What is the rebound effect?
Many people who have been on a diet are familiar with the yo-yo effect: Once you have reached your dream weight and are eating normally again, the scales quickly tip over again. This phenomenon also occurs with medication: If a drug is taken over a long period of time and then abruptly discontinued, the problem it was used to treat can, in the worst case, return with a vengeance. However, the so-called rebound effect is usually only short-lived and can be avoided with a few tricks. With certain medications, however, it makes sense to phase them out over a longer period of time.
Why medication should be phased out
The effect can be reversed and the rebound effect can occur on a massive scale - prescription drugs such as high-dose painkillers or antidepressants can cause intense habituation effects and trigger withdrawal symptoms when discontinued. This can also happen with over-the-counter medicines. For example, decongestant nasal sprays with active ingredients such as oxymetazoline or xylometazoline can cause withdrawal symptoms after just one week.
If the spray is no longer used, the blood vessels swell even more. There are then several options: cold turkey, i.e. holding out until the mucous membranes have regenerated, or weaning off one nostril first and then the second. Increasing the intervals between sprays, on the other hand, unnecessarily prolongs the weaning process.
However, this so-called "tapering off" can be useful if, for example, the medication has increased the number of receptors and this should now decrease again, for example in the case of sleeping pills with ingredients such as benzodiazepines, beta-blockers (blood pressure reducers) and proton pump inhibitors (stomach protectors). A plan for reducing the dose should be drawn up with the doctor so that their effect does not turn into the opposite.
Rebound effect: why stopping antidepressants quickly is problematic
Antidepressants are among the most frequently prescribed medications in Western countries. If you want to stop taking them, you should always reduce the dose very slowly. This is because sudden withdrawal in particular can lead to an "acute withdrawal syndrome". Some symptoms are similar to the underlying illness, i.e. depression, with anxiety and suicidal thoughts, for example. However, completely different symptoms such as diarrhea or nerve sensations can also occur.