What is SSRI Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome?
SSRI antidepressant withdrawal syndrome is a result of reducing your dosage faster than your CNS can accommodate. Stopping too quickly, or stopping altogether, can be intolerable and even life-threatening in rare cases.
SSRI drugs have varying “half-lives” that determine, roughly, how long until withdrawals start to occur.3 Some persons will be more sensitive than others and SSRI withdrawal symptoms can begin to develop within a day or 2 of abruptly stopping.
Not everyone experiences the same reactions to SSRI withdrawal. For some, electric shock sensations or brain zaps may start to occur. These phenomena tend to present at random times, which can make you feel vulnerable and anxious.
Some symptoms are hard to put into words. If you’ve ever been to the Grand Canyon or a very tall building and looked down, there is a falling feeling that takes you by surprise — though you are not falling at all. Another person may feel their head has turned to jiggly jelly, perhaps accompanied by an overwhelming spinning feeling. Some persons may experience an incapacitating migraine, others a panic attack. In extreme cases, one may end up in the ER, being given a psychiatric assessment and diagnosis of “bipolar” or similar, by a doctor you’ve never met before, and a rushed recommendation for hospitalization. Your family doesn’t understand any of this and due to the confusion and crisis at hand, accepts the “new diagnosis.” Physicians, though well-meaning, are often unfamiliar with SSRI withdrawals and also, untrained in how to help a person safely taper from these medications. These are some reasons why a person should never attempt abrupt SSRI withdrawal, and never without guidance and informed support at hand.4,5,18,19
How Long does SSRI Withdrawal Last?
Stopping an SSRI cold turkey can be dangerous. Without access to help, a person can end up in a complex web of worsening symptoms and even misdiagnoses and more medications.
There are ways to gradually decrease the dosage of SSRI medications without experiencing harsh withdrawal symptoms. It does not have to be difficult or confusing, but it does require planning, and enough time for the body to adjust as the dosage decreases. If your physician does not feel equipped to help you, find one who can. Don’t try to figure it all out on your own.6
Counting beads or shaving down the pills by increments are methods used by some, but can lead to inaccurate dosing. Try and find a physician who will help by either providing you with smaller sized pills, or perhaps a liquid suspension and a way to calibrate the decreasing daily dose accurately. And, who will stay in touch with you so that adjustments can be made in a timely manner. Consistency can help smooth the journey. SSRI withdrawal doesn’t have to take forever, but it could be overly optimistic to think it will be as swift as a week or two, as the drug label suggests.12
For more details on gently coming off antidepressant medications, visit this article which can provide additional information for you or your loved one to discuss with your physician.
What Can Help SSRI Withdrawal Symptoms?
Alternative to Meds Center has carefully devised simple techniques and protocols that allow for safe and gentle SSRI withdrawal that have helped thousands of our clients to reach their goals with surprising ease and comfort. We help our clients achieve what we have come to call “natural mental health,” that is, achieving mental wellness using
holistic and alternative approaches before, during, and after SSRI withdrawal.
Typically, medications are offered as a first-line treatment, before investigating anything that could be contributing to or directly causing symptoms. We have found neurotoxicity and nutritional factors are some of the prime suspects in symptoms such as anxiety and depression. These can and should be looked into before prescribing medication.
But if you find yourself in a position of already taking medications, there are still ways to soften the experience, and make it much more tolerable. The root causes can still be investigated and taken care of within a comprehensive withdrawal program.
One very popular way to soften withdrawal symptoms is acupuncture. Research published in the Journal of Medical Acupuncture has shown that acupuncture all by itself showed similar remission success compatible with psychotherapy and pharmacologic treatments for MDD.7
A second review of the medical literature on acupuncture found that an astounding 64% of participants in a published trial reached full remission of MDD after treatment with acupuncture.8
This is especially impressive since medical literature continues to struggle to show that medications have any significant, demonstrable efficacy at all over placebo effects.9
Another fascinating area of treatment involves utilizing specific supplements that can assist in reducing symptoms of depression, normalizing CNS function, and therefore can be extremely efficacious during and after SSRI withdrawal. Supplements tested and proven helpful in clinical trials include omega-3 fatty acids, chromium, SAM-e, magnesium, and countless other nutraceuticals.10,20-23
SSRI Withdrawal Should be Slow
It is important that SSRI withdrawal be done as slowly as needed to be well-tolerated. That might realistically mean weeks or months and always under the supervision of an experienced mental health specialist. Think of your doctor as your partner in healing. Don’t go off one of these drugs without medical supervision which can provide you with a safety net. The safest method of getting SSRI withdrawal relief is to wean off the medication slowly while providing nutritive and psychological support for the transition. By reducing the dosage in small increments, the neurochemistry can gradually adjust to the change and slowly adapt to gradually lower amounts of the drug in the system. Despite a long-standing tendency to dismiss or downplay SSRI discontinuation syndrome, these SSRI withdrawals can last up to a year or longer, especially where the timeline for SSRI withdrawal was too abbreviated, or not well-supported.1,6,19
Neurotoxicity and Depression — Handling Root Causes
Often overlooked in a hurried visit to the doctor, testing for neurotoxic accumulations in the body is a fundamental treatment segment at Alternative to Meds Center. We have found that in many cases, neurotoxic load in the body is significant because neurotoxicity symptoms often mimic mental health symptoms and disorders. Testing for and then safely purging these toxins out of the body can have some surprisingly positive results. For example, pesticides containing organophosphates or other compounds not only have a toxic effect on the targeted insect or weed but also have neurotoxic effects on human beings.25
Symptoms of toxic exposure can include:
- Depression
- Euphoria
- Suicidal ideation
- Mood swings
- Impaired memory, amnesia
- Melancholia
- Neurosis
- Dementia
- Delirium
- Crying spells
- Lethargy
- Loss of libido
… and many, many other symptoms, which are also symptoms that a doctor might prescribe antidepressant medication for if toxic exposures were untested. As toxins bioaccumulate, it may take many years for levels to reach a point of emerging symptoms. For these reasons, neurotoxicity is often overlooked in a diagnosis of depression.
Other common toxic exposures might include heavy metals such as mercury from dental amalgams, cleaning solvents, chemical additives to municipal water supply, industrial waste released in the open air or leeching into landfills and groundwater, chemicals used to process food, manufacture clothing, carpets, personal hygiene products, household products, and so many other potential sources. At Alternative to Meds Center, we know it is effective to search for root causes of depression and address what is found. We have observed that automatically writing a prescription for a drug might not work for very long, if at all, especially if the person’s symptoms are originating from the presence of a neurotoxic load. Just like trying to fix a flat tire with a rubber band, taking medication to fix a case of neurotoxic exposure may even lead to a worsened state of health 25-27
Are There Other Treatments for Depression Besides SSRIs?
SSRI withdrawal is best accomplished once any external factors that may have led to depression are resolved or at least are being gotten under control through improved nutrition, neurotoxin cleansing, counseling and other treatments and support. Psychological counseling has been shown highly effective in discovering and resolving root causes and contributing factors leading to depression or other symptoms. For example, evidence suggests that relapse of depression is observably less frequent when CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) has been utilized.17
Vitamin deficiencies have been found associated with psychiatric type symptoms. For example, according to a study published in the 2013 British Journal of Psychiatry, vitamin D deficiency was found to be an increased hazard in depressed persons, especially in severe cases, after analyzing a cohort of over 31,000 participants.28
A study published in the 2020 Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry concluded that vitamin C was a neuroprotective nutrient in cases of stress-related disorders such as anxiety, and depression. The report goes on to reveal that correction of vitamin C deficiency showed an antidepressant effect and improved moods. The treatment proved to have low toxicity and high tolerance.29
Another astonishing study was done on over 100 frequently relapsing patients with multiple sclerosis and related symptoms of fatigue and depression. The trial showed remarkable improvements after one year of vitamin A therapy utilized in a clinical setting. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, published in the 2016 International Journal of Allergy, Asthma, Immunology also demonstrated that Vitamin A therapy reduced symptoms and improved outcomes in this population.30
A link between diet and psychiatric symptoms such as depression is discussed in a paper published in the Journal of Nutritional Neuroscience. While more studies are needed, researchers Opie et al note that the cumulative and synergic effect of nutrients in the whole diet should be given more attention, in addition to the benefits of individual nutrients found in any single particular food.31
From much research that is ongoing, it can be seen that nutritional therapies may provide much non-toxic assistance prior to, during, and after SSRI withdrawal.
Microbiome Health
In addition to fruits and vegetables and a well-rounded diet, also recommended is probiotics for microbiome health. Probiotics, found in sauerkraut, yogurt, and other fermented foods, are known to have anxiolytic and antidepressant effects. The microbiome is often referred to as the “second brain” making a healthy gut a fundamental pillar for whole-body health and mental health, in its role as the seat of natural neurochemical production and distribution throughout the body.32-34
Comfort Therapies & Physical Exercise
In addition to nutritional therapies, non-pharmacologic treatments can come in many, many forms and can be some of the most important supporting factors leading to success during this time. Having various therapies in place to stay physically comfortable throughout the process of SSRI withdrawal is recommended, such as therapeutic massage, mineral baths, acupuncture, mild exercise, sauna, nature therapy such as forest bathing, and many other physical therapies.13-16
Holistic SSRI Withdrawal Treatment at Alternative to Meds Center
The Alternative to Meds Center SSRI withdrawal program searches for potential underlying sources that are contributing to depression, anxiety, insomnia, or other symptoms. There can be physical and medical reasons for your symptoms for which drugs alone will not be able to provide relief.3 Our program uses laboratory testing, natural substances for promoting neurochemistry stability, SSRI withdrawal syndrome treatments, safe tapering, removal of accumulations of environmental toxins, personal counseling in private sessions as well as support from peers, IV therapy, targeted nutritional treatment, including both corrected diet and supplementation, yoga, personal exercise training, acupuncture, massage, Equine therapy, and the advantages of many other therapies that offer effective SSRI withdrawal relief. You are invited to call us and talk, so you may receive a better understanding of the holistic SSRI withdrawal help available to you or your loved one today at Alternative to Meds Center.
Worsened depression
