There’s A Very Strange Side-Effect You Might Face When Coming Off Antidepressants

Coming off antidepressants is no easy feat – so it’s worth knowing that there’s one particularly bizarre withdrawal symptom which you might unexpectedly suffer from.

Yep, according to the NHS website, one potential side-effect can include “feeling as if there’s an electric shock in your head”.

The mental health charity Mind points out that this can happen if you were previously taking SSRIs or SNRIs. These are two types of antidepressants which increase serotonin levels in the brain, although all antidepressants can cause withdrawal effects.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the only withdrawal symptom you could face if you decide to stop taking the medication. The NHS website notes some other side-effects:

• Restlessness
• Trouble sleeping
• Unsteadiness
• Sweating
• Stomach problems
• Feeling irritable, anxious and confused.

Mind also points out it might cause:

• dizziness or vertigo
• flu-like symptoms
• Problems with movement, including involuntary movements
• sensory disturbance like smelling something that isn’t there
• Strange dreams
• Tinnitus.

On top of that, Mind warned that withdrawal symptoms could end up feeling like your original problem with coming off SSRIs or SNRIs.

This includes anxiety, crying spells, depersonalisation (feeling detached), depression, disturbed sleep, fatigue, mania, mood swings, poor concentration and memory and suicidal thoughts.

It’s always important that people come off this medication slowly, usually over a period of four weeks but occasionally it might take longer, to reduce your risk of suffering from the above side-effects.

That’s because sudden removal of the antidepressants can result in a flurry of withdrawal symptoms, which usually come on within five days of stopping and then persist for one to two weeks.

It’s definitely worth speaking to your doctor when you decide to come off them, and if you get severe withdrawal symptoms when you stop taking antidepressants.

They might suggest different techniques like reintroducing another antidepressants from another group and reducing the dose at a slower rate, or coming off them altogether.

Antidepressants are quite popular in the UK, with NHS figures showing that in 2022 nearly half a million more adults in England started taking them compared to the previous year.

An estimated 83.4 million antidepressant drug items were prescribed between 2021 and 2022, as well, with a clear rise in the number of children and teachers taking them.

And while for some people they can be truly life-saving, last year the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence called for people with mild depression to be offered exercise or therapy first before being prescribed antidepressants by doctors.

This has sparked a larger conversation about coming off antidepressants altogether – but, if you decide to do that, you must be careful about how you do it. And, if you decide to go back on them, that’s OK too!