Cleveland Clinic Journal of MedicineDiscontinuing Antidepressants: Pearls and Pitfalls

Patients discontinuing antidepressant therapy experience insomnia, flu-like symptoms, mood disturbances, dizziness, and paresthesias — among a broad array of adverse effects. Those symptoms can last for days to months. This narrative review describes the array of discontinuation symptoms and their causes and provides practical clinical guidance for discontinuing antidepressants to minimize the risk of antidepressant discontinuation syndrome (ADS).