from people who have discontinued their antidepressant--both successfully and unsuccessfully. Another online forum that you should check out is survivingantidepressants.org. If you do decide to taper, only do so under a psychiatrist's supervision, and I would make sure to get into therapy and have other coping mechanisms in place: start exercising regularly, eating right, limit caffeine and alcohol and other drugs, improve your stress management, make sure you're sleeping regularly, etc.