Do Not Suddenly Stop Taking The Meds
One of the best ways to know that the meds (antidepressants, mood stabilizers or whatever) are working is that you feel so much better. You’re sleeping better, you’re eating better, you have more energy, you’re able to have fun sometimes — and so you think, “I guess I don’t need the meds anymore. I’ll stop taking them now.”
Worst thing you can do.
Pain And Problems
After a couple of weeks, your body is used to receiving a certain level of that prescription drug every day. Your body will get very, very cranky if you suddenly switch off. The withdrawal symptoms might take a couple of days to kick in or a couple of hours.
Withdrawal symptoms from anitdepressants, anti-seizure medications and mood stabilizers include:
- Headaches or migraines
- Shakiness or tremors
- Sweating
- Insomnia
- Dizziness or balance problems
- Inability to concentrate
- A return of the depression symptoms you had before
So, Are You Stuck With The Meds For Life?
Not necessarily. Although some people (like me) will most likely be on Prozac until I croak (or until Western civilization implodes, whichever comes first), many people do not need to be. But that’s up for your body and your doctor to decide.
What you can do is either take a smaller dose of your medicine or gradually taper off. For example, I started at 40mg of Prozac per day in April of 2003 and now I’m on 20mg per day. At one point in 2007, I tried to take 10mg per day. However, that didn’t work out too well. I saw someone throwing part of a pizza in the trash and I thought about all of the homeless that would love to have that pizza and I burst out into tears. So, now I’m back on 20mg.
Concentrate of getting better before contemplating reducing medication.
November 1st, 2009 at 11:09 pm
I have some problems with my web browser WebTV Viewer on your web site. The monkeys are still in the system :).