Posted by PG on August 27, 2000, at 8:52:08
The 20/20 show on anti-depressant withdrawal came at a very appropriate time for me. I had been trying for four days to renew my Effexor XR prescription, but with no luck. (It takes a day for my doc's secy to get back to me, then she asks me to call the pharmacy so the pharmacy can call them back to get the prescription, but the pharmacy says they never got the message, etc. etc.). After two days off the Effexor, I started feeling most of the same symptoms that have already been described here. I won't go into it. But if it weren't for the 20/20 report, I probably never would have known for certain that it was withdrawal I was going through.
The show got me thinking and then looking for an internet site to learn what I can from other people in my situation--I'm not getting the info I need from my doc.
I am taking 450mg Effexor XR every day (for the last four months). I was on Zoloft for years until it started losing its effectiveness around January. My GP started me with 75mg and then 150mg, but because it wasn't working, he referred me to a psychiatrist, who bumped me up to 300, and then 450mg. Now he wants me to start taking 45mg Remeron in addition at bedtime. Everything I read says that the max dose for Effexor is 300mg, but the typical dose is 75 to 150. Having experienced just a few days of withdrawal symptons, I'm scared of getting any more deeply into this pharmaceutical black hole.
Does anybody have any experience with this high a dosage and/or combining the two drugs? Does a higher dose mean more severe withdrawal? How do these two drugs combine? My doc says that Remeron makes the Effexor 40x more effective (Anybody ever see that in print?).
If anyone has information or experience with this, I'd appreciate it.
I still find it hard to believe that so many of us are finding out that our miracle cures really were too good to be true.
Paul
poster:PG
thread:43823
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000822/msgs/43823.html