← Return to 3 yrs after stopping Zoloft still having withdrawal symptoms every day

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@astaingegerdm

@deegee75
I’m sorry that I’m so unaware of the difficulties tapering off antidepressants.
I also don’t know if they are meant to be taken for extended periods.

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Replies to "@deegee75 I’m sorry that I’m so unaware of the difficulties tapering off antidepressants. I also don’t..."

When I tapered off seven years ago, the recommendation was a 10% decrease every 2-3 weeks in order to avoid “brain zaps” and other withdrawal symptoms. Recently I read on the Surviving Antidepressants website that that is even too much, too fast for some. So someone has developed another tapering schedule that divides the 10% decrease every 2-3 weeks into increments. For example, if you are on 10 mg of Lexapro, the first decrease of 10% takes you to 9 mg/ml (you can get Lexapro in liquid form and take a 5 mg tablet with 4 ml of liquid). Instead of immediately decreasing to 9 mg/ml, you just decrease to 9.5 the first ten days, the. 9.0 the next ten. Or whatever time frame you feel works for you. I never had to do it, but if you experience any symptoms, you can go back to the previous dosage for another week or two. For me, avoiding withdrawal symptoms was much more important than getting off quickly.