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Hi There, I Am Currently Taking 20MG Of Fluoxetine And
Question: Hi there, i am currently taking 20MG of Fluoxetine and would like to stop taking it, can you advise the best way to do so.
Thanks very much ,
XXXXXXX
Thanks very much ,
XXXXXXX
Brief Answer:
Recommendations
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
It would be best to work with a psychiatrist or your primary doctor to do this. In general, if you have been taking an antidepressant for more than a month, it's best for the discontinuation to be supervised for 6-8 weeks to address the development of antidepressant discontinuation syndrome.
There are a number of different tapering schedules, and no one way to do it. Fluoxetine has a very long half life compared with many of the other SSRI antidepressants, meaning that there is less chance of an abrupt onset of discontinuation effects - which is good.
You can try cutting the dose by 25% every week or two. That is a generally safe way to do it. If you find you are starting to have symptoms then go back up to the previous dose and take it down more slowly. But at 20 mg of fluoxetine, I don't think you will have a big problem. Some doctors will recommend taking 1/2 of the dose and stay on that for 3 weeks, and then off.
--------------------
For your reference, if you would like to read more on this, you may like to see:
A review of the management of antidepressant discontinuation symptoms XXXXXXX XXXXXXX and XXXXXXX Lader
Ther Adv Psychopharmacol. 2015 Dec; 5(6): 357–368.
Recommendations
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
It would be best to work with a psychiatrist or your primary doctor to do this. In general, if you have been taking an antidepressant for more than a month, it's best for the discontinuation to be supervised for 6-8 weeks to address the development of antidepressant discontinuation syndrome.
There are a number of different tapering schedules, and no one way to do it. Fluoxetine has a very long half life compared with many of the other SSRI antidepressants, meaning that there is less chance of an abrupt onset of discontinuation effects - which is good.
You can try cutting the dose by 25% every week or two. That is a generally safe way to do it. If you find you are starting to have symptoms then go back up to the previous dose and take it down more slowly. But at 20 mg of fluoxetine, I don't think you will have a big problem. Some doctors will recommend taking 1/2 of the dose and stay on that for 3 weeks, and then off.
--------------------
For your reference, if you would like to read more on this, you may like to see:
A review of the management of antidepressant discontinuation symptoms XXXXXXX XXXXXXX and XXXXXXX Lader
Ther Adv Psychopharmacol. 2015 Dec; 5(6): 357–368.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Raju A.T
Answered by
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