Don’t go ‘cold turkey’ when coming off antidepressants, experts warn

Adults taking antidepressants who want to come off their medication should not go cold turkey and should instead use a “staged” approach, experts have said.

A staggered reduction of medicine, known as tapering, could cut the likelihood and severity of withdrawal symptoms, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).

Patients who wish to come off the drugs permanently should first agree with their doctor whether it is right to stop taking the medication, and, if so, the speed and duration of withdrawal from it, according to a new draft quality standard from the health body.

Any withdrawal symptoms need to have been resolved, or to be tolerable, before making the next dose reduction, according to Nice’s panel of experts.

Dr Paul Chrisp, director of the Centre for Guidelines at Nice, said: “There are millions of people taking antidepressants.

“If an individual decides they want to stop taking this medication, they should be helped by their GP or mental health team to do that in the safest and most appropriate way. In many cases people experience withdrawal symptoms, and the length in time it takes them to safely come off these drugs can vary, which is why our committee’s useful and useable statement for a staged withdrawal over time from these drugs is to be welcomed.

“But it should be stressed there is no one-size-fits-all approach to coming off antidepressants.

“The way it should be done has to be down to the individual and their healthcare professional, to agree a way which it can work and only when side-effects can be safely managed. Our guideline on depression signposts to information produced by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, which can offer practical advice.”