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Suggest Ways To Wean Off Of Wellbutrin
Question: how does one cease taking wellbutrin? i belieeve I can as my situation has improved greatly regarding depressing events in my lif
Brief Answer:
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
To go off of antidepressant medications when depression has resolved, basically we taper the dose very gradually, usually over a few weeks. It is best to do this under the care of a physician so that if you run into trouble with discontinuation or withdrawal symptoms you can get guidance. Tapering can take weeks to months, depending on your current dose and any symptoms you get during tapering.
The dose you have been on will effect how long you need to taper. If you have been on 300 mg/day (150 mg twice/day), a common reduction schedule is to reduce to 200 mg at the first reduction, followed by subtracting 50 mg on the next reduction. The amount of time and dosage between reductions will partly depend on your first initial reaction to the first reduction, which will help determine the subsequent schedule.
If you take the immediate release form of Wellbutrin, you can usually get the lower doses for tapering just by cutting the tablets.
With extended or sustained release formulations, you cannot cut the tablets, so your doctor will need to prescribe lower dose tablets as you taper, or sometimes this can be effected by taking the same dose at longer intervals such as every other day (but this can get a little tricky).
I hope this information helps. Please let me know if I can provide further information.
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
To go off of antidepressant medications when depression has resolved, basically we taper the dose very gradually, usually over a few weeks. It is best to do this under the care of a physician so that if you run into trouble with discontinuation or withdrawal symptoms you can get guidance. Tapering can take weeks to months, depending on your current dose and any symptoms you get during tapering.
The dose you have been on will effect how long you need to taper. If you have been on 300 mg/day (150 mg twice/day), a common reduction schedule is to reduce to 200 mg at the first reduction, followed by subtracting 50 mg on the next reduction. The amount of time and dosage between reductions will partly depend on your first initial reaction to the first reduction, which will help determine the subsequent schedule.
If you take the immediate release form of Wellbutrin, you can usually get the lower doses for tapering just by cutting the tablets.
With extended or sustained release formulations, you cannot cut the tablets, so your doctor will need to prescribe lower dose tablets as you taper, or sometimes this can be effected by taking the same dose at longer intervals such as every other day (but this can get a little tricky).
I hope this information helps. Please let me know if I can provide further information.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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