New study to help people withdraw from inappropriate long-term antidepressant treatment

[Altostrata]

July 25, 2016 Medical Xpress is a web-based medical and health news service

One in 10 adults are being given antidepressants each year, but up to 50 per cent of patients could be given an alternative treatment, a University Professor suggests.

Antidepressant prescribing rates have increased over the past decade with now more than 60 million prescriptions for the medication being issued in England a year.

Tony Kendrick, Professor of Primary Care at the University of Southampton, believes between a third and a half of people taking them could stop and avoid side effects and feel more reliant on themselves.

He is leading a new study, funded by the NIHR, to identify safe, reliable and value for money ways of helping patients withdraw from long-term antidepressants, where appropriate.

"We appreciate that stopping antidepressants is not easy," he said. "Withdrawal symptoms, including anxiety and low mood, are usually temporary but feel similar to the reason why patients were first put on antidepressants. Therefore people are understandably reluctant to come off the medication - they feel like they've slipped back again."

The research team will develop a web-based intervention which will be available around the clock, together with GP monitoring and 'buddying' support from people who have previously come off antidepressants.

This will be tested through a randomised control trial where participants will either receive the intervention or usual care.

The £2.4 million six year study is funded by an NIHR Programme Grant for Applied Research and is a collaboration between the universities of Southampton (including the Faculty of Health Sciences and the NIHR Southampton Clinical Trials Unit), Liverpool, York, Hull, University College London, and Solent NHS Trust in Southampton.

Professor Kendrick added: "Antidepressant prescribing rates are rising very quickly and some don't need to be prescribed at all. We hope our intervention will identify where alternative treatment methods could be best used. If our programme works we'd like to roll it out across the NHS, publishing practical guidance for professionals, and advice for patients."

Provided by University of Southampton
"New study to help people withdraw from inappropriate long-term antidepressant treatment" July 25, 2016 http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-07-people-inappropriate-long-term-antidepressant-treatment.html

 

Professor Tony Kendrick http://www.southampton.ac.uk/medicine/about/staff/ark1.page

[nz11]

Thanks for posting this.

Gee i just fired off another complaint letter a few days ago and would have helped the cause to have been able to quote this study. thats hot off the press.

 

"We appreciate that stopping antidepressants is not easy," he said. "Withdrawal symptoms, including anxiety and low mood, are usually temporary but feel similar to the reason why patients were first put on antidepressants. Therefore people are understandably reluctant to come off the medication - they feel like they've slipped back again."

 

i disagree -the withdrawal symptoms were galaxies worse than anything i had ever felt previously or even imagined.

 

"The research team will develop a web-based intervention which will be available around the clock, together with GP monitoring and 'buddying' support from people who have previously come off antidepressants."

 

I wonder if they have heard of sa ?

 

'Tony Kendrick, Professor of Primary Care at the University of Southampton, believes between a third and a half of people taking them could stop and avoid side effects and feel more reliant on themselves.'

Would that be CT or tapering??!?

 

60 million prescriptions.....oh boy!!

[Altostrata]

Dr. Kendrick informs me that Dr. Joanna Moncrieff is working with Dr. Kendrick on the study, and the Council for Evidence-Based Psychiatry (CEP) is involved.

[Terry4949]

I am in the uk and I read about this in one of our main newspapers , the only thing that I find hard to get my head around is they are going to do this study over a six year period , so I guess at the end of this they are going to tell us what we allready know , instead of doing this 6 year study maybe we should give them the address of this web site as to save them time , we don't need telling how we should come of these meds , according to most phyciatrist and doctors you just taper as the manufactures instruct and every one is back to normal . What they need to do it is look at finding away to ease the suffering for those who are in protracted withdrawel and not take 6 years in the process , personally as much as I think that it is good that at least some sort of work to address the current problem with the amount of meds that are being prescribed , unless they have suffered as we have suffered they will never truly understand

[Altostrata]

I have written Drs. Kendrick and Moncrieff.

[nz11]

I am in the uk and I read about this in one of our main newspapers , the only thing that I find hard to get my head around is they are going to do this study over a six year period , so I guess at the end of this they are going to tell us what we allready know , instead of doing this 6 year study maybe we should give them the address of this web site as to save them time , we don't need telling how we should come of these meds , according to most phyciatrist and doctors you just taper as the manufactures instruct and every one is back to normal . What they need to do it is look at finding away to ease the suffering for those who are in protracted withdrawel and not take 6 years in the process , personally as much as I think that it is good that at least some sort of work to address the current problem with the amount of meds that are being prescribed , unless they have suffered as we have suffered they will never truly understand

Well said Terry,

this was exactly what i was thinking today.

 

There will be so many more lives put on the medicated trainwreck between now and 6 yrs time. Action should be taken right NOW!!

So basically they are going to take 6 yrs to discover what  we people at sa know.

Besides why do CEP have to wait 6 yrs they are already fully aware of this international tragedy.

 

If they want more data going back 10 years then they can go and offer to buy the prior place records (offer Laurie 1 million and im sure that she will hand it over and they still save have 1.4million to spend) and just by doing that they will save heaps.

[Cherry47]

"The withdrawal symptoms are galaxies worse than anything I had ever felt previously or even imagined" - absolutely spot on NZ11.

 

This is what nobody in the medical world understands or even wants to know!

[nz11]

I have written Drs. Kendrick and Moncrieff.

It will be interesting to hear what they have to say.

I thought Moncrieff might be involved in this as we heard somewhere back last year (was it a CEP conference or something) money was being given for Moncrieff to do such a study.

[nz11]

This is what nobody in the medical world understands or even wants to know!

I think it has reached a stage where the iatrogenic harm has got so embarrassing for the medical profession that they refuse to want to know about it and simply choose to continue  perpetuating as Breggin terms it a "cruel and massive hoax".

[scallywag]

I'm hopeful that another scientific research study will add to the body of knowledge and yield evidence that the skeptics can't dismiss or ignore.

[Terry4949]

Even if the skeptics realise that there is definite evidence that withdrawing to fast or ubruptly from these meds can and will cause protracted withdrawel , it will still be another 6 years before we see the results and in the mean time how many more people will suffer at their hands , I have been in protracted withdrawel for 3 years now and my journey has been one of hell ,I feel no different now as I did then , if they were to sit and listen to people that have suffered or are suffering we could save them the 6 years and the millions could be ploughed in to helping them rather than some journey in 6 years time saying when withdrawing go slow ! .if I mention to my doctor that I have protracted withdrawel he scowls or laughs and tells me it's rubbish or all in my head , so do you think in 6 years time they will want to read it , there will probably be another super anti depressant on the market that they will say this one has know side effects or withdrawel problems so don't worry !

[Altostrata]

All true, Terry4949. Would you rather these researchers give up on their study?

[Terry4949]

No alto I wouldn't , any research is better than none , I just feel that it will be along 6 years of research that will come to the same conclusion that you have underlined in your research over the years , that withdrawing from anti depressants to fast or cold turkey will leave people with protracted withdrawel and many years of suffering , at the moment I am in to 3 years of this endless suffering but my doctor doesn't or remotely believe me he still believes I am severely depressed and anxious , none of which I was before meds , so if this 6 year study helps educate these doctors I am all for it , but if we as patient cannot get them to believe and understand us will a 6 year study be able to pursued them , to the point I just feel that there are going to be so many more people that are going to suffer in the time span before the profession actually acknowledge as a whole that these meds a truly a problem . what I would like to see is someone to say look protracted withdrawel is a serious problem and we need to address this now and help these people with the tools that are available to us , but I feel that this will come many years after they have finished their study , I hope I don't sound ungrateful as I say any research is better than none , but if I could save one person from going through what I am then it would all be worth it .

[compsports]

I'm hopeful that another scientific research study will add to the body of knowledge and yield evidence that the skeptics can't dismiss or ignore.

I can't say I am as hopeful as you are but I would love to be wrong.  It just seems like no matter how many studies you point the skeptics to even if they are high quality, they find a way to dismiss them.

[nz11]

Just been having another read of the above and this got me thinking....

 

The research team will develop a web-based intervention which will be available around the clock, together with GP monitoring and 'buddying' support from people who have previously come off antidepressants.

This will be tested through a randomised control trial where participants will either receive the intervention or usual care.

 

...i wonder what the 'usual care' is?

Do a CT because not being given a tapering schedule is a minor issue ( as i was told).

 

I also wonder what the 'intervention' is.