#218 - Medication Deprescribing: Get Off This

Dr. Chris Winter explores deprescribing — the clinical movement around when and how to stop medications — and examines why some 'forever drugs' like blood pressure medication are culturally accepted while others, such as antidepressants and GLP-1 agonists, are moralized and stigmatized. He contrasts the evidence on antidepressant tapering, GLP-1 safety data, and the RLS story where dopamine agonists were downgraded by 2025 AASM guidelines due to drug-induced worsening of symptoms. The episode also notes the quiet cultural acceptance of hypersomnia medications as a revealing exception, and questions what actually determines whether long-term medication is seen as managing chronic disease or a personal failing.