It depends on the individual. The evidence suggests that between 20% and 30% of patients have only a single depression in their lives. Four to six months after their depression has lifted, these patients can taper off Prozac without recurrence and may never have to take Prozac or another antidepressant again.

However, millions of people suffer from recurrent depression. These people are much better off taking Prozac or another antidepressant on a permanent basis to prevent future attacks. This is also true for those manic-depressive patients who are on lithium but who nonetheless find that the depressive phase still breaks through. For these people, lithium and Prozac or another antidepressant have to be taken together on a long-term basis.

Keep in mind, though, that older antidepressants have been around for thirty to thirty-five years. Although some patients have been successfully taking Prozac for as long as seven or eight years, Prozac is still essentially a new drug, and we simply do not know its long-term effects. There is still reason for caution.

Is it easy to withdraw from Prozac? Yes. If necessary, patients taking doses between 5 and 20 mg can stop taking the medication immediately. However, as a general rule in medicine, it is always better to taper off drugs. Patients taking higher doses can taper off over a week to ten days by taking smaller doses every other day and then every third day before discontinuing. Prozac’s – metabolism would suggest that coming off the medication should not be of concern due to the long half-life of the antidepressant, which means it is tapering off slowly by itself after it has been discontinued.

Does Prozac lose its effectiveness after continued usage? No, it does not. Once Prozac has sufficient time to build up in the body and relieve the symptoms of depression, the patient takes either the same dosage or less during both the continuation phase, which lasts two to three months, and later during the long-term maintenance phase.

*23\22\4*

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