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Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms Occur for 1 in 6 People

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Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms Occur for 1 in 6 People

A new study estimates that about 15 percent of people who stop taking antidepressants will experience withdrawal symptoms like dizziness, headaches, nausea, insomnia, irritability, and even electric-shock like sensations sometimes called “brain zaps.”

Research published this week in The Lancet Psychiatry highlighted that in 1 out of 35 people coming off antidepressants, these symptoms are likely to be severe.

“Like all medications, antidepressants present important benefits, but also carry risks, including discontinuation symptoms, which are also common among a variety of general medications, like drugs for high blood pressure or mild painkillers,” says study author Christopher Baethge, MD, a researcher in the department of psychiatry and psychotherapy at University Hospital Cologne in Germany. “Our findings can inform clinicians and patients about the probable extent of antidepressant discontinuation symptoms without causing undue alarm.”

Some Antidepressants Are More Likely to Cause Withdrawal Symptoms

The severity and frequency of withdrawal symptoms depends on the type of medication that people were taking, according to the analysis.

Stopping imipramine (Tofranil), paroxetine (Paxil and Seroxat), desvenlafaxine (Pristiq), and venlafaxine (Effexor) and were associated with more severe withdrawal symptoms compared with other antidepressants. Withdrawal symptoms were more frequent for those stopping desvenlafaxine, venlafaxine, imipramine, or escitalopram (Lexapro).

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