Outro Health | Safely Taper Off Antidepressants

Medication,
meet Outro

With an Outro Health membership you’ll be equipped with the guidance, support, and tools you need to confidently reduce your reliance on medication and transition to your next chapter of mental well-being.

AM I A CANDIDATE?

Personalized Tapering Plan

Our evidence-based, hyperbolic tapering plans are matched to your medication history and continually adjusted, based on your symptoms and feedback.

Typical medication sizes are too large for safe tapering, so we prescribe custom doses help to you work towards your goal, at your own pace.

Proactive Symptom Monitoring

We want to know how you are doing, as often as you need. Log your symptoms and progress with us, and we’ll reach out to offer coping strategies and adapt our care accordingly.

Rest assured that your progress and symptoms are continuously monitored by a team with a deep understanding of the ups and downs.

Appointments & Unlimited Messaging

A proper taper requires continuous care, on your terms. Your dedicated Nurse Practitioner is always just a message away.

Via video, we meet you monthly to understand your progress, help you stay on track, and adjust your dose when the time is right.

Holistic Approaches to Mental Health

We understand that building holistic and sustainable approaches to our mental wellness is difficult to do on our own.

We help you gradually replace your medication with non-drug approaches to mental well-being so you can feel confident embarking on your next chapter.

Psychotherapeutic Support

For members who'd like some extra support, we offer affordable packages with therapists specially-trained in antidepressant discontinuation and relapse risk prevention.

Therapeutic techniques like Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) have been shown to help prevent depression relapse, better than medication.¹

AM I A CANDIDATE?

EARLY ACCESS MEMBERSHIPS
START at $99/month

LEARN more

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Outro for?

Outro is for people 18 years and older who are currently taking an antidepressant medication and thinking about decreasing or stopping the medication altogether.
Outro’s services are currently not available for people in certain situations or with certain conditions. These include (but are not limited to) people who:

Have active and serious substance abuse issues
Have been diagnosed with dementia
Have been diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder
Have been hospitalized for bipolar disorder in the past
Have attempted to end their life in the past 12 months
Are actively suicidal or in crisis

To see if you are a candidate for Outro’s services, click “Get Started” to answer a brief questionnaire. Your responses to our questionnaire are not actively monitored by Outro. If you are in a life-threatening situation, call 911 or the National Suicide Prevention Line at +1-833-456-4566, or go to the nearest emergency room.

Why should I work with Outro if I want to stop my antidepressants?

‍Antidepressant discontinuation is a serious process that demands specialized knowledge and attention. Our methods minimize the main risks of stopping: disruptive withdrawal symptoms or relapse, which cause many people to go back on their medications.

Grounded in first-hand experience and the latest scientific evidence, Outro's care team provides the personalized guidance and support that members need to graduate from their time on antidepressants, and onto a path of sustainable mental well-being.

Why can’t I just quit my antidepressant?

Going cold turkey (stopping in one day) is not a good idea! Why? Because the quicker you stop your antidepressant the more severe your withdrawal symptoms are likely to be, and the higher the likelihood that you’ll need to go back on your medication.

Sometimes these symptoms can be so unpleasant that they interfere with your ability to work or carry on normal social activities. Sometimes severe withdrawal symptoms can be very disruptive or even lead to hospitalization.

Tapering (stopping slowly in small steps) is therefore highly recommended to minimize the risks of these issues.

What is hyperbolic tapering?

Hyperbolic tapering (sometimes called the Horowitz-Taylor method)¹ is based on the fact that as antidepressant dose goes up, drug action on brain cells increases, but not in equal steps, higher dosages having less and less additional influence – a decreasing return on investment. The graph showing this is called a hyperbolic curve (goes up faster at low doses and flatter at higher doses).

Tapering based on this method gradually backs you out of the drug with reductions following this natural curve, with the size of dose reduction getting smaller as the dosage gets lower. As very low doses (e.g. 1 or 2mg) have much larger effects than people expect, many people need to taper down to very small doses before stopping so that the final ‘jump’ to zero is not too large a shock to the nervous system.

These very low doses are difficult to make up with commonly available tablets, so Outro recommends compounding pharmacies to make these options available.

1. Horowitz MA, Taylor D. Tapering of SSRI treatment to mitigate withdrawal symptoms. The Lancet Psychiatry. 2019;6(6):538-546.

How is Outro different from working with another provider?

‍Safe antidepressant deprescribing requires a comprehensive approach that is often difficult for an individual prescriber to provide, due to the time required. It also requires up-to-date knowledge on the latest techniques in tapering antidepressants that are not yet widely taught in North America. Think of Outro as a specialist in tapering.

At Outro, we walk with you every step of the way. Our specialized, high-touch care team takes time to get to know you and your goals, and provides an advanced, individualized approach to tapering off antidepressants informed by the latest guidance and clinical evidence. Through Outro’s app, your symptoms and progress are continuously monitored by your Provider, who can reach out to offer coping strategies or adapt your care plan accordingly. If you have questions or concerns that arise in between appointments, your Outro provider is available via 1-to-1 chat.

Do I need a referral to Outro from my primary care provider?

You do not need a referral from your primary doctor or healthcare provider to work with Outro. However, with your permission we may reach out to your primary care provider for more information on your medical history, or to keep your primary doctor informed of your medical progress if you decide to subscribe to Outro.

How do I get started?

To get going, click "Get Started" and complete the free self-assessment to see if you might be a fit. If you are eligible, you'll be able to book a free screening call with our care team, for the final stamp of approval to start your journey.

If you'd like to speak with someone first, feel free to book a free Discovery Call with our team.

Once you're onboarded into the program, your dedicated nurse practitioner will take care of everything you need to begin tapering your medication, from custom prescriptions, to educational content, to symptom monitoring. Ready to go?

SEE ALL FAQs

Expert support for stopping your antidepressants

Expert support
for stopping your antidepressants

Bring your mental health full circle

A care team in your pocket

Medication,
meet Outro

A QUICK GUIDE TO GETTING STARTED

OUR TEAM HAS BEEN FEATURED in

World-leading experts

Our People

LEARN more

Frequently Asked Questions

Take the first step toward your life, after medication.

Expert support for stopping your antidepressants

Expert supportfor stopping your antidepressants

Bring your mental health full circle

A care team in your pocket

Medication, meet Outro

A QUICK GUIDE TO GETTING STARTED

OUR TEAM HAS BEEN FEATURED in

World-leading experts

Our People

LEARN more

Frequently Asked Questions

Take the first step toward your life, after medication.

Stay in the loop

Expert support
for stopping your antidepressants

Medication,
meet Outro