Posted by SusanG on February 15, 2002, at 13:37:59
In reply to Re: Effexor discontinuation » kimberly ann, posted by Elizabeth on February 15, 2002, at 8:47:28
Hi Elizabeth,
I think you have some good ideas about weaning off Effexor. I am almost off mine completely at this point and have gone through some hell but I think I am over the worst of it. Using the capsules and not being able to divide them was a problem for me. The nurse's suggestion to go every other day, then every third day just doesn't seem to make as much sense as a daily dose gradually lowered. Getting a blast (my capsules were 75 mg), then nothing, then a blast again can't the preferred way to go. But I am almost there and my symptoms of dizziness, random crying attacks, etc., have subsided and I hope they don't return. On to Wellbutrin in a week and I hope I find success with that.One more thought about the issue of weight gain. As others have said, I initally had no weight gain with Effexor XR but after about a month or so I started putting it on and ended up gaining about 25 pounds since November. NOT OK WITH ME! But I have noticed a pattern with my weight: when severely stressed and depressed I can't eat and my weight drops or stays down. When my stress/depression is lessened somewhat but not gone, I tend to eat too much as a coping mechanism and I gain. Maybe when I began to gain with Effexor it was because I was less depressed but not entirely ok and therefore went into Munch Mode. Maybe I really needed MORE Effexor to lessen the depression to the point that I don't eat to compensate. Who knows? I'm sure the fatigue I felt on Effexor also contributed to my decreased exercise which just exaserbated the weight issue. I will give Wellbutrin a try but I'm nervous about the earlier post stating that if one AD causes weight gain, it is likely that other AD's will as well.
poster:SusanG
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020215/msgs/94282.html