The general idea is that we are slowly lowering the amount of medication we are taking in a process known as ‘tapering’ but we are IN PARALLEL supporting your natural abilities to regulate your brain’s function with exercise and diet and lots of other aspects of physical, mental and energetic health. Be prepared to revisit previous steps if necessary.
IMPORTANT:
- SSRI’s and psychedelics DO NOT mix safely together. As other topics on this site deal with psychedelic topics I wanted to note this specifically. Nowhere in this guide should you be using psychedelics – even in micro dose.
- This guide is not meant to replace the help of your doctor but is to give someone who is attempting this an idea of the process for them to use as base so they are prepared for what may be a difficult journey. I fully intend it to be tweaked by yourself for your specific situation but this provides a good start to outline a general process.
Step 1: Consultation with Your Doctor
- Schedule an Appointment: Discuss your desire to taper off the medication and gain their support in doing so.
- Medical Evaluation: Assess your current health status and mental condition to see if this is something you want to do now. If you have other issues at the moment also it may be too much to do all together.
Step 2: Planning the Tapering Schedule
- Discuss Tapering Strategy:
- Slow Tapering: Some people physically open the pills and remove ‘granules’ of the medication in order to very slowly reduce the amount over perhaps 1-2 years. In extreme cases some people remove a granule or 2 per day over 1-2 years to taper.
- This could be the case for someone who was chronically or clinically depressed.
- Medium Pace Tapering: Agree on a gradual reduction, possibly reducing dose by 10-25% every 2-4 weeks. If you try this method but it is too fast (because you ‘bottom out’ psychologically) then use a slow method of tapering as above.
- Medication Form: Consider switching to liquid or smaller tablets for precise dosing. Some medication is in pill form and to reduce the dose you need to shave it off. Others is is liquid form so you can more easily take smaller doses. Yet others is inside of a casing which you can remove to access and physically reduce or remove the medication before ingesting.
- Slow Tapering: Some people physically open the pills and remove ‘granules’ of the medication in order to very slowly reduce the amount over perhaps 1-2 years. In extreme cases some people remove a granule or 2 per day over 1-2 years to taper.
- Set Checkpoints: Plan follow-up appointments to monitor progress.
Step 3: Implementing the Tapering
- Start with Small Reductions: Begin with slight dose decreases.
- Monitor Symptoms: Keep a log of any physical or psychological symptoms.
- Adjust as Needed: Modify the tapering if withdrawal symptoms are severe.
Step 4: Support and Lifestyle Adjustments
NB: It’s the lifestyle choices which are possibly most important to implement. As the medications are reduced the lifestyle changes are slowly returning your body and brain (entire nervous system really) to a healthy state which is not in need of the pharmaceuticals.
- Therapy: Continue or increase therapy sessions.
- Lifestyle:
- Sleep: Ensure good sleep hygiene.
- Remove screens 2-3 hours before bed.
- Replace with meditation and reading of physical books or ‘family time’.
- Drink herbal teas prior to sleep. Go to bed earlier (9-10pm) and allow lots of time for your to sleep.
- Diet: I suggest a Carnivore Diet which reduces inflammation. Inflammation is a key part of anxiety and depression which causes people to go on SSRI medications in the first place.
- Seek to remove processed foods and even natural sources of carbohydrates.
- A lot of your nervous system (and depression) is actually affected by Gut Biome and this is improved by removing processed foods and carbohydrates for the most part.
- If you don’t use Carnivore a Ketogenic Diet can also be very good for lowering inflammation.
- Toxins: Seek to remove toxins from the body including heavy metals and any recent controversial injections by using natural toxin cleanses like,
- Fasting
- Herbal Teas like Coriander Seed, Ginger and Chamomile.
- Natural ‘stacks’ like which reverse damage from a certain controversial injection. Come to find me in one of our Community platforms to ask about this.
- Exercise: Engage in regular physical activity. Combining this with a natural grounding effect of being in nature works well like walking in the forest or swimming in the ocean.
- Sleep: Ensure good sleep hygiene.
- Support System: Involve friends, family, or support groups. A humans nervous system is very well adjusted by hugs and love from friends and family or even pets.
- Spiritual Practice: If you find relief from spiritual practice of whatever religion appeals to you then this can help. Asking for help from higher powers is sometimes the thing which we are in need of. We are spiritual beings all of us even if we have not been in contact with it recently or ever.
- Psychedelics: Note that psychedelics (as discussed elsewhere on this site) generally do not mix safely with SSRI and medications for depression so leave these out of your process for removing SSRI’s.
Step 5: Review and Adjustment
- Follow-Up Visits: Regularly review your symptoms and adjust the plan.
- Psychological Monitoring: Watch for signs of depression or anxiety.
Step 6: Complete Discontinuation
- Final Reduction: Plan the last step down to zero dose.
- Post-Tapering Monitoring: Continue follow-ups post-discontinuation.
Step 7: Aftercare
- Watch for Relapse: Monitor for any need to revisit medication.
- Lifestyle Maintenance: Keep supportive habits and therapeutic support.
Remember, every individual’s experience can differ. Be prepared to revisit previous steps if necessary.
References for SSRI Tapering Process
- Tapering of SSRI treatment to mitigate withdrawal symptoms – PubMed
- Discontinuing antidepressants: Pearls and pitfalls | Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
- Antidepressant withdrawal: slower and lower tapering of SSRIs – National Elf Service
- How to taper off your antidepressant – Harvard Health
- Tapering of SSRI treatment to mitigate withdrawal symptoms – The Lancet Psychiatry
- How to Taper Off Your Antidepressant Medication – Verywell Mind
- Stopping antidepressants – Royal College of Psychiatrists
- Case-based learning: safe withdrawal and tapering of antidepressants – The Pharmaceutical Journal
- To Minimize Medication Withdrawal, Taper Slowly | Psychiatric News
- Weaning Off Antidepressants: What to Know – Healthline
- Tapering of SSRI treatment to mitigate withdrawal symptoms – ScienceDirect
- What I have learnt from helping thousands of people taper off antidepressants and other psychotropic medications – Adele Framer, 2021 – Sage Journals
- Antidepressant Discontinuation Syndromes – Medscape
- Planning and agreeing an antidepressant switching strategy – SPS
- Antidepressant withdrawal can be a horrible experience — are tapering strips a potential solution? – The Pharmaceutical Journal
