What Are the Risks of Starting & Stopping Antidepressant Medications?

While some people only experience mild side effects when getting off antidepressants, others can sometimes be overwhelmed by the sudden changes in brain chemistry. Fortunately, there are safe ways to get off of antidepressants.

Mild Symptoms

• Common and mild symptoms that antidepressant takers experience when they stop taking their antidepressants are dizziness, gastrointestinal problems, strange dreams, fatigue and irritability.

More Severe

• Those who abruptly stop taking antidepressants can experience a resurgence of the psychiatric disorder. Some patients have also reported intense suicidal thoughts.

Considerations

• Those who take antidepressants have brain synapses that are accustomed to abundances of serotonin. No longer taking antidepressants can cause the synapses to behave as if they still had serotonin.

Getting Off

• Getting off antidepressants can be done by gradually reducing the amount of antidepressant taken in. This should only be done after consulting your psychiatrist.

Recovery

• Symptoms of antidepressant withdrawals are alleviated quickly when patients start taking the antidepressants again.