"Coming off anti-depressants"

I use the Stonebridge Centre to access my mental health services in Nottingham.  This might be called Nottingham Central or Nottingham East, but I'm not sure.

I wonder if our Trust could have a coming off anti-depressants service, and indeed coming off other medications that psychiatrists ask our gps to prescribe for us?

 I am having a dire time coming off Seroxat and have been trying for ages to come off by reducing the doses etc bit by bit.  I have had to find out all by myself how to do it, and as my bad luck would have it, what on earth all the physical feelings, and a host of other things I'm experiencing are all about and how to deal with them.  I would so value some help, and indeed someone assigned to me as a touch base, back up, and support when needed, person to help me through. It's a very lonely thing to tackle on my own.

In my case there is no medical imperative to come off.  I just would like to have a go at the anti-depressant free life, as I've been on anti-depressants since 1979 except for about 4 years within that time and feel I'd like to see if what I've learned about myself and the strategies I've learned to enable me to have a better quality of life can work for me.  I won't know this, unless I come off anti-depressants.  I never knew though how dire coming off would be!!

I realise that the Stonebridge Centre can't even offer a basic service for us to see a psychiatrist at the moment as the Locum Services aren't even available just now.  So that might be a factor for me.  I haven't seen a psychiatrist since the beginning of June 2017.  But even if I had, I don't think there's a coming off service that I could have been referred to.  So if the Trust could have one, it would benefit a lot of people.  I know a couple of people struggling with coming off, who do have a medical imperative to come off Lithium, as its long-term use has seriously damaged either their kidneys or liver, sorry can't remember which!  So it would help more than anti-depressant withdrawal.

Perhaps the Nottingham Mental Health Services could think about this for us.