Tapering off Antidepressants

how do I stop taking antidepressants - tapering tips

ASK YOUR DOCTOR FOR A LONG, SLOW TAPER SCHEDULE

A long, slow taper off antidepressants will help you avoid discontinuation syndrome and give your brain and body a chance to re-set themselves.

Essential Tapering Tips

  • Each taper should be the least possible milligram decrease per day
  • Stay on each reduced dose for at least a month
  • Stick to the taper schedule your doctor gives you – don’t rush it

Sample Taper Schedule

how do I stop taking antidepressants - tapering tips

Here’s a SAMPLE TAPER SCHEDULE which illustrates how a long, slow stopping of antidepressants might work.  The starting dose in this EXAMPLE is 100 milligrams; each dose reduction is 12.5 mg.

EXAMPLE:  Starting Dose: 100 milligrams

#1 Taper:             87.5 milligrams
#2 Taper:            75 milligrams
#3 Taper:             62.5 milligrams
#4 Taper:            50 milligrams
#5 Taper:            37.5 milligrams
#6 Taper:            25 milligrams
#7 Taper:            12.5 milligrams

NOTE:  Your doctor will work out a taper schedule based on your particular medication and will prescribe the necessary tablets or capsules so you can divide them properly.

Dealing with Tapering Side Effects

Even if you taper off the medication slowly, you may experience some tapering side effects which are different from the side effects of taking the medication.

My doctor didn’t tell me about SSRI tapering side effects.  When they started to happen, I became alarmed, which is why I list them here:

Heightened anxiety
Over-exuberance
Nausea
Brain zaps
Dizziness/imbalance
Heightened startle response
Headache
Tinnitus (head buzzing)
Loss of coordination
Muscle spasms
Tremors/shudders

Everyone reacts differently – just know that tapering side effects may occur and will diminish as the drug leaves your system.  Be sure to call your doctor with your QUESTIONS and CONCERNS.

A few of the tapering side effects stayed with me for many months, especially anxiety, which is a primary side effect associated with tapering off SSRIs.  I had to find ways to deal with it.

Each of these tips helped quiet my mind and restore some order to my days:

  1. Prepare a daily schedule: Print off a daily schedule template from your computer and fill it in: when to get up, when and what to eat, when to rest/read, when to go to bed.
  2. Limit Screen Time: Limit the time you spend on your phone, computer and watching television.
  3. Listen to Soothing Music:  Make relaxation or classical music part of your day – stay away from pounding bass lines and music with lyrics.
  4. Meditate:  Meditation is a way to give your mind and body a rest, a break from stress and anxiety.  Brief periods of meditation keep us in the present away from whirling thoughts of yesterday and tomorrow.

Meditation can help as you taper off antidepressants

Set a timer for 5 minutes. Sit in a comfortable chair with your eyes closed and consciously relax your muscles from the top of your head to the tips of your toes.  Take yourself to a peaceful place: a beach, a hiking trail, the view from the top of a mountain.

When I first started meditating, I couldn’t sit still for even 5 minutes.  Now, 10 minutes of meditating flies by and I “awake” refreshed.

  1. Exercise: Another stress-reliever is exercise. Keep it simple: walk 20 minutes a day close to where you live.  Pick a direction and walk for 10 minutes, then return. There’s your 20-minute walk.
  2. 10 X 10 Breathing:  Anxiety causes an adrenaline rush that affects the mind and body.  When we’re “in it” we are powerless.

By paying attention to your breathing, you can neutralize the overwhelming effects of too much adrenaline coursing through your body.  When anxiety starts to percolate:

SIT DOWN when anxiety strikes

BREATHE through your nose instead of gulping air

BREATHE naturally – don’t force it

COUNT TO 10 SLOWLY (in your head); when you get to 10, start at 1 again

AS YOU SETTLE DOWN, coordinate your counting with your breathing.  Inhale on 1, exhale on 2, inhale on 3, exhale on 4, etc. After your 10th exhale, start at 1 again.  Do it for as long as it takes to calm down.

10 X 10 BREATHING isn’t just a way to deal with full-out panic attacks.  When anxiety starts to bubble up, I start counting my breathing wherever I am – in the car, at the supermarket, in a room full of people.

If you have any questions about how I coped with quitting antidepressants, let me know.