We use more medicins everyday
It’s a fact that a growing population is using medication such as pain killers, antidepressives, antipsychotics, sleeping pills or tranquillizers for their daily use.
Perhaps you know the medicines Paroxetine, Venlafaxine, Diazepam or Temzepam. Perhaps you might know them by their brand name such as Seroxat, Efexor, Valium of Seresta.
It’s likely that you will know somebody in your direct environment who uses these medicines.
All these medicines are prescribed by the treating physician or psychiatrist and usually have to be taken for a longer period of time.
Quitting medicins
When the medication is helpful, there will also be a time that a patient wants to quit using the medicines. This proces of quitting these medicines is done in consultation with the physician.
In a number of time quitting ‘cold-turkey’ is not the most effective method. A lot of people don’t realise that addiction to medication is a serious issue. Quitting cold-turkey might cause a relapse with all negative side-effects. This is because the body is adapted to the intake of the medication and the withdrawal leads to unpleasant complaints, which can be compared with withdrawal symptoms.
Gradually reducing the intake of medication (Tapering)
There is a better method which has also been proven in practice, see Groot, P.C. & van Os, J.; “Antidepressant tapering strips to help people come off medication more safely”; Psychosis 2018. This method is defined by slightly reducing the daily dose; which in jargon is called ‘tapering’. By gradually reducing the daily dose the withdrawal symptoms are minimalised. Tapering is effective and efficient if properly adjusted.
Nowadays tapering is used for patients who want to quit antidepressives, sleeping pills or tranquillizers. Unfortunately the tapering is not always adjusted sufficiently, which can lead to unfortunate circumstances since both patient and insurance company benefit from a succesful termination from the use of medicines.
Why tapering?
Medication is needed sometimes. However, the more accurate the dose, the better the treatment for the patient. Most medicines come with side-effects and the longer the medication is used, the bigger the chance these side-effects will occur.
There is even a possibility that unnecessary long-term use of certain medicines can lead to severe complaints. (Source: Cinderella Therapeutics)
It’s advisable to use as less medicines as possible because this decreases the chance of side-effects. Finally, if the medication is no longer needed –for the treatment it was prescribed for- it’s time to quit as effective as possible.
Additionally, these side-effects can also be highly unwanted or not acceptable at all. For example women who want to get pregnant or pregnant women for who the medicines and/or side-effects can cause serious damage to their fertility or even the fetus. It’s highly recommandable to quit the use of medicines in these circumstances.
Tapering is customized
The prescription of medication demands customization. Every individual is different and therefor the optimal dose for every individual is different! This is also the fact for tapering. Every individual requires a customized approach to quit the use of medicines in an effective way.
Whether it’s the use of antidepressives, sleeping pills or tranquillizers; a customized approach in which the knowledge of a specialist is required.
Shipment to other countries
Regenboog Apotheek also ships this medication abroad.
If you want more informatie about the shipment of the medication to your country, please contact our pharmacist mr. Paul Harder: pharder@regenboogapotheek.nl.
More information?
The website www.taperingstrip.com will provide all the required information about the subject of tapering.
