In medicine , tapering is the practice of gradually reducing the dosage of a medication to reduce or discontinue it. Generally, tapering is done is to avoid or minimize withdrawal symptoms that arise from neurobiological adaptation to the drug.[ 1] [ 2]
Prescribed psychotropic drugs that may require tapering due to this physical dependence include opioids ,[ 3] [ 4] [ 5] selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ,[ 6] antipsychotics ,[ 7] anticonvulsants ,[ 8] benzodiazepines .[ 9] [ 10]
^ Reidenberg, Marcus M. (2011-11-01). "Drug Discontinuation Effects Are Part of the Pharmacology of a Drug" . Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics . 339 (2): 324–328. doi :10.1124/jpet.111.183285 . ISSN 0022-3565 . PMC 3200000 PMID 21849624 . ^ Lerner, Alicja; Klein, Michael (2019-01-01). "Dependence, withdrawal and rebound of CNS drugs: an update and regulatory considerations for new drugs development" . Brain Communications . 1 (1): fcz025. doi :10.1093/braincomms/fcz025 . ISSN 2632-1297 . PMC 7425303 PMID 32954266 . ^ Dowell, Deborah; Haegerich, Tamara M.; Chou, Roger (2016). "CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain — United States, 2016" . MMWR. Recommendations and Reports . 65 (15): 1624–1645. doi :10.15585/mmwr.rr6501e1er . ISSN 1057-5987 . PMC 6390846 PMID 26977696 . ^ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pocket guide: tapering opioids for chronic pain. https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/pdf/clinical_pocket_guide_tapering-a.pdf . Accessed July 30, 2023.
^ Davis, Mellar P.; Digwood, Glen; Mehta, Zankhana; McPherson, Mary Lynn (2020). "Tapering opioids: a comprehensive qualitative review" . Annals of Palliative Medicine . 9 (2): 586–610. doi :10.21037/apm.2019.12.10 PMID 32008341 . ^ Horowitz, Mark Abie; Taylor, David (2019). "Tapering of SSRI treatment to mitigate withdrawal symptoms" . The Lancet Psychiatry . 6 (6): 538–546. doi :10.1016/s2215-0366(19)30032-x . ISSN 2215-0366 . PMID 30850328 . S2CID 73507008 . ^ Potla, Shanthi; Al Qabandi, Yousif; Nandula, Savitri Aninditha; Boddepalli, Chinmayi Sree; Gutlapalli, Sai Dheeraj; Lavu, Vamsi Krishna; Abdelwahab Mohamed Abdelwahab, Rana; Huang, Ruimin; Hamid, Pousette (2023-02-07). "A Systematic Review of the Need for Guideline Recommendations; Slow Tapering vs. Maintenance Dose in Long-Term Antipsychotic Treatment: 2022" . Cureus . 15 (2): e34746. doi :10.7759/cureus.34746 ISSN 2168-8184 . PMC 9904861 PMID 36777974 . ^ Schachter, Steven C. (2018). "Determining when to stop antiepileptic drug treatment" . Current Opinion in Neurology . 31 (2): 211–215. doi :10.1097/WCO.0000000000000530 . ISSN 1350-7540 . PMID 29324507 . S2CID 206124004 . ^ FDA. (2020). U.S. Food and Drug Administration FDA Requiring Boxed Warning Updated to Improve Safe Use of Benzodiazepine Drug Class Includes Potential for Abuse, Addiction, and Other Serious Risks.https://www.fda.gov/media/142368/download
^ Baandrup, Lone; Ebdrup, Bjørn H; Rasmussen, Jesper Ø; Lindschou, Jane; Gluud, Christian; Glenthøj, Birte Y (2018-03-15). Cochrane Drugs and Alcohol Group (ed.). "Pharmacological interventions for benzodiazepine discontinuation in chronic benzodiazepine users" . Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews . 2018 (3): CD011481. doi :10.1002/14651858.CD011481.pub2 . PMC 6513394 PMID 29543325 .