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Mental Health How long does SSRI withdrawal last?

plumbus-nine

plumbus-nine

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Apr 4, 2021
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I've been on some or another antidepressants for many years now, venlafaxine mostly. Countless failed attempts to quit, then recently switched to fluoxetine and tapered that. I'm now two weeks off but again brain zaps and irritability, much less pronounced than when stopping venlafaxine but it's annoying and causes distress. How long will this last, weeks, months? Should I reintroduce fluoxetine and taper even more slowly?
 
Ssri withdrawal can be caused by multiple factor including the amount of time you’ve taken the medication, your dosage level, and the pill’s half-life (how quickly it is eliminated from your body). For instance, Prozac, which has about a five-week half-life, appears to cause discontinuation much less often than drugs with shorter half-lives, such as Paxil.
 
Yeah, I was on venlafaxine continuously for many years just with dine breaks to try Citalopram which had different side effects but at the core they were all the same.

Tarered now with fluoxetine which seemedzto work initially but at some points brain zaps and irritability would hit me again with the only solution tibre introduce a small mount ig Venla (10x-20mg IR)

How much times does this take to reviver?
 
SSRI withdrawal can last 1-4 weeks depending how long you've taken it and the dose. Worst case scenario it can take a month to feel normal again.
 
So you think SSRI withdrawal is a direct result of the substances being in my system? Becuase it gets worse upon titrating too fast or skipping some days. Unfortunately I relapsed today and took 37.5mg venlafaxine upon all the WD symptoms were gone within half an hour so.
 
My understanding was that brain zaps were a consequence of previously artificially elevated serotonin levels dropping too fast. But brain zaps aren't everything, they alone would be bearable in the low strength induced by fluoxetine. It's a complete abstinence syndrome with inner tension, dysphoria, restlessness and lethargy etc as usual. Just no diarrhea and runny nose with fluoxetine otherwise quite narcotic like.

What's remarkable is that with reducing my suicidality disappeared. Antidepressants causing depression, nice. I know it's listed with some but experiencing it myself is still a different level.
 
Another weird thing is that venlafaxine seems to be better when taken as instant release all in the morning instead of the same, or the double (to account for half life) dose as XR. One would expect withdrawal to set in in the evening but it doesn't, instead it's clearer and better tolerated. Just that chewing these pellets is so bitter. In other time they sold IR but eventually withdrew it from the market, for whatever reason.
 
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