Suggest Treatment For Severe Depression
5-Hydroxytryptophan (3-htp) may help but better to continue medicine
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for writing to us.
Depression since 15 years is very long duration. As a psychiatrist frankly speaking there is no need to stop the drug. According to most of the guidelines of the treatment for depression in such cases effective minimum dose should be continued for lifelong.
However I also would like to mention approach to stop the drug.
Actually you face drug discontinuation symptoms when you stop the drug. So one option is stop drug very slowly. For example reduce 20% dose every 4-5 weeks.
You can take supplement like 5-Hydroxytryptophan which may help to prevent drug discontinuation symptoms.
As well as psychotherapy (like cognitive behavior therapy) may help.
Regular sleep, timely meals, daily exercises and supplements in form of multivitamin are also essential steps in stopping antidepressant medicines.
You can discuss above aspects with your current treating doctor and may try successfully to stop medicines.
Hope I have answered your query, I will be happy to help further.
Regards,
Dr.Chintan Solanki.