Antidepressants can be stopped, and many people do stop them successfully. What matters is how. Stopping gradually with a plan avoids most of the difficulty; stopping abruptly causes symptoms that are unpleasant, avoidable, and frequently misinterpreted.
Common side effects and early adjustment effects
Discontinuation symptoms typically begin within a few days of stopping or reducing:
- Dizziness or unsteadiness
- Brief electric-shock sensations, often described as brain zaps
- Nausea
- Flu-like feelings, headache and fatigue
- Irritability, anxiety or tearfulness
- Vivid or disturbing dreams, and disturbed sleep
This is not addiction. Antidepressants are not craved and are not misused for effect. What happens is that the body has adapted to their presence and needs time to readapt. The distinction matters because people who believe they are addicted often feel trapped, when the actual issue is the speed of reduction. See discontinuation symptoms.
How difficult stopping is varies by medicine. Those that leave the body quickly, such as venlafaxine and paroxetine, tend to cause more pronounced symptoms and need slower reduction. Longer-acting ones are generally easier. Missing even a single dose of a short-acting one can bring symptoms on. See missing a dose.
Serious mood, behaviour or physical symptoms to take seriously
Get urgent help for new or worsening thoughts of self-harm. Risk can rise around any change in treatment, including reduction, which is one reason stopping is done gradually and with review rather than alone.
Contact your prescriber the same day if you stopped abruptly and feel unwell. Restarting and then reducing more slowly usually resolves it quickly.
Sexual, sleep, weight and emotional side effects
Telling discontinuation apart from relapse is the central difficulty, and getting it wrong changes what people conclude about themselves.
- Discontinuation usually starts within days of a reduction, prominently features physical symptoms such as dizziness and electric-shock sensations, and eases over weeks. It also improves quickly if the dose is restored.
- Relapse tends to come on later, over weeks rather than days, and looks like the original illness returning rather than a physical syndrome.
Mistaking withdrawal for relapse leads people to conclude they cannot manage without the medicine when the real problem was going too fast. Mistaking relapse for withdrawal leads people to endure a returning illness. Both are reasons to reduce slowly enough that the difference is visible.
Some effects improve after stopping, including sexual side effects and emotional blunting, though not always immediately.
Interactions, alcohol, pregnancy and other risk factors
Timing matters. Stopping during a period of high stress, poor sleep or major life change makes both withdrawal and relapse more likely. Choosing a stable period is a legitimate part of the plan.
Alcohol makes the process harder and muddies what you are feeling. See mental health medication and alcohol.
If you are pregnant or planning to be, do not stop on that basis without advice, since untreated illness carries its own risks. See mental health medication in pregnancy.
What to ask your doctor before changing dose or stopping
A taper reduces the dose in steps, with time between each to see how you settle. Slower is generally easier, the last steps are often the hardest, and there is no prize for finishing quickly. If a step proves difficult, holding at that level for longer, or making smaller steps, is a normal adjustment rather than a failure.
- Is now a sensible time, given what else is happening in my life?
- Over what period would we reduce, and in what steps?
- What should I expect, and what would worry you?
- How would we tell withdrawal from the illness returning?
- What do I do if a step is too difficult?
- Who do I contact if my mood drops?
Related mental health medication guides
- Mental health medication side effects
- Should I stop my mental health medication
- Antidepressant side effects
- Mental health medication withdrawal symptoms
- Report a side effect in South Africa
Medical Disclaimer: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical diagnosis, prescription, or professional advice. Always read the patient information leaflet and consult a qualified doctor or pharmacist regarding any medicine or health concern.