Do I need to taper?

[Bgary530]

Hey all,
So it's been a week on prozac 10mg and after a lot of self reflection and going over my options I am thinking I want to try to beat this thing without meds. I am not depressed I have just been having a lot of anxiety brought upon by my first panic attack about a month ago. After reading Claire weeks book I feel I understand panic now and really am starting to not care about the feeling I feel as I know they won't kill me and are just a feeling. All that prozac has done really has given me insomnia and all the other nasty start up SE and since I have only been taking a small dose for a short period of time I feel the changes in my mentality have come on my own and not from the meds. Sorry for the ramble but my main question is do you think I can just stop cold turkey after a week on a small dose or do I need a taper?

[TweetyBird2]

My gut feeling is that if you've really only been taking it for one week, at 10mgs, I would think you could just stop.
At this point it's a matter of pulling the bandage off fast or slow. The longer you keep taking it, even to taper, the more chance you'll start the chemical changes in your brain structure and the more likely you'll feel crappy stopping it as they reverse themselves.
If you were a month on, I'd say definitely taper, every other day. But a week...I'm guessing, and this is just my opinion, that you could stop without too much effects.
There might be a bit of rebound side effects quitting cold turky, but I bet they aren't going to last too long.
Just realize what it is, so you won't get bothered by them too much, if they come. It's just a reversal of the process.
Good luck in whatever you decide.

[Bgary530]

My gut feeling is that if you've really only been taking it for one week, at 10mgs, I would think you could just stop.
At this point it's a matter of pulling the bandage off fast or slow. The longer you keep taking it, even to taper, the more chance you'll start the chemical changes in your brain structure and the more likely you'll feel crappy stopping it as they reverse themselves.
If you were a month on, I'd say definitely taper, every other day. But a week...I'm guessing, and this is just my opinion, that you could stop without too much effects.
There might be a bit of rebound side effects quitting cold turky, but I bet they aren't going to last too long.
Just realize what it is, so you won't get bothered by them too much, if they come. It's just a reversal of the process.
Good luck in whatever you decide.


Thanks for the response! Didn't take a pill today and surprisingly feel 100xs better. Maybe I was just realived to get off the drug so it put me in a better mood. Who knows! Hopefully tomorrow will be the same.

[Booboojenny]

Good for you...please keep us posted...good luck :)