Withdrawal effects - a medical breakthrough!

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Postby Juno » Fri Jul 09, 2004 2:50 am

Eureka! Today my psychiatrist acknowledged that "symptoms could occur when any physical effect the medication may have had is resolving itself ... and sometimes there could be a rebound effect of the previous condition".

This is huge! Once you cut through the cautious language, he's acknowledging side effects and physical withdrawal symptoms, and episodes of anxiety and depression as part of the withdrawal process - NOT the underlying condition or a relapse. Fantastic!

Ruth, Tasha, hope you're reading this. I wanted to post this separately so that as many people as poss might read it and know that even a cautious psychiatrist is now prepared to acknowledge what we've come to know through experience and the informed opinions of others, often not medical.

So there is even more hope - and my gut feel is that the (medical) jury's not so much still out on ssris, but hasn't yet even left the room. It will be very interesting to see how these drugs are regarded in a couple of years' time.

Keep the faith!
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Postby tasha » Fri Jul 09, 2004 3:02 am

Thanks for the post Juno!
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Postby tasha » Sun Jul 11, 2004 6:10 pm

Found this - it's similar - note the end part "The disorder is not better accounted for by an exacerbation/ relapse/recurrence of the psychiatric disorder for which the SSRI was prescribed."

SSRI Withdrawal Syndrome

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The following criteria define the SSRI (or venlafaxine) withdrawal syndrome:

Criterion A: A course of treatment in which an SSRI (or vanlafaxine) is stopped or interrupted or the dose is reduced after a period of 4 weeks or more.


Criterion B: Two or more of the following symptoms develop within 1 to 10 days of criterion A (except for fluoxetine in which case the symptoms must develop within 28 days):


(a) dizziness or light headedness
(b) nausea and/or vomiting
(c) headaches
(d) lethargy
(e) anxiety and/or agitation
(f) tingling (parasthesias), numbness or "electric" shock-like sensations
(g) tremors
(h) sweating
(i)insomnia
(j) irritability
(k) vertigo (dizziness)
(l) diarrhea


Criterion C: The symptoms of criterion B cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.


Criterion D: The symptoms are not due to a general medical condition or the direct physiological effects of another substance (e.g., a medication or a drug of misuse) that has been recently commenced, stopped, or altered in dosage.


Criterion E: The disorder is not better accounted for by an exacerbation/ relapse/recurrence of the psychiatric disorder for which the SSRI was prescribed.


Adapted from:
Haddad PM The SSRI discontinuation syndrome: literature review and provisional diagnostic criteria. Presented at: XXIst Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum Congress. July 12-16, 1998; Glasgow, Scotland. Reprinted in International Drug Therapy Newsletter. 1998, 33, 46.
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