Penalty for Early Withdrawal

The majority of doctors are very good at prescribing medication. The pharmaceutical rep saunters into his or her office with a slick sales pitch and a briefcase full of samples and brochures, and the doctor starts prescribing.

The problem lies in getting you off of that medication. When you've been taking something that knits its way into your central nervous system, like an antidepressant or many other anticonvulsant or anti-anxiety medications, you can't simply stop. You need to “taper down,” which is gradually taking a lower and lower dose until you are completely weaned off.

The dosage, and the length of time you need to taper down, depends on how long you have been taking the medication, the medication itself, and how sensitive your system is. Mine, evidently, is as sensitive as the trigger hairs of a man-eating plant. Every time I've tried to stop the medication–seems like no matter how long I've been on it–I experience the consequences. A fibromyalgia flare, a killer headache, swollen ankles, nausea, dizziness, insomnia… I've been there.

Now I'm here again. I did some research after my osteoporosis diagnosis (sounds like the next title of a Tom Clancy book… The Osteoporosis Diagnosis) and found that several of my fibromyalgia medications interfere with calcium absorption, which interferes with building new bone cells. My doctor didn't tell me that. It wasn't in the little flyer that comes with the medication. I had to go research that myself. So I figured I would start divesting myself of these scourges, one pill at a time. I started with one that I thought I could knock off fairly easily… an anticonvulsant/mood stabilizer that acted as a bit of a muscle relaxant and really wasn't doing anything for my moods. I figured I would do the smart thing and taper down–by one half of a pill a week. It seemed prudent to me, workable, and it wasn't really noticing too much of an ill effect, save for little bits of irritability here and there. Nothing I couldn't handle with some deep breathing or a whiff of lavender oil or a spray of Rescue Remedy.

Then I made my mistake. I skipped the last week of tapering because I grew too impatient. And I went into withdrawal. It was nasty. I've had worse, but this was pretty bizarre. Headaches, check. Dizziness, check. Hot flashes and mental confusion, oh my God. I couldn't feel my knees. Seriously, they were numb. So was most of my body. All my muscles tightened up as if they were a wool sweater I'd thrown in the dryer. Some of them twitched in bizarre patterns and at bizarre times. I became uneasy about going out in public, for fear that people would think I was having a seizure.

I got over that last problem, because I was not about to stay in the house the entire time it would take my body to stop freaking out–I kept telling myself that this was only a temporary condition–and I would get over it.

But I didn't seem to be getting any better. I called my doctor, who didn't know what to do because she wasn't familiar with the medication. Really? This is the doctor who prescribes it for me, and she doesn't know? Shouldn't somebody know? The pharmaceutical company that developed it? No, all they'll tell you is not to stop taking your medication abruptly without consulting your doctor or else you might experience the following withdrawal symptoms, which they are nice enough to list. Shouldn't somebody know how to help you get through this? Anything you can do with diet, meditation, exercise? No, my doctor said nothing would help other than time. Or, if the symptoms went on after five or six days, I could go back on the medication at the dose I was taking when I quit, stay on that for a week or two, and then have her prescribe a lower dosage and wean down from there.

I'm back on at my last dosage, and next week will begin further weaning. Hopefully, I'll have an easier time.

Next time your doctor suggests a medication, ask what will happen when and if you need to stop taking it. Odds are he or she won't know. Perhaps your pharmacist will.

Have any of you had a problem stopping a medication? How long did it take you to get over it?