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Vilazodone Tapering

This entry was posted in Antidepressant on by .
Medically Reviewed Fact Checked

Last Updated on August 8, 2022 by Carol Gillette

Alternative to Meds Editorial Team
Medically Reviewed by Dr Samuel Lee MD

Vilazodone tapering, weaning, and titration programs are available at Alternative to Meds Center. We can provide the best opportunity for you or your loved one to regain a fresh outlook, experience renewed energy, and benefit from a reduction or elimination of the symptoms that may have led to starting antidepressant medication in the first place.

Getting off vilazodone (sold as Viibryd) does not have to be arduous when done properly. Trying to quit vilazodone or similar types of drugs on your own may not be the best option to choose. We can help.

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Antidepressant Medications Often Under-Deliver

Some have said that antidepressants are possibly over-prescribed and yet, for many, these drugs notoriously under-deliver when it comes to reducing symptoms, especially over the long term. In fact, a study published in the World Journal of Biological Psychology found that 68% of patients do not respond to the first antidepressant drug administered. Consequentially, some patients, perhaps the majority, go on to try multiple other drugs to try and find relief. When antidepressants under-deliver it is the patient that is too often targeted with a new label, “treatment resistant.”1 It can feel like a debilitating and frustrating series of failures. This may resonate with your or your loved one’s experience, and if so, perhaps you will be interested in hearing about more positive outcomes concerning vilazodone tapering and help for reducing or eliminating unwanted symptoms as well.

Vilazodone Tapering at Alternative to Meds Center

vilazodone tapering sedona arizonaFor persons who are searching how to get off vilazodone or other medications using safe and comfortable methods, we would like you to know that Alternative to Meds Center has been providing this service to its clients for nearly 2 decades now, with resounding success. For anyone who is considering trying to quit vilazodone, we recommend not to do so on your own. If inpatient treatment is not possible at least seek professional help to ensure you are receiving the best in guidance and care. In our estimation, we are unsurpassed in the quality of care we deliver, and the attention we place on client comfort and safety throughout the process of stopping vilazodone, and other antidepressant drugs.

Clients in the inpatient vilazodone tapering program receive the benefits of holistic, drug-free therapies that are designed to not only reduce the discomforts that can accompany tapering from vilazodone but therapies that are designed to target and resolve actual root causes for the person’s original symptoms. Commonly these original symptoms included depression, perhaps insomnia, and often anxiety. We are excited to be able to offer these services to our clients who are seeking natural mental health alternative treatments that support the process of how to get off vilazodone gently and as comfortably as possible.

Causes of Depression, Known and Unknown

Some sources claim that 20% of the global population has suffered a “common mental illness” in the last 12 months and that 32% say they have had a common mental illness during their lifetime. Depression is one of the most common diagnoses in modern-day medicine.1

A label is not the same as a cure. Perhaps more can be known about the causes of such a common phenomenon throughout the population on planet earth.

Clinical studies show certain factors linked to depression that include:
  1. Accumulations of toxins in the body include heavy metals, pesticides, cleaning compounds, lead in paint, preservatives in foods, cosmetics, and a plethora of additional sources.2,3
  2. Nutritional deficiencies include vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients that may not be provided sufficiently in the modern diet.4
  3. Lack of sunlight, exercise, and other lifestyle factors.5
  4. Overconsumption of sugar and refined carbohydrates, recreational marijuana, and alcohol.6
  5. A compromised (dysfunctional) intestinal microbiome can lead to psychiatric symptoms.7
  6. and many other treatable, potential root causes of mental distress.

vilazodone depressionWe understand well that depression feels intolerable, and can be especially unsettling when it lingers over time and becomes intense enough to impact heavily on a person’s day-to-day ability to function well in life. We also understand the depression, grief, and sadness that follows a loss of a loved one, an unexpected job loss, or other trauma that is hard to immediately rise above. Life is unpredictable. Sometimes the book of life contains tragic chapters. These are undeniable, observable facts about how we perceive and respond to the very reality of living.

However, there are likely many things to consider, things not yet completely understood about the full range of things that can lead to depression. In much of the last two or three decades, there has been perhaps less attention on investigative and curative methods, compared with too much attention given to numbing agents dressed up as medicine. If that seems too strong a statement, consider this quote from Dr. Kelly Brogan in her 2016 New York Times bestselling book entitled “A Mind of Your Own — The Truth About Depression And How Women Can Heal Their Bodies to Reclaim Their Lives,” in which she states,

“I find it outrageous that drug companies can use any number of tactics to establish efficacy, including the suppression of data, and then use those tactics to legitimize long-term prescribing with no thought or attention to the real side effects over time. We’ve arrived at a place in psychiatry’s abuse of antidepressants where we have a half-baked theory in a vacuum of science that the pharmaceutical industry raced to fill. We have the illusion of short-term efficacy and assumptions about long-term safety. The potential emerging side effects are nothing short of horrifying, from suppressed libido and sexual dysfunction, abnormal bleeding, insomnia, migraine, weight gain, and blood sugar imbalances to the risk of violent, irrational behavior and suicide.”

Some might consider those to be surprisingly strong words coming from a leading American mainstream doctor, but her perspective is informed by treating many patients whose experiences have left Dr. Brody with a healthy dose of skepticism when it comes to being too quick to treat depression with antidepressant drugs.

Tapering Vilazodone Safely, With 24/7 Care and Attention

During a client’s program at Alternative to Meds Center for gradually stopping vilazodone, the person will receive ongoing testing to monitor progress and understand the changes that are occurring during the client’s withdrawal from vilazodone. This is key so that micro-changes to the client’s program can be administered for continued progress in a comfortable, tolerable way while getting off vilazodone. Withdrawal from vilazodone can be made much more tolerable with such supports in place. Trying to quit vilazodone or other drugs without such support can be near to impossible to tolerate. But, it doesn’t have to be so hard.

vilazodone tapering alternativesMany therapeutic services are readily on hand at the Alternative to Meds Center program for vilazodone cessation, such as therapeutic massage, craniosacral therapy, sauna, mineral and foot baths, acupuncture, acupressure, yoga, meditation, life coaching, trauma counseling, stress counseling, and a deliciously prepared menu of snacks and meals that consist of mostly organic, chemical-free, locally sourced foods. The diet is also free of sugar and caffeine. All of these nutritional aids and other therapies are designed to help ease the process of stopping vilazodone and other medications, that otherwise can be so very difficult to manage on one’s own.

If you have been looking for the best ways how to quit vilazodone or other prescription drugs, you may find the program at Alternative to Meds Center is the best option for you or your loved one.

We invite you to find out more about the benefits of therapies we use in our programs that are directed toward attaining bettered mental health naturally. Our focus is on using methods that do not rely on prescription drugs, but instead, searching for root causes and treating them with an appropriate therapeutic toolset. Our program for stopping vilazodone can, importantly, supply the missing links in diagnostic testing and treatment. Discovering precipitating factors that are then authentically addressed can truly open the door to improved mental and physical health, vibrant energy, and improved well-being. A vilazodone tapering program at Alternative to Meds Center goes far beyond the benefits of coming off antidepressants. Contact us today for more information.


1. Dodd S, Bauer M, Carvalho AF, Eyre H, Fava M, Kasper S, Kennedy SH, Khoo JP, Lopez Jaramillo C, Malhi GS, McIntyre RS, Mitchell PB, Castro AMP, Ratheesh A, Severus E, Suppes T, Trivedi MH, Thase ME, Yatham LN, Young AH, Berk M. A clinical approach to treatment resistance in depressed patients: What to do when the usual treatments don’t work well enough? World J Biol Psychiatry. 2021 Sep;22(7):483-494. doi: 10.1080/15622975.2020.1851052. Epub 2020 Dec 8. PMID: 33289425. [cited 2022 July 20]

2. Dembert M, “Occupational Chemical Exposures and Psychiatric Disorders.” Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 9 Issue 1 [INTERNET] 1992 Jan [cited 2022 July 20]

3. Orisakwe OE. The role of lead and cadmium in psychiatry. N Am J Med Sci. 2014 Aug;6(8):370-6. doi: 10.4103/1947-2714.139283. PMID: 25210669; PMCID: PMC4158644. [cited 2022 July 20]

4. Bremner JD, Moazzami K, Wittbrodt MT, Nye JA, Lima BB, Gillespie CF, Rapaport MH, Pearce BD, Shah AJ, Vaccarino V. Diet, Stress and Mental Health. Nutrients. 2020 Aug 13;12(8):2428. doi: 10.3390/nu12082428. PMID: 32823562; PMCID: PMC7468813. [cited 2022 July 20]

5. Schuch FB, Vancampfort D. Physical activity, exercise, and mental disorders: it is time to move on. Trends Psychiatry Psychother. 2021 Jul-Sep;43(3):177-184. doi: 10.47626/2237-6089-2021-0237. Epub 2021 Apr 21. PMID: 33890431; PMCID: PMC8638711. [cited 2022 July 20]

6. Lev-Ran S, Roerecke M, Le Foll B, George TP, McKenzie K, Rehm J. The association between cannabis use and depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychol Med. 2014 Mar;44(4):797-810. doi: 10.1017/S0033291713001438. PMID: 23795762. [cited 2022 July 20]

7. Appleton J. The Gut-Brain Axis: Influence of Microbiota on Mood and Mental Health. Integr Med (Encinitas). 2018 Aug;17(4):28-32. PMID: 31043907; PMCID: PMC6469458. [cited 2022 July 20]


Originally Published Nov 3, 2019 by Lyle Murphy


This content has been reviewed and approved by a licensed physician.

Dr. Samuel Lee

Dr. Samuel Lee is a board-certified psychiatrist, specializing in a spiritually-based mental health discipline and integrative approaches. He graduated with an MD at Loma Linda University School of Medicine and did a residency in psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. He has also been an inpatient adult psychiatrist at Kaweah Delta Mental Health Hospital and the primary attending geriatric psychiatrist at the Auerbach Inpatient Psychiatric Jewish Home Hospital. In addition, he served as the general adult outpatient psychiatrist at Kaiser Permanente.  He is board-certified in psychiatry and neurology and has a B.A. Magna Cum Laude in Religion from Pacific Union College. His specialty is in natural healing techniques that promote the body’s innate ability to heal itself.

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Vilazodone Tapering
Medical Disclaimer:
Nothing on this Website is intended to be taken as medical advice. The information provided on the website is intended to encourage, not replace, direct patient-health professional relationships. Always consult with your doctor before altering your medications. Adding nutritional supplements may alter the effect of medication. Any medication changes should be done only after proper evaluation and under medical supervision.

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