I just read an article on CNN about the problems of stopping antidepressants suddenly. Some of the symptoms are listed below in a quote from CNN.

“They can suffer from flu-like nausea, muscle aches, uncontrollable crying, dizziness and diarrhea. Many patients suffer "brain zaps," bizarre and briefly overwhelming electrical sensations that propagate from the back of the head.”

The article says that Effexor & Paxil breaks down in a few hours. Others have various periods before another pill is required.

I recommend that anyone on antidepressants put some in their EDC stuff and/or BOB. The other possibility is switching to something that doesn’t have these withdrawal symptoms. Being in a tough situation is not the time to run out and have incapacitating & bizarre symptoms.

People on antidepressants may want to Google their prescription drug & plan accordingly.

0311,

A very wise warning to post for those who care to be prepared. Effexor in particular is terrible to come off of. It should take a person 6 months to wean off of it properly, under a qualified shrink's instructions. Not just any MD. Benedryl does counter some side-effects of withdrawal. Effexor can be practically deadly to go without cold-turkey, as the dizziness can keep you from even walking, much less driving or anything else requiring you to be "sober." This can last from 3 weeks to a month, along with some other very annoying side-effects.

I am on 225 Effexor daily for anxiety and depression. I went three days without it due to unavoidable circumstances and I was so sick by day three I would have rather died than go to day four. After experiencing that and reading this I am going to call the doctor tomorrow and ask him to help me.

Yes, stopping anti-depressants and anxiety medication, which are the same thing can be unpleasant. I am a neurobiologist, so I have studied these effects carefully. However, some medications are SSRI, specific seretonin reuptake inhibitors and some act differently. The effects of stopping the medication will eventualy go away as the body re-adjusts to not having the medication in your system. However, I think we better leave all medical advice to a doctor.

The advice given is not medical advice. I merely pointed out the possibility of withdrawal symptoms if a stranded person did not have his meds with him. I suggested that a person should look up any antidepressants that they are taking & see if this situation should concern them.

Any med, Rx or OTC, that you take on daily basis, you should have.

If you have a heart attack becuase you didn't have your med, I'll have half a mind to leave you there. If you are having psychological symptoms becuase you didn't have your meds, I WILL leave you behind. And if you just want to curl up in a ball and die, fine, that means that my pack just got heavier and I will be annoyed with you.

I'm kidding. Seriously, psych meds are meds. If you need it to function normally on a normal day, you'll need it even more when normal is on vacation.

Now this raises an interesting question about family bug-out bags. What are the legal ramifications of carrying someone else's meds? (And I'm not talking the heavy duty stuff like oxy.) I'm thinking of a situation were there is a family bug out, either on foot with individual packs or a multi-vehicle bug out, and one of you get's seperate from your pack/vehicle but are able to link up with the others.

"What are the legal ramifications of carrying someone else's meds?"

Legal consequences are probably the very last thing I would think about in a survival situation. If my Mom were still with me, I would try to carry a duplicate set of her meds with me even if she were carrying her own. The same goes for friends.

First, is the person you're carrying the meds for likely to sue you for having them available for them? If your answer is Yes, I think you might want to reevaluate your plans. After all, you're not planning on opening a prescription med soup-kitchen, are you?

Second, if you're worried about the authorities getting involved, I would suspect that they are going to have way too many other problems to deal with than the "hobby harassment" of trying to intimidate you.

My personal opinion: Do what you can for the people you care about, and don't try to cover every single possibility, or you're just going to get overwhelmed by the questions & not get anything accomplished.

Sue

Gee Sue, you've summed up the major issue of my life...and you weren't even trying!

I wasn't thinking so much in terms of a survival situation. When the stuff hits the fan, I'm not worried.

I was thinking more like prepossitioned supplies for families that have several dwellings but would rally at one to bug by convoy, or in car kits that are prepacked in another's vehicle.

There are some prescription meds that are important long term, but you can do without for a while. I am taking a drug for cholesterol, but nothing is going to happen if I don't take it every day. I also take a drug for high blood pressure. That is a symptomless disease. Taking it daily is a good idea, but it's absence is probably not going to incapacitate me like failing to have Effexor available.

I know, somebody is going to say "you could have a stroke". True, that is a possibility as opposed to certain problems with antidepressant withdrawl.