When You Know You Are Ready to Quiy Antidepressants

Why would you stop? You're on a very low dose of sertraline, and my doctor has told me it is not addictive. If you were taking Xanax it would be a different story.

I started taking a low dose of prozac (fluoxetine) when I was going through hell and grieving the loss of my marriage (first husband deciding he "wasn't meant to be married".) Anyhow, I was amazed at what a difference a little serotonin boost did. I'm still taking it 10 years later. I figure, if it works, and helps boost my serotonin why stop? Happiness is a great thing

Follow your doctors advice.
If you have questions, ask him.
He'll tell you how to slowly reduce taking them and then you won't have any withdrawal.

In the olden days a doctor would recommend an extended vacation to resolve depression...6-12 months long. Since that isn't possible for most people we take antidepressants.
In general it takes 6 - 12 months for depression to resolve, so I agree with your doctor that you should wait another few months before you wean off the medication. I took antidepressants after my dad died and again after my mom died. I was on them about a year each time. Stopping them was not a big deal.

Here's what could happen. You could continue taking the meds and working on the issues that are causing them. The short time you have been on them have made you feel better. You are still working on those issues and if you go off them until you are done working on the issues you will be more depressed and anxious than before.

You must use this time to work on the issues so that you have this cushion to help you through it. Once you have achieved the needed insight so you know what was causing it THEN you can start lowering your dose of meds. If you do it before you are completely through all the emotions and mess that working on the issues can be you will only find disappointment and more depression and more anxiety.

Will what is causing the depression and anxiety be gone in a couple months when you stop taking it? If the answer is yes, then yes, your depression and anxiety will come back.

Hi, I've been on 2 different ones over a period of many many years. I was switched from one to the other because the first contributed to fatigue and I wasn't safe behind the wheel. I transitioned easily. Overall, though, I really didn't want to be on them long term, partly just in principle, and partly because I found they took away the lows and the crying jags, but also took away the highs. I just didn't have joy in my life. I didn't want the blues to come back, of course, but I really missed being truly HAPPY. I wanted to be more than "stable." I didn't get good advice the first time, and I quit cold turkey. It was fine for about 2 months but then the effects of the build-up over time wore off, and I sank back into depression.

I went back on, and got better advice, and started to taper off, gradually weaning (half dose every day, then half again, then every other day, then every 3 days). That was a much better approach.

At the same time, I got excellent advice on supplementation - I recognized the truth, that my depression was the result of a chemical imbalance and I needed more in my body to really help me metabolize everything I was eating. Doesn't matter what you eat - it matters what you ABSORB, and all nutrients (vitamins, minerals, trace elements etc.) require EACH OTHER to really work. That's why supplementing with a particular herb or vitamin is so inefficient and sometimes makes things worse. Even if it says "all natural" that doesn't mean it's good for you, or that it's working.

So I supplemented comprehensively with good scientific and clinical studies behind the products, and I accomplished several things. I got my energy level up and my metabolism moving, which made me feel better. That enabled me to get motivated and get to the gym, which built strength and muscle, released endorphins, and made me feel better still. I was happier and got into a great strength class of women (and a few men) - and I can out-lift and out-everything women who are quite a bit younger than I am. I stopped getting sick, which helped my moods too.

So the approach was multi-faceted, and I had awesome advice and support through a free nutritional consultant. I got my body into balance, and that helped me physically and as well as mentally. I networked with others who had suffered with depression (with and without the anxiety/panic attack part). It helped me stay consistent and see that there was hope for me, that I didn't have to go back to the way things were. I've been medication-free for over 6 months and I feel wonderful. I also got off other medications, my blood pressure and cholesterol went down, and my other lab work was awesome - my doctor was blown away and told me to keep doing what I was doing.

I think it's important that you taper off your meds, and not quit cold turkey. It's possible and in face likely that, if you reduce meds, it will be a few months before you know if there's a difference. It doesn't usually happen in a few days or weeks, in my experience. I also think you might benefit from doing what these other women and I did.

Good luck! Let me know if you want more support.

how do you know you are doing better? that's a low dose you are on. i will never quit my pristiq and have told my husband when i die he needs to put a bottle of pristiq in with me :). i am on low dose but has changed my life for the better. i am not PMSing anymore 24/7

Why the rush to "get off" the medication? You FEEL better because the medication has been artificially producing the hormone that your brain was not producing. It's like when you have a fever and you take tylenol. You didn't get better.... you simply masked the fever with the fever-reducing medicine.
4.5 months is not a long time to make drastic changes in your responses and behaviors.... which is what you need to do so that you can manage your anxiety/depression without medication. So, before I quit the medication I would ask myself:

What made you choose to medicate in the first place? If you allowed yourself to get to a *very dark* place before seeking treatment last time.... how you will "measure" progress this time? What behaviors can you pick out that are the "start" of your spiral? How will you know that you are backsliding without sliding too far?

Will the factors that were present when you were anxious/depressed have gone away? For example, you were depressed because you were unemployed for 3 years. Now you have a great, stable job and are doing well.

What tools have you learned for helping to regulate your mood / behavior / choices DIFFERENTLY than you did before? For example, now you exercise regularly when before you felt unmotivated. now that you are in the "routine" you feel that you will keep exercising regularly which will increase your endorphins. Or you have taken a self-defense class so you are no longer anxious about walking after dusk.

Did you combine your drug therapy with other *talk* therapy or behavior modification therapy? If no.... this is a HUGE red flag. You have used medication as a "crutch" and unless you did an ENORMOUS amount of work on your own (and 4.5 months is NOT enough time to do that amount of work un-guided... usually) then you probably have not changed the factors that led you to seek treatment in the first place.

Good luck.