Can I Stop Taking My Medication? by Dr. Sharon Orrange/Primary Care Physician: at DailyStrength Doctors and Advisors

Dr. Orrange received her BA in Biology at the University of California, San Diego, and a Masters Degree in Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. She received her MD from the USC Keck School of…

More About Me >>

FAST FACTS

LOCATION: Santa Monica, CA, USA

AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

AFFILIATIONS:

Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Division of Geriatric, Hospital and General Internal Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California

YEARS IN PRACTICE: 15

WEBSITES:

More About Me >>

Can I Stop Taking My Medication?

Posted in Codependency by Dr. Sharon Orrange on Sep 12, 2011

Nobody likes the idea of committing to a medication for life. Whether you don’t feel like filling your prescription, run out of money to pay for your meds or just get sick of taking pills you will wonder at some point: Can I just stop taking my ___?

1. Can I stop taking my cholesterol medication? No, not unless you want your cholesterol to return to where it was pre-treatment. If you are on a statin drug for cholesterol (Zocor, Crestor or Lipitor) and you stop taking it your LDL cholesterol will return to where it was within weeks.

2. Can I stop taking my blood pressure medication? If you have lost weight or started an exercise program and notice your blood pressures are low on your medication then talk to your doctor about giving it a try. But if not, and your blood pressures are 120-140/80-90 on your medication and you stop it, your blood pressures will be high in 1-2 days.

3. Can I stop taking my thyroid medication? If you have an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) and your TSH blood test is normal on your Synthroid (levothyroxine) and you stop taking it, then you will likely be underactive again 3-4 weeks after stopping it.

4. Can I stop taking my birth control pills? If you don’t need them for contraception you can stop them. You can stop mid pack if you want and you will get breakthrough bleeding when you stop which should not alarm you.

5. Can I stop taking my antibiotics? Unless you have a rash or a side effect finish the course that was prescribed to you by your doctor even if you feel better. The problems with stopping prematurely include partially treated infections that will come back to get you sick and building antibiotic resistance.

6. Can I stop taking my antidepressant? Be careful here because if you do feel ready to wean off of them, you want to talk to your doctor about potential withdrawal symptoms. See my blog on this topic.

7. Can I stop taking my pain medication? If you are on anti-inflammatories (motrin, ibuprofen, and naproxen) yes you can stop them and see if you are okay without them. If you are on opiates (oxycodone, hydrocodone) and you’ve been on them long term and stop abruptly, you may have withdrawal symptoms, so talk to your doctor first.

8. Can I stop taking my heartburn & reflux (GERD) medications? If you are taking omeprazole, pantoprazole, or another med in that class (nexium, aciphex, dexilant) and you want to stop them, yes you can try and stop them. Some people experience some rebound heartburn symptoms right after stopping that will resolve in 2-3 days. There is no harm in stopping them, though pay attention to whether your symptoms return.

9. Can I stop taking my diabetes medication? This is a long process to discuss with your doctor so no, don’t stop without discussing it first. If your blood sugars have been too low or are always within goal range and your Hgb AIC is low (6.8 or less), you can talk to your doctor about decreasing your medications to see if you can get control with diet alone.

10. Can I stop taking my anxiety medication? If you are taking benzodiazepines for anxiety (Ativan, valium, Librium, Xanax) and have been taking them on a regular basis, you cannot abruptly stop them because of seizure risk. You can easily wean them down if you feel you don’t need them anymore, but do it with your doctor on board.

Dr O.

quest to find out how long (aka the duration is) for antidepressant withdrawal syndrome (also called antidepressant discontinuation syndrome). The answer to that magic question is 6 to 7 weeks to feel SOME relief Posted on 04/05/11 04:05:20 pm

Concerta- Just wondering about other's experiences with this medication. I have read the manufactorers website and felt good about it but then read on other sites the "negatives" and am now scared! Any thoughts and/or personal experiences are greatly appr Posted on 04/01/11 08:40:20 am

So my anxiety attacks had peaked last Wednesday and I think I mentioned in another post I decided on my own (stupid decision) to switch back to my Xanax. I felt it seemed to have worked better after I kelt having to increase my dose and I was still strugg Posted on 03/30/11 07:48:17 am

Send to a Friend

Share This

Digg

Del.icio.us

furl

StumbleUpon

Facebook

Yahoo!

Google

Previous: New Study Shows Eating Chocolate Reduces the Risk of Stroke and Heart Disease

: Experiencing Back and Neck Pain? Here are 12 Things to Think About Before Your Doctor Visit

CATEGORIES: How To

CONDITIONS AND COMMUNITIES: Agoraphobia & Social Anxiety • Anxiety • Anxiety Disorders in Children • Back Pain • Chronic Pain • Codependency • Congenital Heart Disease • Coronary Heart Disease • DailyStrength Members Community • Dental Anxiety • Depression • Depression - Teen • Depression in Children • Depression Supporters • Diabetes Type 2 • Female Sexual Issues • GERD & Heartburn • Healthy Sex • Heart Attack • Heart Failure • High Blood Pressure • High Cholesterol • Hyperparathyroidism • Hyperthyroidism • Hypoparathyroidism • Hypothyroidism • Other Heart Problems • Post Partum Depression • Senior Health & Aging • Separation Anxiety • Teen Anxiety • Teen Sexuality

TAGS:

MEMBER COMMENTS

TOTAL COMMENTS: 2 - View All Comments »

Add a Comment

Displaying comments 2-1 of 2

Hey Yerushalmit: There are no published studies on how slowly to wean off cymbalta so conventional wisdom would say get down to the lowest dose (30 mg tablets) go every other day...then three days a week, two days a week...then off.

By DrOrrange Sep 17, 2011

How do I wean myself off of a anti-depressant like Cymbalta that is a time release capsule?I started taking it every other day but don't know how to reduce it any further since I can't cut it in half.

By yerushalmit Sep 13, 2011

Got a Question?

Submit

My Fans

More Fans >>

RELATED POSTS