Which meds don't cause W/D's when you stop them?

[zosolizard]

Not sure if anyone can help, but I'm wondering if there are any meds out there that have a reputation for NOT causing problems when you stop taking them (or taper off of them)?

I know everyone is different, but wonder if some meds are considered easier to stop than others.

Thanks for any info you can give

[janell]

I've taken three different ones: Paxil, Anafranil, and Prozac.

Paxil was absolutely THE WORST to go off of. I had to taper way down over the course of a couple of months, and it was horrible. I would never take that drug again for any reason, just because of knowing how bad it is to stop taking it.

Anafranil, I didn't have any problems going off of, but I don't know if that would be the case for everyone.

Prozac has a very long half-life in the body, and I've gone off that before with no problems at all. My doctor even told me that Prozac has the least chance of causing withdrawal of all of the drugs in that category.

I should add that I have pretty much always been on the minimum dose of all of these, because of the side effects, so stopping taking a higher dose might cause problems that I didn't run into.

Even at the lowest dose of Paxil, though, I had horrible withdrawal. If you're worried about withdrawal, I'd stay away from that one.

[Breezes]

I had no problem stopping Zoloft. Paxil took many months.

[zosolizard]

Hey thanks for the info.... I know Paxil was awful for me, years ago. I've been chronically ill & am starting to think I may need to taking something to help with the depression that comes with the illness... but am so afraid to ever take another SSRI after what I went through with paxil. I felt like my head was being electrocuted - and that was with tapering off slowly!! (I know that's not the case for everyone).

[aussie_jono]

Prozac wont cause withdrawl symptoms, because of its very long elimination life.

You can transfer onto Prozac from shorter acting SSRI's to help ease withdrawl from thses.