Re:How to Quit Antidepressants: Slowly, Doctors Say
by plants on Wednesday March 06, 2019 @11:17AM
(#19320023)
Anecdotally, I have seen the same thing with anti-anxiety medication. Not sure what medication it was exactly, but some folks that are close to me have had a much higher incidence of panic attacks when they abruptly stopped taking their medication. Same deal - they thought they were fine, then a week or so later, it was just panic attack after panic attack until they refilled their prescription.
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Re:How to Quit Antidepressants: Slowly, Doctors Say
by notme77 on Wednesday March 06, 2019 @04:38PM
(#19323120)
Please google "Ashton Manual"
The process you're describing is well understood. What your folks are experiencing is extremely common. The Ashton Manual not only describes the process, but also details procedures for mitigating withdrawal-crash-relapse cycling.
I'm not a Doctor. The author has solid medical and research credentials along with decades of experience specifically treating and studying benzo addiction. The manual is published by a public research university and has withstood many years of scrutiny.
Re:How to Quit Antidepressants: Slowly, Doctors Say
by Pharmakon on Wednesday March 06, 2019 @01:57PM
(#19321527)
Most anxiolytics are benzodiazepines, and quitting cold turkey can quite literally kill you, especially if you’ve been on a significant dose over time. These drugs raise your seizure threshold, but rapidly quitting creates a backlash of lowered seizure threshold, and you can have far worse outcomes than just rebound anxiety.
Re:How to Quit Antidepressants: Slowly, Doctors Say
by Engineering-MD on Wednesday March 06, 2019 @02:20PM
(#19321747)
Benzodiazepine withdrawal can be unpleasant, but is very unlikely to kill. As far as I am aware, there is only one case of benzodiazepine withdrawal related death (which is not certain in any case).