Hi
Never posted on here before but I'm hoping someone can help me.
I got diagnosed with mild-moderate depression in may last year.I started taking tablets for it in july last year.I am on prozac.
I suffered some headaches and was very tired and had lows and highs etc when getting adjusted to them etc but soon settled down and found they helped me.I've always been told when its time to come off them its a slow withdrawal as otherwise the depression can come back.I've had some issues with my mum etc over the last year but now things are fine.I feel as if I've come out of the fog and handle things the same as the next person.
Anyway I've decided its time to come off them and find other ways off keeping myself up so to speak.
I couldnt get an appointment with my normal doctor and I needed a new prescription for the tablets asap(i'm on prozac) so I booked first available appointment with normal doctor which is in about 10days time but in the meantime booked a 'same day' appointment with a doctor to just pick up the prescription.I did this on friday.Because your booking an appointment for that day you have to take who you are given.
So I went to see the doctor.Never seen this one before and suspect he was a locum though he could of been the one who is there training at the moment.I got the impression he didnt agree with anti depressents.I explained that I wanted to come off them but think maybe I should just have the tablets as norm and see normal doctor in 10days to start coming off.He said if I'm feeling fine then nows the time to come off them.I didnt get the usual barrage of questions-all he asked was how I was feeling and what made me depressed in the first place.He grinned through the whole session.He then tells me to take half my normal dose for 7 days then just stop taking it.
This sounds really severe to me.I've had two other doctors since being diagnosed-one retired then got passed on to my current normal doctor.Both of these doctors warned me not to come off the tablets suddenly as its highly addictive and could cause me to have problems.The first doctor I saw before he retired said the way he withdraws patients off it is by first telling them to take it every other day then every 3 days etc and it would take 1-2mths to get off it.Which I was fine with and prepared for.
The other thing that worried me is that I would of thought while coming off it I would have to see doctors weekly like I did in the beginning but this new doctor didnt seem to think i needed to and just said maybe come in in 10days to see normal doctor to check things are going ok.
Whats been your experiences with this type of thing? Any of you been on prozac or know someone that has and would you mind telling me how you/the person you know came off it please?