After

[Pablo005]

Any good reviews after stopping antidepressants??? Did y’all go back to a normal state ??

[SurvivingEveryday]

Boy, oh, boy! What a journey mine was when I quit Duloxetine.

I was on Duloxetine for about 6 years for anxiety and depression. Before that I was on prozac and Xanax for about 2 years, but they were not as helpful as Duloxetine. After about 3 years I needed a higher dosage because I was reaching a sort of homeostasis. Then, again, about 2 years after that I needed another increase.

Everything was "ok", it definitely calmed some of my anxiety, but Duloxetine made me SUPER numb, physically and emotionally. One time, I cut my arm and was bleeding pretty steadily. I had no idea until much later that I was even injured! Mentally and emotionally I was numb and did not care about anything, and never cried, laughed or expressed myself.

When I realized I needed to stop, the doctor told me to open my capsules and remove X amount and take that dosage for two weeks, then do the same thing for two more weeks, and then use that dosage every other day, and then three, then two times a week.

It helped the withdrawals that Duloxetine put me through, but did not take it all away (I once quit cold turkey and had the "flu" and a "hangover" feeling for a month before starting the meds again out of fear I was going to die.)

Still with me? If you are... being off the medication was fun for about two weeks. I was laughing, crying, and experiencing human motions. It was great! But, then I got triggered and was stressed, and it was AWFUL! I hit rock bottom and was super depressed and actually considered killing myself. So I started taking Zoloft, a lower dosage, and it seems to be working. I have been on it about 3 months now.

I would talk to your doctor, but know that it can be very intense to quit meds, physically, and mentally it might actually make your diagnosis worse. Be careful! :_)

[designguy]

I've tried life with meds and without meds and even tried the natural supplement route. At one time I was on zoloft and ran out on a trip and started having brain zapping and increased anxiety so I knew the consequences of quitting suddenly. My advice is if you to decide to quit that you do a very slow taper to give your body and mind time to adjust. You might also look into supplements to support your quitting. There is a good book called "the anti-anxiety food solution" by 'Trudy Scott that has a lot of good info about natural supplements and diet for anxiety/depression.