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For many reasons, you may want to go off a certain prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medication you take on a regular basis. Perhaps the medication causes unpleasant side effects or costs too much. Maybe you think you can manage without it.

Whatever the reason, you should always talk to your doctor before you stop taking any medication. Stopping medication suddenly on your own can cause serious medication withdrawal symptoms. Some of these are life-threatening.

Consulting your doctor can help you with safe medication discontinuation.

What Are the Risks of Suddenly Stopping Medication?

Your risks of quitting medications cold turkey depend on the medication you’re stopping.

Stopping medication abruptly can cause adverse drug withdrawal events (ADWEs). These include:

• Rebound effect — The condition the drugs were treating either comes back or gets worse.
• Withdrawal symptoms — Physical and mental health symptoms.

How Do I Talk to My Doctor About Stopping Medication?

Don’t be afraid to speak up about your medical care. Doctors understand there are many reasons you may want to stop taking your medication. They can help you find solutions to common reasons and help determine when stopping the medication entirely makes sense.

Here are some reasons why you may want to stop a medication and how doctors can help:

• You feel better, so you think you no longer need your medication — Often, you feel better because of the medications you take. Your doctor or pharmacist can review your medications and explain how each of them work for your specific health issues.
• You can’t afford your medication — If you’re on a brand name drug, doctors can often prescribe a generic version. These often cost much less but have the same active ingredients as the brand name drug. A social worker can also suggest financial assistance programs.
• Your medication causes unpleasant side effects — Your doctor can recommend ways to manage these side effects. Sometimes, lowering the dose can stop unwanted side effects.
• You get overwhelmed by all the medications you have to take — Your doctor can also review all the medications you take to see if they can de-prescribe any. They can help you stop medications you no longer need or have risks that outweigh their benefits.
• You can’t remember which medications to take and when to take them — Different tools can help you remember to take your medications as prescribed. There are low-cost, low-tech tools, such as pill boxes labeled with the day of the week and time of day. Smartphone apps can remind you when take your medication. Some pharmacies sell prepackaged pill packs.

How Can I Safely Stop Taking Medication?

Start by talking to your doctor about stopping the medication. They can check to see whether you can stop taking that medication suddenly or if you need to slowly taper off it.

Many factors go into the best tapering off method for your health. It’s not something you should do on your own. Your doctor will base your medication tapering plan on:

• Your medical history and current health.
• The type of medication.
• The dose and frequency of your medication.
• How long you’ve been on the medication.
• Established safe medication discontinuation guidelines for that particular medicine.

Tapering off medication looks different for different types of medications. Steps to taper off medication may include:

• Taking lower and lower doses over time until you reach the lowest dose before stopping. For example, reducing the dose by 5% to 20% every four weeks is common for opioid drugs.
• Taking fewer and fewer doses during the day.
• Taking a dose over fewer days each week (such as every other day).

Tapering off a medication can often take weeks or months. Taking about four to six weeks to discontinue a drug safely is common. Some drugs, such as long-term opioid therapy, may take years to taper off.

Your doctor can help you stop your medication in the safest way possible. They can also help you manage any withdrawal symptoms.