Posted by jedi on April 14, 2009, at 2:29:41
In reply to Return to baseline after AD discontinuation, posted by sowhysosad on April 13, 2009, at 22:03:44
Hi,
Most psychotropic medications are probably washed out of your system after two weeks, though some (like Prozac) can take five weeks. However, their effects on the neurotransmitters can last much longer. I don't know the numbers, but I'm sure there are some medications that change the brain permanently.
Jedi
> Can anyone find any research - or make an intelligent guess - on how long it takes the brain to return to baseline after discontinuing chronic antidepressant treatment? More specifically imipramine or TCA's in general if possible.
>
> Research shows it takes 40 days for D2 receptor sensitivity to return to baseline, but what about the brain's other systems?
>
> Looks like most studies of psychotropic drugs use a two-week wash-out period before measuring "return to baseline" values.
>
> My pdoc wants me to go drug-free for a while before reassessing me, and I'll have been "clean" almost two weeks if I stick to the program. I wonder if two-weeks is a rule-of-thumb for wash-out periods in psychiatry as it seems to be in research?
poster:jedi
thread:890517
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090408/msgs/890578.html