Psychiatrist Urges Weeks-Long SSRI Tapers to Avoid 27-Year-Tracked Withdrawal Distress
Updated
Updated · USA TODAY · Jun 23
Psychiatrist Urges Weeks-Long SSRI Tapers to Avoid 27-Year-Tracked Withdrawal Distress
3 articles · Updated · USA TODAY · Jun 23
Summary
Gradual dose reductions over weeks are the safest way to stop SSRIs, Dr. Jerrold Rosenbaum said, with some patients needing a much slower taper or a switch to a longer-acting SSRI.
Millions have used antidepressants, and Rosenbaum said even a low rate of discontinuation problems leaves many thousands with distress when they stop too quickly.
Symptoms of antidepressant discontinuation syndrome can include dizziness, irritability, anxiety, insomnia, nausea, diarrhea, nightmares and electrical-like head sensations; they are usually not medically dangerous but can be severe.
Lower-dose stages often prove hardest because the brain becomes more sensitive to serotonin changes, making smaller reductions near the end of a taper useful.
SSRIs largely replaced older antidepressants from 1990 because of fewer side effects and are still widely used for depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD and some eating disorders.