what is the best anti anxiety/anti depressant medicine with the least withdrawal symptoms?
Monday, September 13th, 2010 at
6:24 pm
i am 22 and thinking about going on an everyday anti anxiety medicine because my anxiety is getting worse. however I am afraid of the withdrawal symptoms in the long run. I have heard Zoloft is good for anxiety but has very bad withdrawal. If you have been on a medication (not talking about xanax, valium etc.) the everyday stuff like prozac, cymbalta, zoloft. Please tell me your experience getting on the medication (side effects) and the withdrawal coming off the medication
Filed under: Anxiety And Panic Alternative Remedies
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
…Hi Chrissy, I tool Paxil for over 15 years and am now taking none..I was told I would be on these for the rest of my life, but decided a few months ago to see if this was true or not. I cut myself down to a half pill everyday for 1 week, then every other day for another 10 days or so, then stopped. I had absolutely no withdrawal symptoms whatsoever and have taken none for over 3-4 months now. I feel great and pray I never have to take them again, but if needed to I would not hesitate..Paxil is also very good for anxiety and for social issues/phobias..You can look this up for yourself and then decide, however everyone is different and they may not work as well for some as they do for others..Also, your doctor would be the one who would give you the one he/she believes would be the best for you to take, as they would know you and your health issues…Take care..
These types of medication are likely to have withdrawal symptoms. I smoke weed, screw withdrawal !
Zoloft has minimal withdrawal symptoms although I wouldn’t recommend stopping it suddenly. All medications have withdrawal symptoms, and as far as they go, Zoloft is mild. You should always Google withdrawal symptoms of whatever your doc prescribes before going on the medication, do your own research, and discuss any symptoms you’re not comfortable with with your treating doctor. Avoid the addictive ones like Xanax or Endep if these things concern you, too.
I have had issues with anxiety/depression since I was young and have tried alot of different meds,some more than once.In my experience the"everyday stuff" like prozac,cymbalta,zoloft,etc. never really helped me or I just couldnt tolerate the side-effects.My doctor and I have found that a low dose of Klonpin(Clanazopam)daily has been my solution.Unlike xanax,valium,etc. klonpin is non-habit forming.The only possible "withdrawal" is that,with daily long-term use you shouldnt abruptly stop taking or miss doses because you could have vivid dreams/nitemares.I also have came off this med before(gradually)and did not experience any side effect or withdrawal.
I believe you only have to worry about withdrawal symptoms for anxiety if you have been taking benzodiazepians like xanax or valium; antidepressants like Zoloft and Prozac, I understand do not cause withdrawal symptoms unless one stops them abruptly, which is never advised. As for side effects, some side effects are common such as dry-mouth while others are not and some are even rare. Also, some people have more side effects than others on the same medication; it all depends on how your body reacts to the specific medication. As far as I know, Zoloft, an SSRI, has been around a long time and has not had the negative publicity as some other SSRI’s have had.
I’ve been on Zoloft, Prozac, and Celexa. Each time I’ve stopped abruptly, and had no withdrawl symptoms or if I did, I didn’t even notice.
Zoloft I was on for a year, and it did help but I was so drowsy I couldn’t function during the day.
Then I got off that and started Prozac a couple weeks later. That shiit made me suicidal, so I got off that within a couple weeks (I had a suicide attempt).
Finally I got onto Celexa, and I have to say that stuff made me feel really normal. But I got off of that because of my anxiety and depression started getting worse (it had nothing to do with the celexa though). So now I take Xanax, but will start to take Celexa again and ease off of Xanax. That’s the stuff you really have to be careful of.
Sorry for the long post, good luck bro! (:
I’ve "cold turkeyed" from three SSRI’s- Celexa, Prozac and Zoloft.
The Celexa I went from 20mgs a day to nothing. The withdrawal wasn’t exactly a laugh a minute but it wasn’t awful. it lasted maybe 3-4 days, and consisted of headaches, bit of dizziness, and mainly this weird feeling around my eyes- like if I wanted to look at something slightly to the right, I’d have to turn my whole head, moving my eyeballs around felt weird and pressure-y. I was still working full time at this point and it wasn’t bad enough to take time off or anything, more of a mild annoyance.
The Prozac I again went from 20mgs to nothing. No withdrawal symptoms at all.
The Zoloft I went from 100mgs to nothing. Which technically you shouldn’t do. The withdrawal from this was a bit more complex, I’ll explain as briefly as I can. I used to take my pill at night, so the last night I took the Zoloft was the Tuesday, because before I had time to take it on the Wednesday, I overdosed on something else. So after spending a few days in hospital, during which time they told me I wasn’t allowed access to any prescription pills at all anymore (including SSRI’s such as zoloft even though they’re not fatal in OD). The problem was, I’d overdosed on a drug that causes similar "withdrawal" feelings- even though I’d never taken them before that day- as Zoloft. So for about 4 days I felt pretty crap. Dizzy, incredibly weak, the eye feeling I described above. This finally stopped and I had one day of feeling normal again. The following day it started again. Now this was the Zoloft withdrawal, obviously it was complicated by the fact my body was still getting over the overdose.
Anyway the Zoloft withdrawal wasn’t all that fun. You’re definitely meant to taper down from it, but the doctors wouldn’t let me, I couldn’t stand/ walk for all that long (although that may be in part due to the fact I was recovering from the overdose induced coma the week before) without getting incredibly shaky. The eye feeling, not being able to move my eyeballs without pressure, was worse this time. It wasn’t fun, but I could still function.
Overall, Prozac was the best for withdrawal- aka there was none. But none were bad enough for me to say I’d not try meds again. Good luck!