Posted by SLS on October 2, 2006, at 10:16:39
In reply to Re: Staying off Antidepressants » SLS, posted by Philip N. on October 2, 2006, at 9:41:05
> I quit cold turkey back in December after a 9 year history with SSRIs.
Gosh.
> In your opinion could that have impacted a return to Depression/Anxiety @ 6 months.
That would be highly speculative.
In my mind's eye, I can see how it might be possible.
I know this is exactly the question that you are struggling with. I don't think anyone but the most pioneering of scientists would feel confident in giving you an answer. My answer to you is that the abrupt discontinuation of antidepressants can be counterproductive.
> Would getting back on them and maybe doing a very slow withdrawal if and when possibly offer a greater chance at success or does it matter?
I think a gradual taper offers a greater chance at preventing a relapse.
> When someone cold turkeys does that increase the chance for relapse?
I believe so. I think it really opens the door for a rebound depression that might spread and perhaps blossom into a true relapse. It is a paroxsysmal destabilizing event that must surely produce chaos within homeostatic feedback loops. Depression can be an illness of oscillation. Allowing the system to drop so precipitously might swing the pendulum in the wrong direction.
I think the bottom line is that the appearance of your depression was LATENT to the discontinuation of antidepressants by 6 months. It is therefore not a withdrawal rebound depression. It is a true relapse and must be treated as such. Like I said before, knowing me, I would probably try one more time to restart antidepressants and attempt to discontinue them again. Yes, I would have to treat the relapse as a second episode. This would mean a minimum of 12-14 months of treatment AFTER full remission is achieved before beginning a gradual taper that should probably take 6-8 weeks. The 6-8 weeks is just a figure I came up with as I wrote this. I would be interested to hear other proposals.
The question for you is how much longer should you wait? Will the things that you are doing to combat depression right now begin to work so as to make drug treatment unnecessary? I don't know. Can you forecast how much longer your life can be maintained if things were to remain the way they are right now? Now subtract 2-4 weeks from that (that's how long it might take a drug to work again). That's how long you can wait. Sounds logical to me, anyway. It may not be.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:691011
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20060809/msgs/691144.html