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"   Question I have taken Seroxat (20mg daily) for two and a half years now. I responded well to the treatment and although I had the odd bad day, I felt that it was working really well for me.  My doctor recently said that he felt I had been on it long enough and that I ought to try to stop taking it.  This seemed reasonable and I felt positive about trying this.  I tapered the dose to half a tablet a day as my doctor instructed, but on the third I had a very sudden panic attack followed by very serious depressed feelings, even feeling suicidal.  My husband and parents are all very supportive of me and after two days of living hell, they suggested I resume my normal dose.  I resumed this yesterday and am starting to feel slightly better.  I am very worried about having to explain all this to my GP. I feel that I do have a good relationship with my doctor, but when I have to explain my depression to professionals, I feel intensely humiliated and vulnerable.  I am very worried that he might feel I should have carried on through these symptoms and will refuse to prescribe me any more Seroxat.  I personally am quite happy to take this medication for many years to come and am not aware of any serious implications for long-term use.  Please could you offer me some advice on my situation and perhaps on how I should go about chatting to my GP?   Answer Firstly rest assured that there is nothing unusual in this situation, you have nothing to criticise yourself for, and you must not be afraid to tell your doctor what has happened.  Seroxat is well known for causing problems on withdrawal of treatment.  When a patient has been taking this medication for more than a few months, even small reductions in dosage can cause withdrawal symptoms.  These include;   Return of depression. Feelings of intense anxiety. Dizziness. Light-headedness. Vertigo.  Seroxat is a good drug and generally safe in long-term use, but these problems of stopping treatment are often encountered and are a drawback. You shouldn&amp;#039;t simply stay on the drug if you really don&amp;#039;t need it. It is better to live a normal life without taking medicines if you don&amp;#039;t have to.  Continue on one tablet a day until you are quite sure you are feeling ok again. This might be a couple of weeks or a couple of months.  Then you should try again to reduce the dose, but this must be done very slowly indeed, and may take three months or more to get off the medication altogether.  Start by taking three quarters of a tablet or just chipping a bit off the end. Do this for at least two weeks, maybe more, before making another small reduction.  Always stay on the next lower dose at least a couple of weeks before reducing again.  When you get to half a tablet a day you will know you are really making progress.  You should try and press on and wait for your system to get used to the lower dose if your symptoms are mild, but if they are troublesome, go back to the previous dose and stay on that until your are ready to try reducing again.  Don&amp;#039;t make yourself miserable doing this!  Once down to half a tablet, it is usually possible to tolerate one-quarter of a tablet quite soon, but from there on you may need to halve your one-fourth tablet for a while.  This may all sound a fuss, but it should mean you can get off the medication without trouble.  Good luck, don&amp;#039;t give up, and don&amp;#039;t despair. If you explain what has happened your GP will understand and help you through this, and keep your supply of Seroxat going for as long as you need it. 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