cold turkey from anti-ds, hand holding please

[TeacupsandFigs]

I'm on day 5 of stopping anti-depressants, going down the cold turkey route. So far so good but I'm on holiday from work at the moment (that's why I am doing it now). I want to get back down a dress size as they make me so hungry and I've gained a stone, I can't diet when I'm on them as I just want to eat anything in sight.
I'm starting to doubt whether I can really cope without them and am tempted to give in tonight and take one. I could do with some encouragement to be strong and not give in and take one, I guess I am worrying that I'm setting myself up for a psychological crash as I've been on them for two years.

Why are you going cold turkey? That's a really bad idea and you'll more than likely find yourself back to square one. You need to wean off them very, very slowly.

Seconding advice to wean off them rather than going cold turkey. I went off them slowly and followed doctors advice and still found it fairly tough to do.

Please seek advice before stopping anti depressants. It took me months to slowly wean off citalopram. Stopping suddenly is not a good idea.

Basically I forgot to take them for a couple of days and then I left them in the car but didn't remember until I'd already gone to bed. Because I felt fine I thought I'd might as well not take them and start trying to get on with losing the weight I need to lose, if it comes to it I can go back to taking them but I'd rather come off them.

That's fine if you are ready to come off but a sudden stop is unlikely to be the best way. Please consult a GP (or could a chemist help?).
FWIW I was told to reduce the dose a very small amount and stay at that level until I felt ok for 3 months. Then reduce again. Doing it that way was fine.
Good luck.

I wouldn't go cold turkey either, what dosage are you on? I would take one maybe today, then another the day after tomorrow, start doing it gradually.
I went cold turkey recently as I'm pregnant so just stopped taking them but that and my hormones I was all over the place. I'm now taking 10mg every 3 days or so.

Completely agree with PPs, it's really risky to come off cold turkey as you can have a delayed reaction. I've been reducing off Venlafaxine as I'm pregnant and it's been hellish even with a tapered dose. Please please call your gp for advice and let us know how you get on.

Go to your GP, explain what happened. Cold Turkey is not good for your body or your well being.

I think you're mad but I kind of want to do what you're doing for the same reason! I tried a cold turkey sertraline withdrawal once and it was hell: brain zaps the lot and I had to go back on them. I did a tapered withdrawal which was fine.

I too am putting all my hard lost weight on. I'm tapering off mine currently. My mood is a bit up and down, mainly snappy and angry. My stomach also hurts more than usual. Headaches and sweating too.

See how you feel. I think the half life of mine is 36 hours.

For those on sertraline, how did you wean off of them? Would it be safe to go from 150mg to 100mg or is that too much of a big drop?

I've just come off Citalopram after being on 40mg for a year, and it took me about another year to get down to 2.5mg every other day & then to nothing.

I could feel my brain changing, even going that slowly. I'd be worried about cold turkey, too.

Thanks slugs I'll try 125mg first.

Sorry but not handholding when you are doing something against medical advice. Go back to your doctor, reinstate and then reduce very slowly.

you are going to crash. You cant come off them cold turkey after 2 years. You just cant. Your depression WILL come crashing back

Wean yourself off as slowly as you can, and do it with strategies in place for when it gets hard

Don't do it. Especially not if its citalopram - it has a short half life so it's a bastard to come off. Fluoxetine is easier.

Yes, it's mirtazapine. I've got something else from the GP which I take alongside them and I'm carrying on with that.
I guess I'll take it tonight and then try and see the GP. I just want to move on from relying on tablets.

Good luck teacups.

Bringiton2016 - can I ask when you tried cold turkey off of Sertraline how long did it take for the side effects to kick in?

Agree with others, it is best to reduce as slowly and gradually as possible. Marylin I think it would be better to doas slugs suggested and do decreases of 25's. Most advise I have had suggests getting a plan from GP on how to reduce and then doing it a LOT more slowly than that.

I must add that I am (very stupidl)y currently not taking my own advice hence to question to bring it on.

Sorry teacups, I didn't really reply to your post.

I am in a similar position of running out and going a few days without taking ADs. In the past I have been away and not had enough to last the full holiday. I managed by taking a lower dose and also missing the odd day throughout the week before going back to my usual asap after getting home. This has always been fine for me. I think it would probably be recommend after a few days of missing them to continue taking them asap and then see your doc about a gradual withdrawal. Especially if you are feeling like you wont cope without them - is there a particuar reason you think this?

I have gone a bit longer than you (and on a different AD) and am now on day 9 of not taking any. I am worried I might have missed the boat on restarting them and am trying to decide whether to do so or just to continue without them.

I wouldnt think of it as giving in to change your mind about going cold turkey.

pandapop, I'm sure it was this time last year. I was posting under a different name then. I felt it straight away, the zaps, and I was a snivelling wreck. I couldn't function with 2 small dc. Dh didn't really get it and would jusr see me as picking fights and causing problems. When I came off them over a few months I didn't notice a thing. Coming off citalopram now.

It was actually my gp who advised me to just stop taking them! I made an appointment just for tapering advice trying to be responsible, and this is what she said. Needless to say I've not been to see that gp again.

7 weeks is the stickiest time. Don't know why. That when a lot of people relapse. However, if you are on other antidepressants you might not get the kick-back, but I'd be surprised if you don't feel very unwell in a few weeks time. With mirtazapine you will prob notice you have poor sleep first.

I agree with peachy the first few weeks are t too bad emotionally. Yes you may well have some physical withdrawal signs but then bam out of nowhere you go a bit doo lally and I think this is when most cave in and go back on them but I didn't because I reasoned with myself it was to do with my brain re adapting so I thought I'd ride the misery out for two weeks tops and honestly it passed!

I will say that I do still have signs of depression now but I try to manage it naturally.

However for the dark days I would recommend the pills even for a few months.