Posted by SLS on February 15, 2005, at 14:56:09
In reply to Re: Please list strategies for successful withdrawal:, posted by catachrest on February 15, 2005, at 14:21:51
> In friendship,
> Susan:-)
There are many reasons why someone would need to discontinue an antidepressant.
1. Mission accomplished - remission of depression.
2. Mission not accomplished - switch drugs
3. Side effects
4. Conflict with other medications
5. Conflict with other medical procedures
6. Cost
7. Other
With the exception of #1, it is ideal to discontinue the drug as soon as possible. With #1, the idea is to withdraw the drug as gradually as possible over an extended period of time - not to avoid a withdrawal syndrome, but to avoid relapse. It has been shown that the rate of relapse is lower for a slow taper than for a rapid taper or abrupt discontinuation.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:457546
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20050214/msgs/458239.html