Stopping Anti - Depressants?!


Question: Stopping Anti - Depressants?
I want to stop anti - depressants because I'm really fine now and haven't felt depressed in ages. Can I just stop the tablets? I have 7 Citroplam (or whatever they're called!) left and I'll finish the box but then can I just not go back to the doctor?

Basically - can you just stop taking them or do you have to be reduced off of them, like I'm on 20mg, do I need to go down to 10mg then stop? Or can I just stop?

Thanks for any info you can give!! :)

Answers:

Most antidepressants have to be tapered off, or you end up depressed all over again. That would mean taking a gradually lower dose and then taking the medication every other day for a while before you stop altogether. If you're ready to taper it off, your doctor can change your prescription, but you do need to see the doctor for that.



Seek the advice of your physician. Citalopram can't just be stopped cold turkey without resulting in withdrawal symptoms and discontinuation syndrome. You do *not* want to experience that, so work with your doctor in designing a tapering schedule.

Also, feel free to ignore anyone spouting the "medicine is just applied statistics" nonsense.



Dave is almost right.

Medicine is not a science, it's a kind of applied statistics, especially in the mental domain,
so you don't need to find just some doctor,
you will need the statistical luck to find the good one.

So, good luck.



http://www.buzzle.com/articles/citalopra…
You need to decrease the dose gradually over a period of weeks or months. The above article has all the info. You will probably need to do this with some medical supervision.



Go with what your doctor advises, you really need expert advice on this rather than some internet kid telling you a load of rubbish.



No, I will just do what the doctor says and my mom advices.



you feel fine cause of the pills silly, stay on them , you will get really sick i tell ya



Whether you've been on antidepressants for six months or six years, only you will know when the time is right for you to come off your medication, but always speak to your doctor (GP) first before you make any decisions.

Deciding when you are ready to come off antidepressants will depend on what you are taking them for - whether it's for moderate to severe depression or for other problems such as anxiety, panic disorders, eating disorders or chronic pain.

"With depression, doctors usually say to take them until you feel better and then for six months after that. It can be two to four weeks before you notice an effect on your mood," says GP Registrar Gemma Newman. "The pills aren't a quick fix, so if you stop taking them too early the depressed feelings are more likely to return."
The most important thing is to make sure that you reduce your tablets gradually - if you stop them quickly you're more likely to get withdrawal symptoms. "Withdrawal symptoms will depend on the strength of the medication you are taking - tablets with a shorter duration of effect will generally cause more symptoms
Withdrawal symptomsA third of people who are coming off antidepressants can have withdrawal symptoms - this doesn't mean that you are addicted, but it isn't unusual for people to find it difficult to come off antidepressants. If you're coming off Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), symptoms may include:

Dizziness;
Stomach upsets;
Vivid dreams;
Panic attacks;
Diarrhoea;
Flu-like symptoms;
Anxiety;
Sensations that feel like electric shocks.




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