what time period should be to go off a SSRI?

[hannahbear]

I was recently hospitalized for a depression episode for 7 days and the psychiatrist I saw in the hospital who was the on-call psychiatrist took me off of my wellbutrin cold-turkey( I had been on it for 3 months) and took me off of 60mg of pexeva(paxil), that I had been on for a year, in 3 days.  I have been on various SSRI and tricyclics for the last 16 years and I have NEVER been taken off of these kind of meds so quickly and this is the first time I have had physical sickness after being taken off of medications.  Was this justified since I was in the hospital?  How long should the process have been?

[kcdem]

time for another psychiatrist. i know that is easier said than done. i assume the paxil stays in the body long enough and that is the thought. you may want to post in the anxiety community, ther seems to be much more activity there. good luck.

[hannahbear]

I  had problems with this MD before, where he was my psychiatrist several years ago and basically abandoned right after I had ECT, wouldn't return my phone calls and his staff lost my appointment( I showed them the appointment card they gave me) and said that they could not fit me in for 2 more months

[kcdem]

i was taken off prozac in the same way, the on call psychiatrist said that the prozac stays in the body so long that ther is no need to wean off of it. that may be what they think. i can tell you that i had w/d when i was told i should not off off klonopin. i am med sensitive, and in my experience docs under estimate w/d...at least with me they did. but the paxil probably stays in the body and that is why they were not concerned, that does not mean that they are correct though. did you ask the doc that question?


kcdem

[Hensley258]

In the hospital, they tend to rush the process of changing meds.

the P-doc probably figured that since you obviously were not doing well on your current meds that immidiate change was nessasary.