Posted by Cam W. on August 9, 2001, at 21:40:48
In reply to Want to get off Effexor XR, posted by rmshed on August 9, 2001, at 19:22:37
Beckie - I seriously wouldn't stop Effexor without the help of your doctor. You are going to need 37.5mg capsules of Effexor to do it properly. Also, you need the doc to monitor your progress coming off of it.
That being said, there are still a few options open to you. Some of those sympton will go away, if your doctor raises your dose to 150mg. The antidepressant/antianxiety effects SSRIs plateau at a certain dosage, whereas the effects of Effexor continue to increase with increasing in dosage. At 75mg, Effexor is acting mainly as an SSRI; at 150mg to 300mg Effexor blocks the reuptake of both serotonin and norepinephrine; and over 450mg (and very slightly at 300mg) dopamine reuptake begins to be blocked.
Perhaps you need to increase the dose, rather than go off of the med. Since your doc is out of town, it is best to keep the status quo. Besides, many people have side effect for 12 to 16 weeks. At the 300mg dose, it felt like I had a ball of fuzzy stuck to the inside left frontal part of my skull, but that just disappeared after 4 months.
Hang in there a while longer, at least until you can talk to your doc who can either help you quit, or increase the dose. The side effects may come back with each dose increase, but they are a little different and do not last as long as this first round.
I hope that this is of some help. - Cam
poster:Cam W.
thread:74374
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010809/msgs/74387.html