Psychiatric drug side effects -- When do they go away after stopping the drug?

[Momma23dogs]

So has anyone had bad side effects on an SSRI which they then discontinued and the side effects continued after stopping?

 

I had neck and general muscle tension while on Lexapro and the tension is continuing even after stopping it.  I don't know if this is a withdrawal symptom or it is the original side-effect that is not going away or what...

 

I guess I want to know if somebody had side effects persist after discontinuing their SSRI and then it went away after a few months of being off the drug?

[Petunia]

It can be very difficult to tease apart the causes of various symptoms once psyche drugs enter the picture, both starting them and stopping them. In my situation I've had side effects of lexapro disappear once I was off the drug, but others became worse in withdrawal and some improved over time. The way our nervous system is effected by these drugs is very individual.

 

If you didn't have muscle tension before starting the drug, its not being caused by anything else and its not getting worse, I expect that its a lingering side effect and will get better as you slowly recover.

 

Check out this topic for ideas about how to help the recovery process along: 

Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms

I know muscle tension is physical, but mind and body are connected, so techniques for one, often have positive effects on the other.

[zibius]

Hi people,

 

So here is a question that can<t seam to find a real answer.

 

Are the antidepressant side effects indicative of what kind of withdrawal symptoms a person will have ? 

 

For example, if remeron causes dry mouth, is it more likely that you could have dry mouth when coming of that drug ?

 

So reading a list of potential side effect before starting a drug could tell you what kind of WD to expect at the other end.

[Daisy]

3 hours ago, zibius said:

 

So here is a question that can<t seam to find a real answer.

 

Are the antidepressant side effects indicative of what kind of withdrawal symptoms a person will have ? 

 

For example, if remeron causes dry mouth, is it more likely that you could have dry mouth when coming of that drug ?

 

So reading a list of potential side effect before starting a drug could tell you what kind of WD to expect at the other end.

For myself, when I stopped Remeron, the dry mouth did not continue. I did not taper it, so I do not have experience with that side effect continuing with tapering.

Daisy

[Junglechicken]

My WD symptoms have been completely different to side effects.

[Altostrata]

Generally, side effects diminish when you lower the dosage. They are a consequence of too much drug, too strong a drug, or simply intolerance to the drug.

 

If you've dealt with drug side effects for a long time or repeatedly, they may sensitive your nervous system to drug dosage changes.

[Rabe]

Can that cause different side effects some times and others another time and minimal sometimes too?  Seems I get very paradoxical symptoms from all my meds...the Viibryd CLonazepamen and hormone...can the enzymes you talked about cause changing symptoms? Or the sensitive system?  I know they share a same liver enzyme too.  I copy and past so much here...learning so much!!

[Altostrata]

Taking a bunch of drugs at once changes how metabolism operates. The drugs compete. Variations in dosage timing, even what you eat can affect absorption and metabolism.

[Songbird]

On 6/8/2018 at 2:30 AM, zibius said:

Are the antidepressant side effects indicative of what kind of withdrawal symptoms a person will have ? 

 

For example, if remeron causes dry mouth, is it more likely that you could have dry mouth when coming of that drug ?

 

So reading a list of potential side effect before starting a drug could tell you what kind of WD to expect at the other end.

 

I found the opposite.  When I was on paroxetine at full dose, after a couple of years on it I was getting very drowsy in the evenings and I would go to bed very early.  In withdrawal I had moderate to severe insomnia.  Also after a couple of years on I was experiencing emotional blunting - I felt contented but never felt excited about anything, hardly ever cried - then in withdrawal I became emotionally very sensitive, cried a lot and so on.  It kind of makes sense that when you take the drug away you get the opposite effect, although it doesn't always seem to work this way.

[Caspur]

I found the opposite too. While I was taking venlafaxine the side effects (that made me want to stop taking it) were drowsiness during the day, emotional blunting, increased appetite, increased urination, especially at night. These were a nirvana compared to the withdrawal symtoms | experienced: panic attacks. mood swings, anxiety like I'd never experienced before, cortisol spike in the morning, increased sensitivity to noise, especially music and especially first thing in the morning, deep depression and complete hopelessness, suicidality, weight loss.

 

There are probably others, and then there were the side effects from the other drugs I was prescribed to try to treat the withrawal, which i now know would never have worked.