Posted by maribeth on October 11, 2001, at 14:24:39
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR? , posted by martha on January 22, 2000, at 16:07:05
> > I have been tapering off EFFEXOR XR for 2 months now and am stuck at 75 mg, down from my high dose of 600 mg. When I try to cut down to 37.5 mg, I get terrible nausea. My doctor says just to stay on the 75 mg to prevent the nausea, but I'm not crazy about that idea. Anyone have any better ideas?
> > > > Just stopped taking Effexor this past weekend. Effexor made a definite improvement in my life. Just decided it was time to row my own boat for awhile and see what happens. The situation which produced the need for an AD has been mostly resolved anyway. My wife currently takes Effexor and had tried nearly everything else with absolutely no success. If you stick with it and give it a fair trial you may quite pleased with the results. Have to say though that going off of Effexor makes the minor initial side effects seem pretty tame. I knew going in that getting off Effexor would not be fun, and it hasn't been, but the benefit to my life certainly outweighs what I am now dealing with. Hope it helps you.
> > >
> > > For anyone who is interested I only lasted 5 1/2 days after stopping Effexor. Just before stopping Effexor I had taken the last bit of Vicoprofen (hydrocodone) and that didn't help things. Also dealing with a stomach virus and I assumed that all of the nausea, cramps, etc. was due to virus. This AM I felt like I was on the verge of shutdown. No sleep, leg cramps, stomach horrible, head buzzing constantly plus all the rest. Then my wife and the doc talked me into at least taking med till he can devise a plan to lessen withdrawal effects. Does weaning off Effexor make it easier?
> new post:
> I had been on Effexor XL 187.5 mg daily, from Dec 1 this was 150 mg daily, then over three weeks Christmas holidays/New Year I reduced down to 0 mg. I have had some real mood swings, plus tiredness to the point of exhaustion, plus intense sudden bouts of irritability. But I have persevered and now, nearly 3 weeks after no Effexor, am holding my own. I still feel slowed down a bit mentally, not as sharp or articulate, a bit forgetful. But I had this on the Effexor, too. Same goes for the exahustion. I'm going to persevere "rowing my own boat" for a while longer, as long as I can. End of Jan. early Feb is almost always a time when I get one of two "biggie" depressions per year. How I manage of this period will be an important indicator to determine if I can manage off Ads altogether. I want to reduce or discontinue ADs so I can reduce or discontinue lithium, as I am concerned about my kidneys. I am peeing great quanitities of urine, not concentrated. Have been on lithium for 9 years and understand after about a decade, kidneys changes may be permanent. Any info or sharing of your experience gratefully accepted.- MarthaOf all the psycho active meds that I have taken over the past twenty years Effexor puzzles me the most. It works the best for depression and yet it is the most difficult to stop! My family doc said that he felt that every one that he saw who stopped taking it had a "lowered immune reaction"! I quickly gave him my opinion ( that it was withdrawal from the damn drug) of course he laughed. Fortunatly we have a good relationship so I did not hit him! My personal experience was to get down to 150mgm XR and after one week at that dose (after three years at 300XR,the "flu like stuff set in. Just to set things straight, I am an MD myself -- (research, semi-retired) I don't mean that this is anything special, but I DO know from wence I speak. WONDERFUL DRUG IF YOU DONT MIND TAKING IT FOREVER.
Maribeth
poster:maribeth
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011007/msgs/80989.html