Withdrawal from these medications can take months, and NICE says so
NICE's 2022 guideline says withdrawal 'can be difficult, and may take several months or more.'
Top of the evidence hierarchy, independently funded. how we score evidence
NICE guideline NG215 covers safe prescribing and managed withdrawal for five groups of medication: opioids, benzodiazepines, gabapentinoids, Z-drugs and antidepressants. It is the closest thing there is to an official answer on how coming off actually goes.
It states that withdrawal can be difficult and may take several months or more, that symptoms vary widely in type and severity, that they affect both physical and mental health, and that they can be delayed in onset and can persist. Two recommendations are worth quoting to a prescriber. Do not stop a medicine abruptly except in exceptional medical circumstances. And taper using a slow, stepwise reduction proportionate to the current dose, so the decrements get smaller as the dose gets lower — not a fixed cut each time.
That last detail is the one most commonly missed. Gabapentinoids are the exception in the guideline and are reduced by a fixed amount at each step.
Worth asking
Can we write the taper down, what size are the steps near the end, and how long do I hold at each step before the next reduction.
Source
Medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal symptoms: safe prescribing and withdrawal management for adults (NG215) — National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2022)
Regulator or national health body
How this was scored
- Study design
- National clinical guideline
- Funding
- No external funding
- Published in
- Regulator or national health body
- Sample size
- not recorded
- Preregistered
- No
- Conflicts disclosed
- Yes
- Independent of proponent
- Yes
- Retracted
- No
Read the full scoring rubric, including what it can't tell you.
Published August 5, 2026. Last verified August 19, 2026.
Questions
How strong is the evidence behind this?
Resolv rates this source "gold standard". Top of the evidence hierarchy, independently funded. It scores 88 out of 100 on our published rubric. The score is calculated from recorded facts about the source — study design, funding, publication venue, sample size, preregistration — not typed in by an editor.
What is the source for this?
Medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal symptoms: safe prescribing and withdrawal management for adults (NG215) — National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2022). Published in: Regulator or national health body. The full source is linked on this page so you can read it yourself.
Who paid for this research, and does that matter?
Study design: National clinical guideline. Funding: No external funding. The researchers were independent of whoever benefits from the result. Industry sponsorship is one of the most reliably measured biases in medicine, which is why funding carries real weight in the score rather than sitting in a footnote.
Is benzodiazepine, z_drug, gabapentinoid, ssri, snri, atypical_antidepressant, tricyclic, maoi FDA approved?
Yes — this medication carries FDA approval. Approval is always for a specific indication, not for every use it is prescribed for.
Is this medical advice?
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.