If you're deciding whether to taper your medications, definitely check out my earlier video on the why and how of medication tapering. This one is the next step: some concepts, resources, and supports to gather as you enter the decision-making process and start making preparations.
Think of this as the contemplative stage, where you've been assessing whether this is the right move and whether you have what it takes. You need your why, your how, and now some of the nitty-gritty of getting yourself established for tapering.
I offer support groups and 1:1 coaching for those going through withdrawal. If you’d like someone to walk with you through this season, I would love to meet with you. My withdrawal was brutal. I know how dark it can get. I also know how real healing is. I’m now in a place of joy, health, and full life, and I want to support you on your way there.
👉 Go here to see my calendar and register
Build Your Support Team First
The first thing, and I think one of the most important things, is support. You want to start gathering that before you begin.
What you need are people who believe you about tapering and medication withdrawal. People in your immediate life, your circles, who can support you through the process. Whether that's family members or friends, just assess: who do you have around you who cares, who's willing to understand, who will believe you?
Some people educate themselves. Some have been through it themselves. Some just hear what you share and get it. They're willing to be a cheerleader for you through the process.
It doesn't need to be a perfect support system. But it is important to have some people who are understanding, who know who you are, and who can be encouraging. That can look very different from person to person. Maybe it's someone across the country you can call on the phone, like a special aunt. Maybe it's a neighbor who's been through something similar. Maybe it's your mom or a sibling.
Think about the people you turn to when things are really hard. The people who are truly kind and understanding and have your back. Tell a couple of them about withdrawal, about what it means to get through medication withdrawal, and start building your support from there. It doesn't have to be complete. It's an ongoing process as you heal. But it helps to have something in place, especially for the people you live with and are closest to, so they believe you and can at least be understanding.
If You're Already Tapering Without Much Support
If you're already tapering and don't have that yet, it is not hopeless. That's actually what I did.
I was deep in withdrawal, and my taper was terrible, poorly managed for a lot of reasons. I literally went through my phone and asked, "Who do I know who's a supportive person? Who would understand or at least encourage me through this?"
I sorted everyone into two buckets for a while: people who can understand this and be supportive, and people who can't. I talked to the first group about what was going on, and I just didn't tell the others. That's how I managed without having established a support system at the beginning.
The benefit you have right now is that you're at the beginning of the process. You have a chance to build some of that support ahead of time. But even if you find yourself partway through and it still isn't enough, you can always reach out and find more support while you're going through it, even in a hard time.
For me, that looked like a couple of friends who were just willing to jump on a call and encourage me. Some understood withdrawal. Some didn't understand it at all. But they were willing to be in my corner and watch a video or two so they knew what was going on.
Letting people in on what you're going through, I know, is not something we naturally do. There's a lot of internal resistance to inviting others into the embarrassing or hard things. But I really encourage you to break through that and find your safe spaces. It can make such a difference to know that if the bottom falls out, you have someone you can call who will help ground you.
And just to know you're not alone, that it isn't all on your shoulders.
This is not your fault. You were medicated based on professional recommendations. That was how you were guided to best care for yourself. And now you're working to get free from that dependency, and that takes support, because it is hard.
I see it consistently: people with a support system have an enormously different experience in their healing process. Please don't resist reaching out to find that, even if it feels very out of the ordinary to call someone and say, "I am struggling, help me with my thoughts."
Groups and Withdrawal Buddies
Beyond your personal circle, you may also need support from people who've actually been through it.
This is where I'd encourage you to come to tapering groups, support call groups, and find withdrawal buddies. How much of this you need varies depending on how severe things are for you and where you are in the process. For some people, coming to a call once a month is enough to feel: okay, I'm not alone, I'm not crazy, I'm not the only person going through this. It answers some questions and really buoys you through a hard stretch. For others, weekly is what's needed, or having someone they can actually call.
Wherever you fall in that spectrum, try a group if you're needing more support. It gives you a chance to ask questions about withdrawal, to get support from someone who's been through it. I host one, and Angie Peacock hosts one too, and there may be others as well.
Support is a huge part of getting through any hard time. Think of any other kind of major life disruption, a medical injury, a car accident, having a child, a major life adjustment. Support makes a real difference in how healing goes.
Coping Strategies for Hard Waves
The next thing I'd encourage you to think through is coping strategies for distress.
Part of what happens when you taper is that you may feel feelings you've never experienced before, or at least not to that degree. That doesn't mean they're forever. Sometimes the duration is short. But you may have emotional or mental symptoms that hit unexpectedly: feeling really strange, really uncomfortable, really upset or angry, neuro-emotions, a lot of anxiety and fear, sudden waves of depression or anhedonia. Sometimes those come in like a wave where you're just suddenly in the middle of a symptom and you don't know how long it's going to last.
Coping strategies help you ride through that. Just because you're having the symptom doesn't mean it's going to last. A lot of this process is your body coming back online and learning to regulate itself. In the process, there can be some rocky waves and real discomfort.
Think through: what are my coping strategies when I'm really upset? You can develop and grow that list as you go, but spend some time now thinking about what you already have, and what you could add to your toolbox.
Some things are very simple. Going on a walk. Calling somebody. Listening to music. Journaling. Writing down positive things. Reminding yourself of why you're doing this. Reminding yourself of who you are and your purpose.
Think through what helps you feel calmed or grounded, or what helps you ride out discomfort while it's happening. Because at times tapering can be painful, and having something in your hands when a wave hits makes a real difference.
Lifestyle and Work Adjustments
It also helps to think through your lifestyle and what adjustments you might need to make while you're tapering.
Some people find they need to work less. Rest more. Think about your margins. What can you drop if you need to? Can you plan to reduce your schedule during a hard tapering week? What support systems or strategies do you have for that?
Concentration can get harder. Getting things done can take more out of you. Think through ways you can help yourself when you feel reduced in your productivity. Maybe you ask family to help with the kids. Maybe you treat it a little like having a few sick days and you save up some leave for when you really need it.
Some of the people I work with can manage through the workweek but hit a wall on the weekend. They just need to rest and sleep, and the kids go with dad, and that's okay. Tapering can feel something like having the flu, where you're just not 100%, you don't feel right, you're upset or emotional or can't focus the way you normally do.
The hope is that a very slow, hyperbolic taper reduces those effects as much as possible. But you can still feel the impact of a dose reduction for a while before you stabilize and feel more yourself again.
In that interim, it helps to think through your lifestyle, your margins, and your supports for riding out the effect on your functioning. Sometimes that means takeout. Sometimes it means frozen pizza. Just be aware coming into this that it can take its toll, even though your body can come through each wave and restore, and you can be more than okay on the other side.
It can be very trying to go through this process. I just want to give you some picture of how to prepare and be equipped for getting through it as smoothly as possible, with as much support as you can gather.