Antidepressant 'withdrawal': Is there such a thing?
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Question

What are the symptoms of antidepressant withdrawal? Do withdrawal symptoms mean you were addicted to the drug?
Lori
Illinois
Answer

Antidepressant withdrawal refers to signs and symptoms caused by the abrupt discontinuation of an antidepressant medication after taking it for an extended period — usually longer than six weeks. Doctors may also refer to it as antidepressant discontinuation syndrome. However, this is not a formal psychiatric diagnosis.

Signs and symptoms of antidepressant withdrawal may include irritability, anxiety and sadness, as well as physical symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

To minimize the risk of withdrawal, do not stop taking an antidepressant without first discussing it with your doctor. Psychiatrists usually recommend gradually tapering off of antidepressants. By slowly reducing the dosage over an extended period, your brain gradually adjusts to the change and adapts to the absence of the drug.

However, adjustment does not mean addiction. Antidepressants are not considered addictive substances. Addiction represents harmful, long-term chemical changes in the brain that can lead to tolerance, physical dependence and uncontrollable craving. Withdrawal caused by abrupt discontinuation of an addictive substance is a very different phenomenon than withdrawal resulting from sudden discontinuation of a drug designed to restore normal chemical balance in the brain.

In addition, it's sometimes difficult to differentiate between withdrawal symptoms and re-emergence of depression after you stop taking an antidepressant. It is important to review this with your doctor.
Last Updated: 09/11/2006
© 1998-2006 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER).

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When I stopped my long time med (Effexor), I had no withdrawal symptoms, but I was scared and started it again for a few days, before I finally quit for good.
Doug

hell yes it exists
some meds are worse than others
cymbalta had terrible side effects for me and getting off it was just as bad
it is real and sux
like all meds it is individual specific
good luck

Hi,

Ive been on several meds over the last 20 years and the only one I had trouble
coming off of was effexor. I had dizzy spells for several weeks but everyone is
different.

best wishes,
starr

I was on Paxil CR for over a month, Pdoc told me to cease the med due to my BP.
Ok, I trusted him and did what he said.
1 week with mood swings, thoughts of suicide to end the pain I was going through mentally, and the zaps. I had body shocks and tinnitus for 9 months after stopping the med. Taper down is the way to go, even if your doc says otherwise. They're not going to go through the hell like you are.

Withdrawal was a painful procedure for me. Weeks with no sleep and suicide ideation.

I had no withdrawal symptoms after stopping 60mg prozac, but I wouldn't reccommend it as I stopped Citalopram and had really bad side effects. I think each person reacts differently and you don't know what the effects will be until you go through withdrawal- therefore do it with doctors advice and support only
Cokes x

lol-Hell yes indeed! Cymbalta and effexor were the worst for me. The dizziness, the headaches, my depression got worse---just to name a few. I wish someone would figure out a way that actually worked to stop this. It feeds into the theory that people taking depression meds are drug addicts. At least this is the reaction my family had. My husband and kids actually feel that since there is the withdrawal effect when you stop taking antidepressants that 1. You're a drug addict. And. 2. It's all a scam that the doctors are in on that get you hooked and cause you to forever "need" drugs.
I've tried and my pdoc has tried to explain this to them but it always ends up with them walking out in righteous indignation that I'm a drug addict. Have to admit this really messes with my head sometimes more than others and I end up going off my meds, feeling like hell and going back on them and wondering if they're right and/or wondering if I'm ever going to get well.

of course it does. A weird thing happened to me when i quite remeron cold turkey. The first week I was ecstatic, the second week...not so much.