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- Sun Jun 08, 2008 2:21 am
I'm a 17 year old male diagnosed with both Depression and OCD. Currently, I am taking 100 mg of Fluvoxamine daily.
My question is: What would happen if I stopped taking the fluvoxamine suddenly? Would my condition become worse, if so, how much?
| Dr. E. Seigle
- Tue Jul 22, 2008 8:00 pm
There are two aspects in response to your question. Firstly, stopping your medication suddenly is likely to cause what is called a discontinuation syndrome. This is a very unpleasant set of bodily sensations that can last from days to weeks or even longer, and include, dizziness, shock-like sensations, tingling, feeling sick, and other symptoms.
Secondly, we can ask if the fluvoxamine has helped you with your problems, as represented by your diagnoses. If it has, how long might it take for those symptoms to return. They would likely return from within a week or two, to as much as several months or even more. Partly this would depend on your history of the pattern of psychiatric problems that you have had; their frequency, duration, recurrences, etc.
The bottom line is it's never good to discontinue suddenly, unless there is a medical or psychiatric emergency that warrants it. Please discuss it carefully with your prescribing physician.
-E. Seigle MD