Medic Every second antidepressant makes you dependent

Antidepressants: There are often severe withdrawal symptoms

Researchers have now found that people who take antidepressants often have problems when they stop taking these medicines. About half of all patients taking antidepressants suffer from withdrawal symptoms when they stop taking the medication.

The researchers from the University of Roehampton and the University of East London found in their recent study that withdrawal of antidepressants very often leads to withdrawal symptoms. The physicians published the results of their study in the English-language journal "Addictive Behaviors".

Antidepressants cause severe withdrawal symptoms, which can last weeks or even months. (Image: Lars Zahner / fotolia.com)

People often take antidepressants for longer than necessary

Guidelines from the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (Nice) suggest that withdrawal symptoms from antidepressants are usually mild and self-limiting for over a week. These guidelines should be urgently changed, the experts demand. The high rate of withdrawal symptoms may be the reason for people taking these drugs longer than necessary, the authors suggest. Those affected can not stand the withdrawal symptoms, so they continue to take the medication or their doctors assume that they have suffered a relapse and write out another recipe.

These antidepressants lead to less severe withdrawal symptoms

Modern antidepressants such as Prozac (fluoxetine) and Seroxat (paroxetine) have been rated as safer by the medical profession. Studies have shown that ingestion seldom fatal when taken alone, which is not the case with benzodiazepines. The discontinuation of these drugs is easier, say the experts.

Possible symptoms of withdrawal of antidepressants

There are many reports of withdrawal symptoms of antidepressants, including dizziness, nausea, insomnia, headache, fatigue and difficulty concentrating. However, the Nice guidelines concluded in 2004 that withdrawal symptoms are minor and short-lived and were extended in 2009 without further evidence.

Up to 86 percent of the subjects suffered from withdrawal symptoms

The current study focused on 14 studies on antidepressants that included relevant data on withdrawal symptoms. These studies showed that between 27 percent and 86 percent of the subjects suffered from withdrawal symptoms, with a weighted average of 56 percent.

More and more people are taking antidepressants

Antidepressants are among the most commonly prescribed drugs in the UK and US, say the authors. In the UK, use has risen by 170 percent since 2000, and in England alone, more than seven million adults (16 percent of the UK adult population) were prescribed an antidepressant last year, the doctors add.

Withdrawal symptoms can last for weeks or months

The new review of research shows what many patients have known for years that the withdrawal of antidepressants often causes severe, debilitating symptoms that may last for weeks, months or longer. Those affected spoke of terrible dizziness and nausea when taking a lower dose of the medication. Other people even reported suicidal thoughts, hallucinations, and mood swings when they forgot to take their medications.

Existing guidelines need to be revised

The data suggest that existing medical guidelines in this area should urgently be updated to reflect the fact that withdrawal of antidepressants is much more frequent, severe and prolonged than previously indicated, the experts explain. (As)