Healthcare professionals may recommend tapering off antidepressants, like Lexapro, if you experience unwanted side effects, need to switch medications, or have reached the end of a short-term treatment plan.
You should never stop taking an antidepressant on your own. Abruptly stopping some of these medications can cause severe withdrawal symptoms and intensify your existing symptoms.
A doctor can provide you with a comprehensive tapering plan to ensure that you can stop taking antidepressants in the safest way possible.
The symptoms and duration of withdrawal may be different for each person. Most people experience mild symptoms if they’re following a tapering plan. But stopping your antidepressant quickly or abruptly may lead to serious and persistent withdrawal symptoms such as:
- depression
- anxiety
- irritability
- intense mood changes
- flu-like symptoms, including sweating, chills, aches, and headaches
- nausea or other stomach issues
- dizziness
- loss of appetite
- insomnia
- vivid dreams or nightmares
- restless legs or involuntary movements such as tremors
- sensitivity to sound or ringing in your ears
- numbness or pain in your limbs
- brain shakes, which can feel like electric shocks to your head
While all antidepressants can cause withdrawal symptoms, these symptoms are more likely to happen with:
Withdrawal symptoms may be associated with the effects these medications have on your brain and your levels of certain neurotransmitters (brain messengers).
Tapering off antidepressants like Lexapro or Zoloft requires a comprehensive plan that minimizes your risk of experiencing withdrawal symptoms and more intense depression.
These tips for tapering off medication may help:
Talk with the prescribing doctor first
Always talk with a healthcare professional about tapering off your medication. They can assess your symptoms and needs and provide practical solutions.
If they agree that tapering is the best option for you, they will create a tailored plan based on the medication you’ve been taking and how long you’ve been taking it.
As you start weaning off your antidepressant, tell your doctor about any changes in your mood and energy levels and any new symptoms you experience. That way, they can adjust the plan as needed.
Consider waiting a bit longer
Experts recommend taking antidepressants for at least 6 to 9 months to experience the full therapeutic effects.
If you experience severe side effects, a doctor may want you to switch to a new antidepressant sooner than that, or they may taper the dose until you feel better. They will make the decision based on your individual case.
If you want to taper off antidepressants because you feel better, it may mean the medication is working for you. But tapering off too soon could make your symptoms return, and sometimes they may feel more intense. You may want to wait a bit longer before ending your treatment. A doctor can help you determine when and how to stop taking your medication.
Understand how tapering works
The length of your taper depends on many factors, including:
- The type of medication you take: Some drugs may take longer to leave your system than others.
- The dose you currently take: Higher doses generally take longer to taper, and you need to go slowly.
- Your experience with previous treatments and withdrawal symptoms: Depending on your history, a doctor may recommend slow tapering or switch you to another medication in the process.
Maintain healthy habits as you taper
A nutrient-dense diet, regular physical activity, and stress management can make a tapering plan go more smoothly for you.
Continue talk therapy
Depression treatment usually involves talk therapy in addition to medications. If you’re seeing a therapist, let them know you’re on a tapering plan and may need extra support. Working with your therapist may also help reduce the chance of symptom recurrence and, as a result, delay or prevent the need for antidepressants in the future.
Complete the entire process
Tapering may be uncomfortable, but it’s important that you finish the process. Suspending the plan and stopping the medication abruptly could lead to more severe symptoms.
Try to schedule monthly appointments with the prescribing healthcare professional to check in about symptoms, adjust the taper when necessary, and monitor depression recurrence.
The time it will take to wean off your antidepressant depends on the type of medication you take, your dose, and how long you’ve been taking it.
All medications require a certain amount of time to leave your body since they build up over time. Withdrawal symptoms may start when about 90% of the drug has left your body.
The table below lists some common antidepressants and shows the approximate time it may take for half of the drug to leave your body (also known as the drug’s half-life) and for 99% to leave your body.
This may vary for each person and can depend on many factors, including your height, weight, body composition, and medication dosage. Consider asking your healthcare professional about your specific antidepressant.
| Time until half of medication is out of your body | Time until 99% of medication is out of your body | |
|---|---|---|
| SSRIs | ||
| citalopram (Celexa) | 36 hours | 7.3 days |
| escitalopram (Lexapro) | 27 to 32 hours | 6.1 days |
| paroxetine (Paxil) | 24 hours | 4.4 days |
| fluoxetine (Prozac) | 4 to 6 days | 25 days |
| sertraline (Zoloft) | 26 hours | 5.4 days |
| SNRIs | ||
| duloxetine (Cymbalta) | 12 hours | 2.5 days |
| venlafaxine (Effexor) | 5 hours | 1 day |
| desvenlafaxine (Pristiq) | 12 hours | 2.5 days |
Because mood changes are common withdrawal symptoms, it can sometimes be difficult to tell whether you’re experiencing withdrawal or having a recurrence of depression. The following tips may help you tell the difference:
- Withdrawal symptoms begin within a few days of lowering your dose or stopping your antidepressant. Recurrent depression symptoms generally start later than that, weeks or months after you start tapering. They also come on more gradually than withdrawal symptoms.
- Withdrawal and recurrence have different physical symptoms. For example, while both might lead to insomnia, withdrawal is much more likely to cause flu-like symptoms and dizziness.
- Withdrawal symptoms usually go away within a few weeks after you start tapering as your body adjusts to its new levels of neurotransmitters. Recurrent symptoms usually last longer and may keep getting worse.
Tapering off Lexapro and other antidepressants can help you avoid both physical and mental side effects and withdrawal symptoms.
Tapering may take time, depending on which medication you take and how long you’ve been taking it. While you taper, eating nutritious foods, staying active, and managing stress can help you reduce the chance of withdrawal symptoms and depression recurrence.