Many people can just stop taking their Prozac without any untoward side effects. I was able to do this when I was pregnant. I was able to do this when I was pregnant. However, some people do experience side effects of stopping Prozac cold turkey, and they can range from mild to severe. Hello flybytic. No. I would strongly suggest tapering, even though prozac has a long halflife. Meaning it will remain in your system a fairly long time, before it leaves your body. Any Questions? Please leave them below I have been taking fluoxetine for approximately 1.5 years. I was taking it for Panic disorder, OCD, and Depression. Never stop cold turkey. In many cases, the best way to stop taking most antidepressants is to slowly cut back your dose under the guidance of your doctor. This is called tapering. Tapering helps. I was advised to stop in cold turkey and the withdrawal was horrible, i was put on prozac to help with the withdrawal and was told this would be much easier to come off. I took it for 11 years as they lied and it wasn’t easier to come off at all it just took longer for the withdrawal to kick in. No words could do justice to the horror i experienced after coming off prozac. 16 months later. generally going cold-turkey on any med can have really negative results, so it might very well be related. however, 20mg is a relatively low dose, so there is not so much danger of extremely bad symptoms. still, it's common knowledge that you shouldn't just stop taking something as soon as you feel you don't need it anymore. the way to do it is. generally going cold-turkey on any med can have really negative results, so it might very well be related. however, 20mg is a relatively low dose, so there is not so much danger of extremely bad symptoms. still, it's common knowledge that you shouldn't just stop taking something as soon as you feel you don't need it anymore. the way to do it is to gradually lower the dose. Don’t stop taking your antidepressant medication. According to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, pregnant women who have untreated or poorly treated psychiatric health problems. The longer a drug’s half-life - the time it takes for half the amount of drug in the body to be eliminated - the less likely it is to cause withdrawal problems.