Is there an easy way to get off anti depressants without getting withdrawals?


Question:
Hi, I have been on citalopram 30mg since my baby was born 11 months ago and I feel its time to get off them. I was on them before after my first baby but had to come off them as we were trying for our second baby. The withdrawals were terrible. Can anyone suggest a way to get through this.

Answers:
Please don't listen to the people telling you to keep busy, get a hobby, etc. You obviously needed the medication.

With antidepressants they need to be tapered off. Please talk to your doctor. He or she can give you a formula to taper off. You need to do this right. You have two wonderful children to take care of now. Please take care of yourself.

Other Answers:
u should definitely taper off of them GRADUALLY. It is best to have a doctor working with u cuz u may need other medication too.
You might just have to quit cold turkey. My sister did that. Or, you can slowly stop taking them so it won't be so bad.
Go cold turkey and take up DDR at the exact same time.
I am sorry you feel that you need to take chemical stimulants to get through, but you have to talk to your doctor, who will be sympathetic with you, and will be able to help you, or refer youto someone that can.
Anti depressants gives fatigue to the body and weakness the mind and the moral. All I could suggest is yoga and meditation which can help you come off ur troubles and give u internal peace. This may not be easy in the beginning but if u try without giving up, then u really see the difference in you. Only when ur happy and peaceful ,ur family can be!
I just went off Prozac,, cut down every other day for a week, then every third day. then I did'nt take anymore and I have'nt experienced any problems. I was on them for over two years.
Stop being a dopefiend. When you get withdrawl drink a Coke.
Meet lots of like minded people. Join a club to
pursue your favourate activities. Get out of that
four walls of yours, as much as you can. Try to
see only the brighter sides of your life comparing
others less fortunate than you. And gradually withdraw
from medicine dependency. A day will come when you
will forget that you had ever taken those poison.
You should always talk to your Dr before stopping/starting any medication. He/She will talk to you about the symptoms and side effects if any. They are the best ones to discuss your medical history and/or questions with. My personal experience with anti-depressants in the past has been: I call the Dr's office and leave a message,(they always call me back with an "okay - go ahead - but increase it again if you need to") and decrease my meds gradually over a few weeks until I have completely stopped the dose. (I have been taking meds for over 10 years, and have in the past had to adjust meds.) But you you really should consult your own Dr and not base your experience on other's.

Good luck to you.
Nothing worthwhile is easy. Sorry to say I do not know how to avoid physical withdrawal, but I hope it might help you to know that depression is a condition of the spirit, not the body. The best way to get through it is with LOTS of spiritual support.
There's no easy way to get off of antidepressants, but there are lots of things that you and your doctor can do to make it easier.

SSRI antidpressants (prozac, paxil, zoloft, celexa, etc.) have particularly harsh withdrawal symptoms, and should never be stopped suddenly. Doing so can lead to a temporary psychotic condition called "seratonin storm".

The best way to stop your medication is to talk to your doctor. He or she can set you up on a "weaning" regimen, where you slowly reduce the amount of drug that you're taking. You'll still get withdrawal effects, but not as severe. If the withdrawal effects are still severe (it varies from patient to patient), your doctor can prescribe short-acting muscle relaxers (xanax, klonipin, valium) to be taken as needed when the symptoms flare up. The most important thing is to work closely with your doctor.
Antidepressants usually have to be tapered when you discontinue them. It took me 2 months to taper off Effexor, after taking it for a year. The withdrawal was still unpleasant, but at least the effects weren't damaging to my health. Stopping any drug suddenly can be dangerous to you, so don't do it without consulting with your doctor first.


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