MyDeprescriber.com

MyDeprescriber.com
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Coming off psychiatric medication, low and slow. Real stories and plain-English science about coming off psychiatric medication safely, from the team behind MyDeprescriber.com. For people on a taper, the people who love them, and the providers who guide them. Coming off an antidepressant, a benzodiazepine, a sleeping pill or an antipsychotic is a medical process, and most people go into it with less guidance than they had going on. MyDeprescriber.com is the podcast for that gap. Each episode takes one question people actually ask and answers it plainly: Why do the last few milligrams feel harder than the first? What is the difference between withdrawal and relapse, and why do they get confused? What does "low and slow" really mean in practice? What is a hyperbolic taper? When should a taper pause? You will hear from providers trained in deprescribing, from people partway through a taper or on the other side of one, and from the MyDeprescriber team, who read the research so you do not have to. Everything we say is backed by published evidence, and we tell you when the evidence is thin. This show is for three kinds of listeners: people who are tapering or thinking about it, the family and friends supporting them, and clinicians who want to do this well. If that is you, welcome. MyDeprescriber.com is a directory of providers who help people taper psychiatric medication safely, and the home of The Deprescriber's Playbook, a certification course for clinicians. Find a provider near you at mydeprescriber.com/find-a-provider. This podcast is education, not medical advice. Never stop or change a medication without talking to your own provider first.

  1. 19h ago

    Why do the last steps of a benzodiazepine taper hurt the most?

    Coming off a benzodiazepine turns out to be less about willpower and more about arithmetic. This episode works through why cutting the same number of milligrams each time stops working as the dose gets smaller, and what a percentage-based (hyperbolic) taper looks like in practice: starting at 10 mg, then 9, then 8.1, then 7.3. We cover the pace the 2025 ASAM guideline sets out, which is reducing the dose by 5% to 10% every 2 to 4 weeks for most people, and never faster than 25% every 2 weeks. Faster schedules do not hold up: with weekly 25% cuts, 1 in 4 to 1 in 2 people dropped out before finishing the taper. A typical taper runs 2 to 12 months, and 12 to 18 months for people who have been on a higher dose for many years. We also look at timing and at what helps. Withdrawal symptoms tend to start 1 to 4 days after a dose cut on a short-acting benzodiazepine and 4 to 10 days on a long-acting one, usually peaking within a week of each cut and then settling. And in older adults tapering a benzodiazepine for sleep, 70% who added CBT-I were off the medication at 3 months, compared with 24% of those who tapered alone. Full guide: How to Safely Come Off Benzodiazepines. Find a provider trained in deprescribing: mydeprescriber.com/find-a-provider. The hosts of this episode are AI-generated from the written guide. Educational only, not medical advice. Never stop a medication without your provider. If you are in crisis in the US, call or text 988.

    Why do the last steps of a benzodiazepine taper hurt the most?

  2. 1d ago

    Why stopping daily Zyrtec can set off an itch, and how to step down instead

    If you have taken cetirizine (Zyrtec) or levocetirizine (Xyzal) every day for months, stopping all at once can set off intense itching. This episode walks through why that happens, when it usually starts, and what the gentler ways off look like. We cover the FDA warning required in May 2025, the pattern in the reported cases (most involved daily use for more than 3 months, with the itch usually starting 1 to 5 days after the last dose), two practical ways to step down (spacing doses out every other day for a week or two and then every third day, or lowering the dose from 10 mg to 5 mg for two weeks), what was reported when people restarted the medicine, and the signs that mean it is time to call your provider. Read the full guide: How to safely come off cetirizine (Zyrtec) without the itchFind a provider trained in deprescribing: mydeprescriber.com/find-a-provider The hosts of this episode are AI-generated from the written guide. Educational only, not medical advice. Never stop a medication without your provider. If you are in crisis in the US, call or text 988.

    Why stopping daily Zyrtec can set off an itch, and how to step down instead

  3. 4d ago

    Can you just stop Ambien? What a safe Z-drug taper looks like

    Zolpidem (Ambien), eszopiclone (Lunesta) and zaleplon (Sonata) are labeled for short-term use, often 7 to 35 nights, because the benefit shrinks over weeks and months while the risks creep up. This episode walks through what that means if you have been taking one every night for far longer, and what the 2019 FDA boxed warning for complex sleep behaviors covers. We cover the taper itself: cutting the dose by about 25% every two weeks, a worked zolpidem example from 10 mg down to alternate nights, why the last step is usually the hardest, and why the whole thing often takes 8 to 16 weeks and sometimes six months or more. We also cover rebound insomnia, the short stretch of worse sleep after a cut that usually fades within a week or two, and CBT-I, the structured 4 to 8 session program that is first-line for long-term insomnia. Read the full guide: How to Safely Come Off Z-Drugs. Find a provider trained in deprescribing: mydeprescriber.com/find-a-provider. The hosts of this episode are AI-generated from our written guide. Educational only, not medical advice. Never stop a medication without your provider. If you are in crisis in the US, call or text 988.

    Can you just stop Ambien? What a safe Z-drug taper looks like

  4. 4d ago

    Oxybutynin, Detrol, Vesicare: how do you come off a bladder pill?

    Bladder anticholinergics such as oxybutynin, tolterodine (Detrol) and solifenacin (Vesicare) calm an overactive bladder by blocking acetylcholine. That is also why they can bring dry mouth, constipation, blurry vision, trouble emptying the bladder and mental fog, and why this class gets reviewed rather than renewed year after year. This episode covers what the American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria says about oxybutynin and the wider antimuscarinic class in older adults, what the research on anticholinergics and dementia does and does not show, and which drugs in a different class work through another receptor. It also covers the practical part: why behavioral steps such as bladder training and pelvic floor exercises come first and need weeks of honest effort, what a planned step-down with your provider can look like, what a short rebound in urgency means, and what tends to improve after stopping. Full guide: How to Safely Come Off Bladder Anticholinergics. Find a provider trained in deprescribing: mydeprescriber.com/find-a-provider. The hosts are AI-generated from the written guide. Educational only, not medical advice. Never stop a medication without your provider. If you are in crisis in the US, call or text 988.

    Oxybutynin, Detrol, Vesicare: how do you come off a bladder pill?

  5. 4d ago

    What happens if you stop tizanidine suddenly?

    Tizanidine (Zanaflex) is a skeletal muscle relaxant prescribed for muscle spasms, cramping and tightness, including in multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury. It clears quickly, with a half-life of about 2.5 hours, and that fast clearance is part of why stopping it abruptly can go badly. This episode walks through what the written guide covers: the reactions reported after abrupt discontinuation, which are rebound high blood pressure, a fast heart rate, and muscle tone returning, sometimes worse than before, along with tremors, anxiety and headaches, usually within hours to a day or two. It also covers who is most at risk, including people taking around 20 to 28 mg a day, people who have been on it nine weeks or longer, and people also taking an opioid pain medicine, and why older adults clear tizanidine about four times slower than younger people. On pace: the FDA suggests decreasing the dose by 2 mg to 4 mg per day, and real tapers run from a couple of weeks to a month or more depending on the dose and how long the medicine has been taken. Read the full guide: How to Safely Come Off Tizanidine (Zanaflex). To find a clinician trained in deprescribing, see the provider directory. The hosts of this episode are AI-generated from the written guide. Educational only, not medical advice. Never stop a medication without your provider. If you are in crisis in the US, call or text 988.

    What happens if you stop tizanidine suddenly?

  6. Oct 21

    Coming off baclofen: why stopping suddenly is the risk

    Baclofen is prescribed for muscle spasticity, often in multiple sclerosis or after a spinal cord injury. This episode walks through what the FDA label says about stopping it: abrupt withdrawal has resulted in hallucinations, seizures, high fever, altered mental status, and rebound spasticity worse than before treatment. We cover why timing matters. Baclofen has a half-life of only about six hours, so a missed dose drops blood levels quickly. We also cover what a taper usually looks like: lowering the daily dose by around 5 to 10 mg every one to two weeks, with smaller steps spread further apart for people on high doses or long-term treatment, and the early signs that the pace is too fast, which are increased spasticity, itching, and tingling of the hands and feet. Read the full guide: How to Safely Come Off Baclofen. To find a provider trained in deprescribing, visit mydeprescriber.com/find-a-provider. The hosts of this episode are AI-generated from the written guide. Educational only, not medical advice. Never stop a medication without your provider. If you are in crisis in the US, call or text 988.

    Coming off baclofen: why stopping suddenly is the risk

  7. Oct 21

    Coming off quetiapine for sleep: how slow is slow enough?

    Quetiapine (Seroquel) is approved for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, not for insomnia — yet low doses at bedtime are one of the most common off-label prescriptions people are handed for sleep. This episode walks through what the written guide says about coming off it: why the pace matters, what rebound insomnia is, and what the evidence for sleep actually looks like. We cover the common step-down of 25 to 50 percent every one to two weeks, why the last steps are usually the hardest, and the practical problem of reaching small doses — splitting immediate-release tablets with a pill cutter, using a liquid form, and never crushing extended-release tablets. We also look at the metabolic side of low-dose use, the symptoms that have been linked to stopping rapidly, and why cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the thing the guide suggests building while the dose comes down. Read the full guide: How to Safely Come Off Quetiapine (Seroquel) for Sleep. Looking for help with a taper? Find a provider trained in deprescribing. The hosts of this episode are AI-generated from the written guide on MyDeprescriber.com. Educational only, not medical advice. Never stop a medication without your provider. If you are in crisis in the US, call or text 988.

    Coming off quetiapine for sleep: how slow is slow enough?

  8. Oct 19

    Been on Flexeril for months? What a 4-week step-down looks like

    Cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril) is a routine prescription after a back injury, and the FDA label ties it to short-term use of up to 2 or 3 weeks alongside rest and physical therapy. Plenty of people end up taking it for months or years. This episode walks through what the written guide says about coming off it. We cover what stopping can feel like — rebound muscle tension, insomnia, headaches, irritability and cold-like symptoms, usually peaking around days 3 to 5 and settling by days 7 to 10, with a longer runway of 3 to 6 weeks for people who have been on it a year or more. We also walk the 4-week step-down the guide lays out, the slower two-month pace suggested for adults 65 and over, and why the 2023 AGS Beers Criteria list cyclobenzaprine among medicines to generally avoid in older adults. One combination gets its own section: the label reports a potentially life-threatening serotonin syndrome when cyclobenzaprine is taken with SSRIs, SNRIs, tricyclics, tramadol, bupropion or MAO inhibitors. If you take an antidepressant, that belongs in the conversation with your provider. Read the full guide: How to Safely Come Off Cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril). To find someone trained in this work, see our directory of providers trained in deprescribing. The hosts of this episode are AI-generated from the written guide. Educational only, not medical advice. Never stop a medication without your provider. If you are in crisis in the US, call or text 988.

    Been on Flexeril for months? What a 4-week step-down looks like
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About

Coming off psychiatric medication, low and slow. Real stories and plain-English science about coming off psychiatric medication safely, from the team behind MyDeprescriber.com. For people on a taper, the people who love them, and the providers who guide them. Coming off an antidepressant, a benzodiazepine, a sleeping pill or an antipsychotic is a medical process, and most people go into it with less guidance than they had going on. MyDeprescriber.com is the podcast for that gap. Each episode takes one question people actually ask and answers it plainly: Why do the last few milligrams feel harder than the first? What is the difference between withdrawal and relapse, and why do they get confused? What does "low and slow" really mean in practice? What is a hyperbolic taper? When should a taper pause? You will hear from providers trained in deprescribing, from people partway through a taper or on the other side of one, and from the MyDeprescriber team, who read the research so you do not have to. Everything we say is backed by published evidence, and we tell you when the evidence is thin. This show is for three kinds of listeners: people who are tapering or thinking about it, the family and friends supporting them, and clinicians who want to do this well. If that is you, welcome. MyDeprescriber.com is a directory of providers who help people taper psychiatric medication safely, and the home of The Deprescriber's Playbook, a certification course for clinicians. Find a provider near you at mydeprescriber.com/find-a-provider. This podcast is education, not medical advice. Never stop or change a medication without talking to your own provider first.

Information

  • Creator
    MyDeprescriber.com
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    42
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 MyDeprescriber.com, LLC
  • Show Website
    MyDeprescriber.com