Tapering Psychiatric Medications
The medications helped you with anxiety, depression, or sleep…
But now you’re ready for a change.
Maybe you don’t like how they “put a cap” on your emotional range.
Or they may have made you gain weight.
Or perhaps the side effects just aren’t worth it.
Maybe you don’t want to be dependent on them.
Or it could be that your mental health is better now, and you might no longer need the meds.
You’re ready to see how it feels to be medication-free, but…
When you’ve been taking psychiatric or sleep medications for a while, the idea of coming off them can be exciting but scary.
You may have even heard horror stories about medication withdrawal, making you hesitate to take that next step.
Maybe you’ve already tried tapering off your meds, but it didn’t go well, so you’re scared to try it again.
Not all doctors are familiar with tapering strategies. If that’s the case with your doctor, you may have been taking your meds for years without knowing if you really needed them the whole time.
It would be great to have expert guidance on whether you should continue your medications… and the best ways to taper off them safely and effectively.
Don’t stop medications on your own.
Timing is everything when it comes to tapering off medications.
You don’t want to stop medications abruptly or on your own. Doing so can lead to serious withdrawal symptoms and potentially dangerous side effects.
That’s why consulting with a trained professional is the best next step.
During a consultation, we’ll do a comprehensive assessment to determine whether coming off or reducing medications is right for you. We’ll look at your clinical history, life circumstances, how long you’ve been taking medications and the doses, and other factors like your nutritional status and lab results.
It takes time.
Tapering off medications is a highly personal process; we don’t recommend it to everybody.
First, we’ll see if coming off medications is appropriate for you.
When it is appropriate, our approach is to go as slowly and carefully as possible while using other tools like supplements to minimize the risk of withdrawal symptoms.
It can take months or even over a year to taper off medications.
Along the way…
We’ll add lifestyle, behavioral, and emotional fitness tools to your toolkit to give you the best chance of success.
After tapering off medications, we recommend close monitoring for several months to ensure things are going well.
In many cases, especially for people taking benzodiazepines and sleeping pills, our patients report having less anxiety, better sleep, and more energy when they come off their medications.
It’s time to get the help you need.
If you’re ready to start tapering your medications, reach out to a qualified mental health professional at Pacific Integrative Psychiatry. We work with adults throughout California via our secure telemedicine platform.
If we can’t help, we’ll refer you to someone who can.
Contact us for a free 20-minute phone consultation to see if our services match your needs. It’s a great way to get your questions answered and learn more about our practice.