I work with people who want to stop psychiatric medications for many reasons, including:

• having unbearable side effects

• not getting the result or benefits they expected

• being curious about what life would feel like without medications after being on them for years or decades

• wanting to pursue other treatments

I also work with people who have tried to stop psychiatric medication on their own and are experiencing SSRI withdrawal symptoms or who are dealing with protracted withdrawal syndrome from antidepressants or other medications.

When we work together, we will discuss the possible risks and benefits of coming off psychiatric medications. If we decide to move forward with a medication taper, I will help you select the optimal timeline given your particular life circumstances. In most cases, we start with lifestyle interventions to optimize your health going into a taper. We will look at labs, identify any abnormalities or nutritional deficiencies, and address these before moving forward with the taper.

Depending on your history, we will use either a hyperbolic or percentage approach to dose reductions. I approach tapering as a highly individual process that will be tailored uniquely to you. We will aim to taper slowly enough to avoid as many uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms as possible but fast enough so you don’t have to stay on medications longer than is beneficial and prolong the process unnecessarily. Once we get down to low doses, I will often use a compounding pharmacy so you don’t have to worry about cutting tablets or counting beads.

If you are thinking about coming off psychiatric medications, I always recommend that you do so under the guidance of a physician.