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One way of talking about antidepressant withdrawal syndrome.I. Physical DependencePsychotropics in general, by nature of acting on the nervous system, have the potential to cause physical dependence with continuous use. This is about the drugs causing alterations to the nervous system, and is not depending on why someone is taking a drug or how they feel when using it. Even fetuses become dependent upon psychotropic drugs which they are exposed to through their mothers, and will experience the same kinds of withdrawal reactions as adult humans (or lab animals, for that matter) when the drug is cut off.The particular actions of a drug can impact how easily someone becomes physically dependent and what the ramifications of withdrawal are, but individual responses to drug use are so personal that the same drugs, doses, and lengths of use will not produce the same alterations and symptoms in everyone. Physical dependence is something required for addiction, but does not suggest someone is addicted to a drug — addiction conventionally requires psychological dependence, craving, and serious psychosocial impairment as well. Further discussion of the differences can be found in another answer: Mark Dunn's answer to Is Zoloft addictive?The central idea to grasp here is that antidepressant withdrawal syndrome is just withdrawal syndrome which was caused by antidepressant use rather than the use of other psychotropics. Alcohol withdrawal syndrome, opioid withdrawal syndrome, antipsychotic withdrawal syndrome, etc are all withdrawal syndromes and the listing of which drug or drug class is involved is a point of specificity rather than saying there is something fundamentally different going on beyond what symptoms are present and why. In short, withdrawal is withdrawal, so what makes something a withdrawal syndrome is not particular to any particular drug we might discuss as causing withdrawal.All withdrawal syndromes happen for the same overall reason: physical dependence upon a drug which leads to destabilization of the nervous system and a variety of other problems which can cause new or intensified symptoms if someone is no longer being exposed to sufficient quantities of the drug they have become dependent upon. Physical dependence usually develops over time, days or weeks of ongoing drug use. Withdrawal symptoms can occur with late doses and reduced doses and pharmacokinetically differing doses as well as with a full discontinuation of the drug. Individual cases depend on the details specific to those cases.II. Withdrawal: Core Symptoms“Withdrawal” is actually a somewhat messy collection of odds and ends which have only one thing completely in common: that they revolve around symptoms that spring up when someone tries to reduce or discontinue the drug that was causing the alterations which ultimately produced those symptoms. Many different kinds of mechanisms and dynamics can be involved, and so the average symptoms and severity and duration of a withdrawal syndrome can depend on the drug and situation we are looking at. Not all drugs have the same likelihood of certain symptoms, or certain levels of severity.It is not understood exactly how withdrawal ‘works’, or how to best categorize the various kinds of symptoms and their causes. We do know that the destabilization of the nervous system causes similar symptoms across all substances, because it is the same kind of phenomenon regardless of what kinds of drug mechanisms caused the physical dependence. Falling off a bicycle is falling off a bicycle no matter where you are riding it, analogously speaking. I refer to these as “core withdrawal symptoms” — symptoms which are shared by the withdrawal syndromes of most any psychotropic drugs.Those core symptoms include things such as: ‘flu-like symptoms’ (aches, fever, chills, weakness, physical sensitivities, etc), trouble with sleeping or dreaming, nausea and/or changes in appetite, lethargy or weakness or muscle issues, and emotional or other psychological changes (most commonly things like mood swings, anxiety/nervousness, and/or dysphoria). These kinds of symptoms will be seen on diagnostic rubrics for a wide range of different psychotropic drugs, as they can result from destabilization regardless of what caused that destabilization. They are not, however, the only symptoms involved in withdrawal as a concept or experience.III. Withdrawal: A Heterogeneous PhenomenonOther symptoms will be more specific to the kind of drug which was being taken. The way a drug acts and the alterations it causes during use, especially extended use, will be what shape the symptoms of trying to reduce or quit the drug. This can be a pretty hodgepodge collection of different kinds of medical issues and dynamics, and “discontinuation syndrome” (aka “withdrawal syndrome”, “abstinence syndrome”) has only loose boundaries because of the level of inclusiveness involved. Sometimes specific kinds of symptoms receive their own label, the best example probably being “rebound syndrome”.“Rebound syndrome” refers to symptoms created by a specific kind of drug mechanisms, usually when the drug is reduced or discontinued. Rebound effects do not actually require someone to otherwise be in withdrawal — such as experiencing the destabilization mentioned earlier. Rebound is about a drug causing changes in the body which result in an unintended intensity of particular actions when the drug influence is reduced or removed. Imagine pushing hard on a locked door and then falling forward when someone suddenly releases the latch.You would not have fallen if the door was always unlocked and you were able to push through with little effort, as anyone would when normally walking through a door of that sort. So, in the body, rebound can take many forms, depending on what sort of drug actions were involved. Antipsychotics can cause psychosis as a rebound reaction, benzodiazepines can cause anxiety, stimulants can cause fatigue, and so forth. Drugs acting outside of the central nervous system can also cause rebound phenomena, like proton pump inhibitor drugs causing rebound acid hypersecretion. Withdrawal can circumscribe many rebound reactions, but not all rebound reactions will be withdrawal.IV. AntidepressantsWhen bringing the discussion to antidepressants more specifically, there are two relevant issues to address. The first issue is how “antidepressant” is simply a marketing classification and imparts no inherent parameters as to what a drug looks like or does. So, the collection of drugs we refer to as “antidepressants” actually have a variety of differing mechanisms and effects, which means the withdrawal symptoms these drugs produce can differ significantly between individual products. The ‘core’ symptoms are shared, as brought up earlier, but the likelihood of particular other symptoms will vary by drug and by situation.The second issue to address is that “discontinuation syndrome”, while sometimes also a term used with other drugs, was primarily introduced to the public discussion of antidepressant withdrawal to mislead consumers and prescribers about the nature of the symptoms. Many people will think that “discontinuation syndrome” is NOT just another way of saying “withdrawal syndrome”, and think that it means antidepressants are less dangerous, or that the symptoms involved are less severe or serious. Properly acknowledging the riskiness of antidepressant cessation would harm sales.This rebranding became most prominent when SSRIs became superstars. Previous antidepressants — MAOIs, TCAs, and TeCAs, to cover the bulk — were foremost discussed as having “withdrawal” or “abstinence” syndromes rather than “discontinuation” syndromes. There are cultural factors at play in what terms are used, but a key point here is that SSRIs were marketed as lacking the same withdrawal risks as preceding antidepressants, and even today standard marketing dogma often claims that symptoms are always or almost always ‘brief’, ‘mild’, ‘self-limiting’, and prevented by tapering or drug reinstatement.Such a characterization is pure bullshit: all evidence so far suggests we need to take withdrawal from SSRIs and other later antidepressants a lot more seriously. As with any drugs, even drugs like alcohol which can sometimes land someone in the hospital or morgue if discontinuation is mismanaged, there will be patients who only have a mild and easy go of cessation. But, antidepressant withdrawal is not inherently short-lived, strictly mild, or lacking serious risks (disability, the need for emergency medical aid, permanent problems). Indeed, the majority of instances will not avoid one or more of those criteria, according to research.V. SymptomsIf your question was actually about what the symptoms of antidepressant withdrawal can be that would not be very well answered by the above sections and I thought it best to add some information about symptomology. It has already been explained that there are core symptoms one can anticipate, that individual drugs and antidepressant classes can have particular average profiles of symptoms, and that individual responses can vary regardless. But, what are all these symptoms, and how do antidepressant classes impact the average symptoms, severity, or duration of withdrawal?Unfortunately, strangely little research has been conducted into consolidating antidepressant withdrawal risks and creating a systematically evidenced projection of ranges for symptoms, severity, and duration. We are often assured by mainstream sources that there is little concern and that a bit of tapering should take care of everything, or that tapering isn’t even necessary. But, this contrasts the actual experiences of patients, and what we see when we do look at clinical trials and other studies measuring for withdrawal reactions. The mainstream dogma is based on wishful thinking and marketing, not evidence.I bring this up again because addressing the more specific aspects of symptomology as related to antidepressant classes and formulations is a somewhat tenuous endeavor. We lack the research to have robustly informative statistics on these matters. The easier thing to establish is a basic collection of the more commonly reported or noted symptoms. Trying to establish actual incidence, and why certain symptoms occur more often and when, requires a lot more data than we have available. Likewise, almost no systematic data exists on how long withdrawal tends to last, so claims are all over the map.We are talking about many dozens of potential symptoms, with some patients experiencing only one or a few and others experiencing many. Of course, some symptoms, like nausea, will be much more common than others, like rhabdomyolysis. It isn’t always that the more common symptoms are less serious — some of the most disabling or troubling symptoms can be very common. Many symptoms can themselves be mild, moderate, or severe and thus patients experiencing a symptom will not all have the same amount of difficulty with it. Below I have listed many useful examples of antidepressant withdrawal symptoms, as classified under general, somewhat flexible categories..NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL:Part 1: Mood, Psychological State, Mental Experiences, and BehaviorWorsened mood, low mood, dysphoria, depressionCrying spells or tearfulnessMood swingsElevated mood, euphoria or elation, feeling "high"Mania and/or hypomaniaImpulsiveness, disrupted decisionmakingAnxiety, nervousness, tenseness, hyperarousalPanic, panic attacksAgitation, restlessness, hyperactivityIrritability, emotional sensitivity, unusually intense or unprovoked emotionsAggressiveness, violent thoughts or expressionsSuicidal or homicidal thoughts, impulses, or attemptsDissociation, such as depersonalization or derealizationPsychosis, or subsets of symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, or paranoia.Part 2: Neurocognitive and Neurofunctional (Thinking, Expressing, Experiencing)Low energy (fatigue, lethargy, malaise)SomnolenceHeadache, "buzzing" in brain, or similar phenomenaTrouble concentrating, thinking, or communicatingConfusion, disorientationAmnesia, forgetfulness, or other memory difficultiesSpeech problems, such as slurred speech, difficulty completing sentences, word reversalsExcessive salivation, droolingInsomnia, trouble sleeping, disturbed sleepDreaming issues, such as excessive dreaming, abnormally intense or vivid dreams, nightmares or abnormally violent dreams.NON-MOOD SYMPTOMS:Part 1: 'Flu-like symptoms'Aches, pains, sorenessFever, flushingSweatingTemperature intoleranceChills or shiveringRunny noseSore eyesFatigue, lethargy, tirednessWeakness.Part 2: Gastrointestinal concernsNauseaChanges in appetite and/or dietary preferencesLoss of appetite, difficulty eatingVomiting or refluxDiarrhea, loose stoolAbdominal pain, cramping, or tendernessBloating.Part 3: NeuromuscularMuscle cramps, spasms, twitchesMuscle stiffness, tension, or rigidityExtrapyramidal symtoms/movement disordersTremor, trembling, jitteriness, or shakingRestlessness (including akathisia), restless body parts (such as restless legs)Involuntary muscle twitching, jerks, or relaxation (sometimes grouped as "myoclonus"), jerkinessMuscle aches or pains (myalgias)Unsteady gait, reduced or compromised coordination, ataxia (loss of muscle coordination).Part 4: CardiovascularChest painDyspnea (also phrased 'shortness of breath', 'gasping for air')TachycardiaEdema (swelling).Part 5: Sensory AbnormalitiesNumbness, burning, or tingling (often grouped as 'parasthesias', or more specific things like "facial numbness" or "neuralgias")ItchinessElectric zap-like sensations in the brain ("brain zaps") or bodyChanges in vision quality or responsiveness, blurry visionStrange visual experiences (eg light, colors, geometric shapes), hallucinations, light trailsRinging or other noises in the ears (eg tinnitus, "whooshing" sounds)Altered taste responsesAbnormal smells or tastesUnusual sensitivity to sensations (light, sound, tastes, smells, etc).Part 6: Difficulties OrientingDizziness, light-headedness, vertigoSpinning, swaying, or floating sensationsHung over or waterlogged feelingDisequilibriumMotion sickness.Part 7: SexualProblems with libido, arousal, erections, lubrication, orgasmPremature ejaculation, genital hypersensitivityGenital numbness or pain, persistent genital arousal disorder.This non-comprehensive sampling draws almost exclusively on peer-reviewed journal articles, examples of which I have linked below. Also linked are two of the best-known antidepressant withdrawal checklists, the first (the DESS — discontinuation emergent signs and symptoms) being created from clinical trials and case reports and the second (Dr Glenmullen’s) also supplementing with practical experience and expertise.http://hulpgids.nl/assets/files/pdf/DESS.pdfDr. Joseph Glenmullen's withdrawal symptom checklisthttp://apt.rcpsych.org/content/aptrcpsych/13/6/447.full.pdfAntidepressant Discontinuation Syndromehttps://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/371865More resources about antidepressant withdrawal, including symptoms, management, and finding help, can be found at links like the ones I list next:Guides and PapersDr. Shipko's Informed Consent for SSRI Antidepressants - Kindle edition by Stuart Shipko M.D.. Health, Fitness & Dieting Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. (pay only, sadly)Important topics in the Tapering forum and FAQInner Compass Initiative

There are dozens upon dozens of potential symptoms.No two patients will necessarily experience the same symptoms, or the same number of symptoms, symptom severity, or duration of withdrawal, even when quitting the same dose of the same drug after the same length of use. Withdrawal reactions are particular to each individual and are influenced by a variety of factors, some personal and some situational. Though we can discuss long lists of symptoms which some patients experiences, the particular set of symptoms any given individual will encounter is not predictable and not guaranteed. How someone reacts to tapering, and what speed of taper is required, will also differ.Some symptoms are more commonly occurring than others, and some drugs are more likely to cause certain withdrawal effects than are others even though they are all considered ‘antidepressants’. So, there is a statistical pattern we can speak of, or at least one we could talk about if systematic research was done into discontinuation experiences — which it largely has not been. We have only a preliminary and imperfect understanding of general symptom incidence, and an even poorer understanding of how long withdrawal usually lasts. It remains unclear exactly why some people have a much harder time quitting, as well.Below I have amended a previous answer on this topic originally posted here: Mark Dunn's answer to What is “antidepressant discontinuation syndrome”? It discusses a bit about what withdrawal is, how we might organize symptoms, and finishes off with a list of some of the most-reported or best-known antidepressant withdrawal symptoms as gathered from research, expert input, official withdrawal monitoring guidelines, and withdrawal management communities. The list is not at all comprehensive, but should provide a decent impression of many of the things patients face.What it is like to actually go through withdrawal is not itself communicated, do note. The human experience of these symptoms and how they can impact daily life and the things important to use — relationships, careers, recreation, etc — are not really made clear. This post is also not an explanation of how to best address drug reductions or discontinuations, or to manage withdrawal symptoms already occurring. The end of this post features links to other resources which can help patients, friends or family, caregivers, and professionals work through concerns related to symptoms arising from antidepressant reductions, changes, and discontinuations.I. Physical DependencePsychotropics in general, by nature of acting on the nervous system, have the potential to cause physical dependence with continuous use. This is about the drugs causing alterations to the nervous system, and is not depending on why someone is taking a drug or how they feel when using it. Even fetuses become dependent upon psychotropic drugs which they are exposed to through their mothers, and will experience the same kinds of withdrawal reactions as adult humans (or lab animals, for that matter) when the drug is cut off.The particular actions of a drug can impact how easily someone becomes physically dependent and what the ramifications of withdrawal are, but individual responses to drug use are so personal that the same drugs, doses, and lengths of use will not produce the same alterations and symptoms in everyone. Physical dependence is something required for addiction, but does not suggest someone is addicted to a drug — addiction conventionally requires psychological dependence, craving, and serious psychosocial impairment as well. Further discussion of the differences can be found in another answer: Mark Dunn's answer to Is Zoloft addictive?The central idea to grasp here is that antidepressant withdrawal syndrome is just withdrawal syndrome which was caused by antidepressant use rather than the use of other psychotropics. Alcohol withdrawal syndrome, opioid withdrawal syndrome, antipsychotic withdrawal syndrome, etc are all withdrawal syndromes and the listing of which drug or drug class is involved is a point of specificity rather than saying there is something fundamentally different going on beyond what symptoms are present and why. In short, withdrawal is withdrawal, so what makes something a withdrawal syndrome is not particular to any particular drug we might discuss as causing withdrawal.All withdrawal syndromes happen for the same overall reason: physical dependence upon a drug which leads to destabilization of the nervous system and a variety of other problems which can cause new or intensified symptoms if someone is no longer being exposed to sufficient quantities of the drug they have become dependent upon. Physical dependence usually develops over time, days or weeks of ongoing drug use. Withdrawal symptoms can occur with late doses and reduced doses and pharmacokinetically differing doses as well as with a full discontinuation of the drug. Individual cases depend on the details specific to those cases.II. Withdrawal: Core Symptoms“Withdrawal” is actually a somewhat messy collection of odds and ends which have only one thing completely in common: that they revolve around symptoms that spring up when someone tries to reduce or discontinue the drug that was causing the alterations which ultimately produced those symptoms. Many different kinds of mechanisms and dynamics can be involved, and so the average symptoms and severity and duration of a withdrawal syndrome can depend on the drug and situation we are looking at. Not all drugs have the same likelihood of certain symptoms, or certain levels of severity.It is not understood exactly how withdrawal ‘works’, or how to best categorize the various kinds of symptoms and their causes. We do know that the destabilization of the nervous system causes similar symptoms across all substances, because it is the same kind of phenomenon regardless of what kinds of drug mechanisms caused the physical dependence. Falling off a bicycle is falling off a bicycle no matter where you are riding it, analogously speaking. I refer to these as “core withdrawal symptoms” — symptoms which are shared by the withdrawal syndromes of most any psychotropic drugs.Those core symptoms include things such as: ‘flu-like symptoms’ (aches, fever, chills, weakness, physical sensitivities, etc), trouble with sleeping or dreaming, nausea and/or changes in appetite, lethargy or weakness or muscle issues, and emotional or other psychological changes (most commonly things like mood swings, anxiety/nervousness, and/or dysphoria). These kinds of symptoms will be seen on diagnostic rubrics for a wide range of different psychotropic drugs, as they can result from destabilization regardless of what caused that destabilization. They are not, however, the only symptoms involved in withdrawal as a concept or experience.III. Withdrawal: A Heterogeneous PhenomenonOther symptoms will be more specific to the kind of drug which was being taken. The way a drug acts and the alterations it causes during use, especially extended use, will be what shape the symptoms of trying to reduce or quit the drug. This can be a pretty hodgepodge collection of different kinds of medical issues and dynamics, and “discontinuation syndrome” (aka “withdrawal syndrome”, “abstinence syndrome”) has only loose boundaries because of the level of inclusiveness involved. Sometimes specific kinds of symptoms receive their own label, the best example probably being “rebound syndrome”.“Rebound syndrome” refers to symptoms created by a specific kind of drug mechanisms, usually when the drug is reduced or discontinued. Rebound effects do not actually require someone to otherwise be in withdrawal — such as experiencing the destabilization mentioned earlier. Rebound is about a drug causing changes in the body which result in an unintended intensity of particular actions when the drug influence is reduced or removed. Imagine pushing hard on a locked door and then falling forward when someone suddenly releases the latch.You would not have fallen if the door was always unlocked and you were able to push through with little effort, as anyone would when normally walking through a door of that sort. So, in the body, rebound can take many forms, depending on what sort of drug actions were involved. Antipsychotics can cause psychosis as a rebound reaction, benzodiazepines can cause anxiety, stimulants can cause fatigue, and so forth. Drugs acting outside of the central nervous system can also cause rebound phenomena, like proton pump inhibitor drugs causing rebound acid hypersecretion. Withdrawal can circumscribe many rebound reactions, but not all rebound reactions will be withdrawal.IV. AntidepressantsWhen bringing the discussion to antidepressants more specifically, there are two relevant issues to address. The first issue is how “antidepressant” is simply a marketing classification and imparts no inherent parameters as to what a drug looks like or does. So, the collection of drugs we refer to as “antidepressants” actually have a variety of differing mechanisms and effects, which means the withdrawal symptoms these drugs produce can differ significantly between individual products. The ‘core’ symptoms are shared, as brought up earlier, but the likelihood of particular other symptoms will vary by drug and by situation.The second issue to address is that “discontinuation syndrome”, while sometimes also a term used with other drugs, was primarily introduced to the public discussion of antidepressant withdrawal to mislead consumers and prescribers about the nature of the symptoms. Many people will think that “discontinuation syndrome” is NOT just another way of saying “withdrawal syndrome”, and think that it means antidepressants are less dangerous, or that the symptoms involved are less severe or serious. Properly acknowledging the riskiness of antidepressant cessation would harm sales.This rebranding became most prominent when SSRIs became superstars. Previous antidepressants — MAOIs, TCAs, and TeCAs, to cover the bulk — were foremost discussed as having “withdrawal” or “abstinence” syndromes rather than “discontinuation” syndromes. There are cultural factors at play in what terms are used, but a key point here is that SSRIs were marketed as lacking the same withdrawal risks as preceding antidepressants, and even today standard marketing dogma often claims that symptoms are always or almost always ‘brief’, ‘mild’, ‘self-limiting’, and prevented by tapering or drug reinstatement.Such a characterization is pure bullshit: all evidence so far suggests we need to take withdrawal from SSRIs and other later antidepressants a lot more seriously. As with any drugs, even drugs like alcohol which can sometimes land someone in the hospital or morgue if discontinuation is mismanaged, there will be patients who only have a mild and easy go of cessation. But, antidepressant withdrawal is not inherently short-lived, strictly mild, or lacking serious risks (disability, the need for emergency medical aid, permanent problems). Indeed, the majority of instances will not avoid one or more of those criteria, according to research.V. SymptomsI know this has taken quite a while to get to your central query about the symptomology of withdrawal, but the context provided above is part of what allows the list below to make proper sense. It has already been explained that there are core symptoms one can anticipate, that individual drugs and antidepressant classes can have particular average profiles of symptoms, and that individual responses can vary regardless. But, what are all these symptoms, and how do antidepressant classes impact the average symptoms, severity, or duration of withdrawal?Unfortunately, strangely little research has been conducted into consolidating antidepressant withdrawal risks and creating a systematically evidenced projection of ranges for symptoms, severity, and duration. We are often assured by mainstream sources that there is little concern and that a bit of tapering should take care of everything, or that tapering isn’t even necessary. But, this contrasts the actual experiences of patients, and what we see when we do look at clinical trials and other studies measuring for withdrawal reactions. The mainstream dogma is based on wishful thinking and marketing, not evidence.I bring this up again because addressing the more specific aspects of symptomology as related to antidepressant classes and formulations is a somewhat tenuous endeavor. We lack the research to have robustly informative statistics on these matters. The easier thing to establish is a basic collection of the more commonly reported or noted symptoms. Trying to establish actual incidence, and why certain symptoms occur more often and when, requires a lot more data than we have available. Likewise, almost no systematic data exists on how long withdrawal tends to last, so claims are all over the map.We are talking about many dozens of potential symptoms, with some patients experiencing only one or a few and others experiencing many. Of course, some symptoms, like nausea, will be much more common than others, like rhabdomyolysis. It isn’t always that the more common symptoms are less serious — some of the most disabling or troubling symptoms can be very common. Many symptoms can themselves be mild, moderate, or severe and thus patients experiencing a symptom will not all have the same amount of difficulty with it. Below I have listed many useful examples of antidepressant withdrawal symptoms, as classified under general, somewhat flexible categories..NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL:Part 1: Mood, Psychological State, Mental Experiences, and BehaviorWorsened mood, low mood, dysphoria, depressionCrying spells or tearfulnessMood swingsElevated mood, euphoria or elation, feeling "high"Mania and/or hypomaniaImpulsiveness, disrupted decisionmakingAnxiety, nervousness, tenseness, hyperarousalPanic, panic attacksAgitation, restlessness, hyperactivityIrritability, emotional sensitivity, unusually intense or unprovoked emotionsAggressiveness, violent thoughts or expressionsSuicidal or homicidal thoughts, impulses, or attemptsDissociation, such as depersonalization or derealizationPsychosis, or subsets of symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, or paranoia.Part 2: Neurocognitive and Neurofunctional (Thinking, Expressing, Experiencing)Low energy (fatigue, lethargy, malaise)SomnolenceHeadache, "buzzing" in brain, or similar phenomenaTrouble concentrating, thinking, or communicatingConfusion, disorientationAmnesia, forgetfulness, or other memory difficultiesSpeech problems, such as slurred speech, difficulty completing sentences, word reversalsExcessive salivation, droolingInsomnia, trouble sleeping, disturbed sleepDreaming issues, such as excessive dreaming, abnormally intense or vivid dreams, nightmares or abnormally violent dreams.NON-MOOD SYMPTOMS:Part 1: 'Flu-like Symptoms'Aches, pains, sorenessFever, flushingSweatingTemperature intoleranceChills or shiveringRunny noseSore eyesFatigue, lethargy, tirednessWeakness.Part 2: Gastrointestinal ConcernsNauseaChanges in appetite and/or dietary preferencesLoss of appetite, difficulty eatingVomiting or refluxDiarrhea, loose stoolAbdominal pain, cramping, or tendernessBloating.Part 3: NeuromuscularMuscle cramps, spasms, twitchesMuscle stiffness, tension, or rigidityExtrapyramidal symtoms/movement disordersTremor, trembling, jitteriness, or shakingRestlessness (including akathisia), restless body parts (such as restless legs)Involuntary muscle twitching, jerks, or relaxation (sometimes grouped as "myoclonus"), jerkinessMuscle aches or pains (myalgias)Unsteady gait, reduced or compromised coordination, ataxia (loss of muscle coordination).Part 4: CardiovascularChest painDyspnea (also phrased 'shortness of breath', 'gasping for air')TachycardiaEdema (swelling).Part 5: Sensory AbnormalitiesNumbness, burning, or tingling (often grouped as 'parasthesias', or more specific things like "facial numbness" or "neuralgias")ItchinessElectric zap-like sensations in the brain ("brain zaps") or bodyChanges in vision quality or responsiveness, blurry visionStrange visual experiences (eg light, colors, geometric shapes), hallucinations, light trailsRinging or other noises in the ears (eg tinnitus, "whooshing" sounds)Altered taste responsesAbnormal smells or tastesUnusual sensitivity to sensations (light, sound, tastes, smells, etc).Part 6: Difficulties OrientingDizziness, light-headedness, vertigoSpinning, swaying, or floating sensationsHung over or waterlogged feelingDisequilibriumMotion sickness.Part 7: SexualProblems with libido, arousal, erections, lubrication, orgasmPremature ejaculation, genital hypersensitivityGenital numbness or pain, persistent genital arousal disorder.This non-comprehensive sampling draws almost exclusively on peer-reviewed journal articles, examples of which I have linked below. Also linked are two of the best-known antidepressant withdrawal checklists, the first (the DESS — discontinuation emergent signs and symptoms) being created from clinical trials and case reports and the second (Dr Glenmullen’s) also supplementing with practical experience and expertise.http://hulpgids.nl/assets/files/pdf/DESS.pdfDr. Joseph Glenmullen's withdrawal symptom checklisthttp://apt.rcpsych.org/content/aptrcpsych/13/6/447.full.pdfAntidepressant Discontinuation SyndromeNew Classification of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor WithdrawalVI. Additional ResourcesMore resources about antidepressant withdrawal, including symptoms, management, and finding help, can be found at the links below. These are no substitute for personalized professional consultation, but most patients struggle to find a professional who offers the level of education, expertise, and experience that would best help them make it through an antidepressant discontinuation. Much responsibility is on the patient to learn how to make good management decisions, and to evaluate the quality of input being received from professionals.Quora posts:Mark Dunn's answer to Is there a protocol to stop Prozac, or can someone just quit taking it anytime?Mark Dunn's answer to What are some sertraline/Zoloft withdrawal tips?Community spaces:Important topics in the Tapering forum and FAQArticle-based resources:Inner Compass Initiativehttp://beyondmeds.com/withdrawal-101/Guides:http://www.willhall.net/files/ComingOffPsychDrugsHarmReductGuide2Edonline.pdfGuides and Papers

How to Write a Microbiology Lab ReportCo-authored by Bess Ruff, MALast Updated: October 4, 2019 References ApprovedWhether you’re studying microbiology in high school or as a college student, you’ll need to write a number of lab reports. The lab-report genre does have several sections you’ll need to meet in your report, which include: a Purpose Statement, Methods, Results, a Discussion or Conclusion, and References. Depending on your instructor's preferences, your report may also include an introduction. Scientific writing should always focus on concision and clarity. Write your lab report without any flowery or figurative language, and focus on clearly describing the experiment you’ve performed.Part 1Using Clear Scientific Writing1 Write the lab report in the passive voice. Science writing focuses on presenting data and results and should use clear language with no ambiguity. Lab reports should describe the experiments and methods in an objective manner which any other researchers could follow exactly. Using the passive voice lets science writers highlight the mechanics and data results of an experiment.[2] So, instead of writing, “I used plastic pipettes to fill the beakers with 25 mL of water,” write “The beakers were filled with 25 mL of water using plastic pipettes.” Use as few pronouns as possible when writing your lab report. Pronouns to avoid using include “I,” “we,” and “they.”2 Compose the majority of the lab report using the past tense. Most sections of the lab report should be written in the past tense since it describes scientific work that has already been completed. The Methods and Results sections especially should be written in the past tense.[3] For instance, instead of saying, "The results prove the hypothesis is correct," say, "The results of the experiment proved the hypothesis was correct." The Introduction is one of the few parts of the lab report which can be written in the present tense.3 Review the lab-report rubric before you start writing. Each instructor at your institution may have a different set of standards for grading, so it’s essential to understand how you will be evaluated on your report. Check through the rubric to find out the exact specifications that your instructor has requested regarding length, formatting, margins, font type and size, and writing style. For example, an instructor may: Add/subtract/merge certain structural elements of a report. Grade one part of a report more heavily than another. Require reports to be typed, using a specific font and size. Require reports to be handwritten in a research notebook.Part 2Composing the Introduction and Purpose Statement1 Write an Introduction only if your instructor requests one. Most microbiology lab reports do not have an Introduction and begin with the Purpose section. However, if your instructor does request an Introduction, it should not exceed 4-6 sentences. Concisely explain the nature of your experiment, the findings you reached, and why the experiment was important.[4] For example, your Introduction could begin, “In this laboratory experiment, the ability of a lab microscope to differentiate between different species of single-cell organisms was tested.” Methods and Results should all be written in the past tense, since you’ll be summarizing actions that you’ve already performed as part of the lab.2 Include your purpose and hypothesis in the Purpose section. An effective Purpose Statement should clearly explain the main objective of the experiment. Depending on the specific lab, the purpose may be to practice or learn a new technique or test, or to evaluate a characteristic of a microorganism.[5] In the Purpose section you should also include background information about the experiment, including the reason that you’re performing the experiment. This information can be found in the lab manual or related microbiology textbook. For example, begin your Purpose statement by writing something like, “In this lab experiment, 3 different types of bacteria were separated using a nutrient agar plate.”3 State your hypothesis at the end of the Purpose section. A hypothesis is an educated guess about the outcome that you expect to reach by conducting the experiment. Use the last 1 or 2 sentences of your Purpose section to state the outcome that you expected before beginning the experiment.[6] For example, write: “The initial hypothesis suggested that the bacteria in group 1 would outnumber bacteria in groups 2 and 3 by a rate of 5:1.” Finally, the Purpose section should state, but not extrapolate on, all techniques or tests used in the experiment. Keep things cursory here, though, since you’ll give detailed information about the techniques and methods used in the Methods section.Part 3Writing the Methods and Results Sections1 State the materials you used in the experiment in the Methods section. This information should open the Methods section. The majority of this information will be provided by your lab manual or given by your instructor. Don’t use bullet points. Write out full sentences which clearly state the materials necessary to perform the experiment.[7] If you used an unknown microorganism in the experiment, record the number, letter, or identifying characteristic of the microorganism. Also state: The type of agar (if agar was used). The type of microorganism used (if the organism types were known beforehand). The size of all test tubes, beakers, calipers, and any other type of science equipment. For example, the materials description could include a sentence like: “Five 50-mL beakers were used to contain the water and single-celled organisms. The water was applied to microscope slides using 1-mL plastic pipettes.”2 Describe the steps performed during the experiment in the Methods section. This is the core of the Methods section. The Methods section should be written in enough detail that another researcher could replicate the experiment using your Methods as a guide.[8] So, if the procedure for the experiment is found in your lab manual, summarize the steps in this section. Your instructor may require you to do this in a paragraph or a list form. If your instructor deviated from the original experiment, make adjustments as needed. For example, write something like, “After a plastic pipette was used to place the single-celled organisms on the center of microscope slides, a slide cover was placed over each water sample. Organisms were then identified through the microscope using 50x and 100x magnification.”3 Record your results using specific data measurements in the Results section. The Results section needs to be detailed and should explicitly refer back to your hypothesis and explain whether the experiment confirmed or disproved the hypothesis. This is also the section in which you should include all data acquired from the experiment. These data should be presented in standard metric units: mm, cm, m, g, mg, etc.[9] However, do not interpret the scientific data in the Results section. Only interpret data in the Discussion section. For example, write something like, “When the microscope was set to 100x magnification, single-celled organisms that were at least 0.25 mm smaller or larger than the surrounding organisms could be identified.”4 Focus the Results on trends and phenomena you were asked to test. Keep your Results focused on the central question of the lab experiment, and write down the relevant differences and unique characteristics that you noticed while performing the experiment. Be as specific as possible, and do not describe scientific phenomena unrelated to microbiological science.[10] For example, if a bacteria that you were asked to observe had consistent physical traits, describe these in the Results section. Write something like, “The reactions of single-celled organisms to different water temperatures and chemical additives were noted. It was noted that, as less-diluted chemicals were added, the organisms acted in increasingly unpredictable ways.”5 Include figures and tables in the Results section if your instructor requested them. Not all lab reports need to have figures and tables. However, these can be effective ways to present large amounts of data in a condensed amount of space. Tables and figures should be numbered sequentially and should have clearly labeled x- and y-axes.[11] Figures and tables should also be mentioned and explained in the main text of your Results section.Part 4Putting Together the Discussion and References Sections1 Interpret and contextualize your data findings in the Discussion section. Explain your results and observations in detail in this section. Narrate how all of the data you generated fit together, and explain how you arrived at your specific interpretation of the data. If the data can be interpreted in more than a single way, account for the other way(s) in which data can be interpreted. Explain why you chose 1 interpretation over another. Also state if you have fulfilled the purpose of the experiment.[12] The Discussion section is usually the most important section of the lab report. It shows that you’ve understood the experiment you just performed and are able to engage with the scientific implications. For example, write, “The amoebas were observed displaying consistent behavior throughout the observation period. The data suggests that the organisms were unable to detect the variety of chemicals that were added to different water samples, which the amoebas were then suspended in.”2 Explain whether the results supported or disproved your hypothesis in the Discussion section. Remember that you don’t need to feel like you failed the lab if the results didn’t support your hypothesis. Scientific hypotheses are routinely disproven by experiments at every level of science. But, engage critically and objectively with your findings even if the results weren’t what you expected.[13] You could state something as simple as, “The results disproved the initial hypothesis, which failed to account for the similar sizes and colors of many of the single-celled organisms that were identified.” If your results do not support your hypothesis, ask questions like, was there any error during the experiment? Did you miss a step in the experiment? Did you use proper techniques? Were your results accurate?3 Reference all sourced material in a References or Bibliography section. Include references to any and all documents or texts that you used to construct your report; this may need to include the lab manual. In a bibliography, you’ll need to include full, correct citations for any academic scholarship, literature reviews, or studies that you consulted when making your lab report. The bibliography should be the last section in your lab report.[14] If you should include a References section instead of a Bibliography, you’ll only need to include citation information for sources that were cited in the lab report. Ask your instructor which citation style you should use when compiling your Bibliography. For example, most microbiology TAs will ask you to use Chicago style. Most lab reports have short Bibliographies, since very few lab reports cite more than 1 or 2 sources (if any).Source: How to Write a Microbiology Lab Report