Doctors are finally learning to manage antidepressant withdrawal

To provide one additional anecdote: I came off escitalopram with no taper after taking it for about five years (10mg). I got brain zaps for a while, got very irritated at times, but largely was fine after a few weeks. Not downplaying the withdrawal effects for some people, but they’re not as catastrophic as this article suggests for many (perhaps most). And overall I’m very glad I took it! It got me through a rough patch, and seems (in combination with therapy, and some life changes) to have rewired me a little. Symptoms I had for a decade prior have not returned. And I’m not sure I could have made those life changes without it. Sadly my arachnophobia came back though. Oh well.

Though this article concentrates on the SSRIs, other meds like the SNRIs can have a similar or even worse withdrawal effect. We didn't call it "Side Effexor" for nothing. People legitimately need these drugs, including in the short term. The problem for acute stressors once they resolve is how to get them back off.

SSRIs not Benzodiazepines. Withdrawals from the later can be life-threatening if you abruptly stop after prolonged use.

I forget exactly which antidepressant I was on, but when i finally stopped taking it, i was instructed to reduce dosage by half a pill every two weeks. Anecdotally, that was not anywhere close to slow enough. I had panic attacks almost every day while I was reducing the dosage. Those weeks were hell. I couldn’t think straight. I honestly don’t remember much of what occurred during that time, because the withdrawal took over my life. The pills were too tiny to split into fourths easily, but I wish I had done something to reduce dosage in smaller increments or over a longer time period. It makes me strongly reconsider ever taking any antidepressants ever again. They didn’t tell me when I started taking them that the withdrawal would be so terrible. Those months were easily some the worst of my life.

I've taken antidepressants for years (20 mg prozac) and have sometimes tapered off them, restarting later. I can barely tell that I'm taking them, I feel 100% like myself on--and off of--them. I know they do something because when talking about difficult traumas with my therapist, if I'm not taking flouoxetine I will get choked up to the point I can't speak. That's the only difference I can perceive. My dose is not a "happy pill", it simply smooths out some extreme lows. Tapering off (a few weeks of 50% exponential declines) I've done because it's recommended, but again, I've never noticed any affect on mood before, during, or after. after a number of years, a small dose of lithium (300mg) was recommended by a psychiatrist who stood apart (at least in that respect), and it was magic at mood stabilization, I never before even realized that I experienced hypomania (and I took it for anxiety), I just thought I was "bold". (Lithium is not a drug, it's an element, taken as a metallic salt. It occurs naturally in the water in various parts of the world, and those populations have been studied and suffer lower rates of mental illness. My shrink said his recommendation was based in conjunction with the prozac I was taking, i.e. a known correlation. Bipolar II is a different mental condition than bipolar I, and somewhat slippery/loosely defined) The extreme anecdotal stories people report online as in this forum strike me, an experienced but likewise only an anecdotal user, as more an artifact of underlying emotional distress rather than a result of the drugs. I just wanted to contribute a different voice to this topic. I should add, I do have "extra money" and am able to pay extremely qualified and expensive doctors, an option that is not available to everyone, including those with full public health services.