What is the tapering process like after 18 months on antidepressants?

I have an appointment coming up with my psychotherapist soon—
I’m planning on tapering off the antidepressant I've been on for the last 15 months. I'm feeling good, so I want to get off the meds.

Should I start by cutting them in half or taking a half dose daily?
How long does that process take? Or should I just stop altogether?

In all this time, I haven't used any sedatives (my therapist
told me things would "level out" shortly after
starting the antidepressants... and that’s exactly what happened. A little bit of the actual drug, a little bit
placebo 😉 ).
Every once in a while, I forget a dose or miss one, then I just pick back up
the next day.

Back when I was 14, I went through several different medications,
it’s always best to taper off slowly, just a little at a time... sometimes you taper down until you stop, then start something new just as gradually. It’s the same thing when you're coming off a full treatment plan once you're feeling steady.

The key is following medical advice and taking it slow... you can't just decide you're fine and quit cold turkey.

Good luck!

🙂 😉 😎

I ended up taking them quite frequently over a very short period. But just as quickly, I made the decision to stop using them altogether.
To be honest, they just didn't make me feel right. They were slowing me down and making me drowsy all the time. I felt sluggish and totally unmotivated.
I decided to quit on my own, and when I finally sat down with my doctor to tell her what was happening, she was actually really supportive of my choice.
The good news is, I didn't deal with any withdrawal symptoms.
Right now, I'm focused on detoxing my system from all those toxins I put into my body, and I honestly feel so much better.

Good luck!🙂

HealthFirst said:I took them quite heavily over a very short period. But just as quickly, I decided to stop using them altogether.
The thing is, I didn't feel right. They were slowing me down and making me drowsy. I felt sluggish and lazy...

Are you perhaps thinking of sedatives?
Sedatives can make you sleepy, exhausted, slow, or even mentally foggy...
An antidepressant works over the long haul. If you only took it for a short stint, it probably hasn't even kicked in yet—it usually takes about a month or two to actually start working.

I’m not talking about sedatives here.
Over the course of about eight months, I cycled through at least six different types of antidepressants.
I was on Zyprexa, Normabagel, Lithium... plus a few others, though I can't recall the exact names right now.
Those medications hit me hard—it was honestly a nightmare. I dropped down to 115 pounds, couldn't sleep a wink, had zero appetite, and was dealing with depression, brain fog, and just feeling completely scattered.

Look, I hate to break it to you, but none of the medications you listed actually qualify as classic antidepressants.

Those are definitely heavier hitters, I agree.
I really hope you never reach a point where you actually need something like that.
Good luck either way—you've got this.

restlesshound77 said:I agree, these are heavy-duty medications.

But potency isn't the point here.

They aren't even antidepressants. It's not the same thing.

I honestly don't know much about those specific medications.
One doctor put me on some sedatives that I took for about
6 weeks. They just slowed me down and made me sleepy; they were really only useful
for calming me down during a panic attack.
Then, another doctor told me I needed to stop taking them as soon as possible
so I could start an antidepressant to actually help.
After being on the antidepressant for 14 days, I was functioning well without the sedatives.
The panic attacks stopped, and my anxieties slowly faded, but
at the end of the day, you have to do the heavy lifting yourself. Those meds are just tools.

Someone said:. I was down to 110 lbs, dealing with total insomnia—couldn't sleep for anything—and just felt completely scattered...

I'm at 110 lbs too, and I've got those exact same symptoms.
Should I be looking into starting Lithium as well? 😲 😁

Look, sorry, I know this isn't exactly lighthearted reading...
But honestly, I'm convinced that most neuroses—even psychosis—can be managed through the right psychological approach (maybe some deep introspection under professional guidance?) and that jumping straight to these medications is often just taking the path of least resistance.
🙂

I recently tapered off my Effexor...

The way I did it was by slowly lowering the dose bit by bit, and then once you hit that tiny minimum dose after maybe two or three weeks, you just take that little amount every other day for another couple of weeks before finally stopping altogether... though your doctor will walk you through the whole process

Once I finally quit that last little bit, I dealt with nausea, brain zaps, and this weird sensation like mild electric shocks in my head—it lasted about a week and a half before everything finally settled down

Just a little heads-up—you might feel totally fine while you're on the medication, but once you step away from it, a lot of those old symptoms can come rushing back

A lot of my symptoms definitely returned, but I decided to push through it because we're trying to have a baby soon... who knows what happens after that, but I’ll probably end up back on medication eventually

Antidepressants aren't like antibiotics where you just take them and the infection goes away

They really work by balancing out hormones and chemical processes in your brain, and everything feels steady as long as you're taking them, but it's so common for all those symptoms to return once you stop, since the chemistry just drifts right back to how it was before you started the therapy

So, am I really the only one who’s ever tried Prozac? How tragic. 😎

Thanks, electricdriver78!
It’s a little scary right now, though—dealing with the nausea, headaches, and all that. 😲
My crisis was triggered by very specific things. And those triggers
don't exist anymore, because I spent that whole time slowly
working through them and getting my life in order.
I learned so much about myself, and I actually managed to tackle
the hardest part: changing who I am.

I don't think there's an antidepressant in the world that can save you from depression
unless you decide to step up, do the work, and put in the effort yourself.

restlesshound77 said:So, am I really the only one who hasn't tried Prozac? How tragic. 😎

Keep in mind, Prozac is a pretty old-school medication.

You might find this worth a look:

PROZAC

Kenneth Hernandez67 said:but the strength doesn't matter.

they just aren't antidepressants. it’s not the same thing.

Exactly. The worst part is taking a pill without even knowing why you were prescribed it in the first place.

As for this topic, my mother was on an antidepressant (Prozac) for a year—she couldn't get off it after the first attempt, though her doctor thinks the dependency wasn't physical, just psychological. Meaning, if they had given her sugar pills that looked identical, she wouldn't have even realized she'd stopped... 😉
During the second attempt to taper off, they spent months managing it—starting at half a dose, then a quarter, then every other day... basically, the tapering process is painfully slow.

electricdriver78, those headaches you had briefly after stopping the antidepressants—was that a physical reaction or a psychological one? Of course, you felt the pain physically, but was the root cause a lack of certain chemicals in your system, or just the panic of realizing you'd actually stopped the medication?

How soon did the old symptoms come back? And how are you handling it now? Any advice on how I might be able to help my mother through this?

restlesshound77 said:Thanks, electricdriver78!
It’s a little scary right now, though, dealing with the nausea and those headaches... 😲
My breakdown was triggered by some very specific things in my life, and since those factors
aren't really there anymore—because I spent all that time slowly working through them and getting everything
in order...
I learned so much about myself during that time, and I finally managed to tackle the hardest part,
which is actually changing who you are at your core...

And honestly, I don't think any antidepressant can truly save you from depression
unless you decide to step up, put in the work, and really try to better yourself...

👍 I'm really happy for you...

hopefully you won't have to deal with this kind of thing ever again...

For me, it hasn't just been depression, but anxiety, PTSD, and OCD too

so things have been a bit more complicated... but I'm getting through it somehow...

don't let it scare you... just take it one day at a time...

the worst thing you can do is try to quit cold turkey, because then all those symptoms just hit you ten times harder...

Megan Morales5 said:Exactly. It’s the worst feeling when you're taking medication without even understanding why you were prescribed it in the first place...

Regarding the topic, my mother was on an antidepressant (Prozac) for a year, and during her first attempt to stop, she couldn't quite shake it, though her doctor thinks the dependency wasn't physical so much as psychological. Basically, if they had just given her sugar pills that looked identical, she probably wouldn't have even realized she had stopped taking anything 😉
With her second attempt at tapering off, they spent a few months after that episode, starting with half doses, then moving to a quarter dose, then just every other day... so yeah, coming off them is a really slow process...

electricdriver78, those headaches you had briefly after stopping the antidepressants—was that a physical reaction or more of a psychological one? Of course, you felt the pain physically, but was the cause actually a lack of certain chemicals in your system, or just the panic of realizing you were off the meds?

When did your old symptoms start creeping back in? And how are you managing through it all? Do you have any advice on how I might be able to help my mother through this...

those headaches, the nausea, and the absolute worst part—that sensation like an electric shock hitting your brain—it's all a chemical reaction from the lack of serotonin re-uptake inhibitors... because once I stopped, everything went right back to how it used to be regarding the chemical imbalance, where serotonin isn't being transmitted enough through the nervous system...

Even my doctor told me exactly what it would feel like so I wouldn't freak out...

those sensations, like little electrical shocks, are honestly terrifying if you aren't expecting them... I couldn't even drive that week because I was so scared I'd get into an accident...

I decided to taper off on purpose, at my own request... so I started looking into techniques to help me beforehand... I mostly stuck to Pilates and gardening... but the episodes still happen—especially my obsessive-compulsive urge to clean and scrub everything (at least the kitchen is sparkling 😁 )... I think my symptoms started showing up almost immediately after I stopped the meds...

meditation helps some people... the most important thing is finding an outlet for the anxiety... dealing with depression is harder... it helps a lot if you have someone by your side who recognizes the symptoms and can support you, whether it's just talking or doing an activity to distract you... but even that doesn't always work... my husband helps a ton, but even he can't always fix it... sometimes he just has to let me withdraw into myself... I'm thinking about starting psychotherapy again... it helped me before... but sometimes those sessions stir up old ghosts and leave you feeling totally wrecked for the rest of the week...

but if none of that works, maybe it's worth considering going back to therapy? (assuming there isn't a medical reason not to, of course)...

I don't think you should view it like a drug addiction... with drugs, things only ever go downhill...

the way I see it is this: when I stopped taking them, I didn't think, "Oh no, look how addicted I am to these pills"...

I thought, "Wow, look how much these medications were actually helping me" (you often don't even notice how much they help until you stop taking them)...

restlesshound77 said:Look, I’m not talking about sedatives here.
I cycled through at least six different kinds of those antidepressants over an eight-month stretch.
Zyprexa, Normabagel, Lithium... there were others too, but honestly, my brain is mush and I can't recall the names.
They were heavy-duty stuff—it felt brutal. I dropped down to 115 pounds, couldn't sleep for anything, couldn't eat a thing, just pure depression, zero focus, total mental chaos...

Well, Zyprexa is actually a neuroleptic, Normabagel is basically Valium—so a sedative—and Lithium is a mood stabilizer. That last one is usually reserved for severe, endogenous depression as a preventative measure, and it’s used for other things too, which isn't really what we're discussing here.

electricdriver78, thanks for breaking that down—it gives me a better sense of what she was actually going through. How do Americans usually describe anxiety in English?

What’s the actual distinction between anxiety and depression... specifically when it comes to symptoms?

Seriously, props to you for hanging in there. Those symptoms sound anything but pleasant...

There’s always a reason to get back on medication—usually because of whatever is going on upstairs...

magic said:I'm sorry, but none of the medications you listed actually qualify as traditional antidepressants.

That is quite an accurate assessment. None of those specific drugs function as the type of antidepressant used for clinical therapeutic purposes. All the medications mentioned here are typically taken on an off-label basis, and they aren't intended to treat depression.