Posted by burnedout on December 4, 2003, at 11:02:07
In reply to Effexor Withdrawl Prozac, posted by cindyd on December 3, 2003, at 16:35:38
Cyndy
They don't tell you about the withdrawal--"discontinuation" horrors of Effexor.
I've been through it, including vists to the ER.
The docs have been told to generally take a person off over a two week period. That can be devastating.
I don't know about the other meds to help. If they do and won't hurt you--like Xanax might, then go for it. Anything to stop the pain is worth it. I was in such bad shape that I was loosing consiounsess because of the pain.
Now I'm left with the "eye/brain zaps (don't know if you had those), pain in the abdomen--diagnosed as IBS due to the Effexor and Tinnitus. The tinnitus I haven't been able to adjust to.When I called Wyeth they told me that the discontinuation effects ARE indeed real. (they are now publishing them in their package insert, whereas before, they didn't).
The lady told me that to try reducing the dose (I was on 75 mg for 4 weeks, then 150 mg for three days, before I wound up in the Emergency Room) by increments of 18.5 mg/day for about a week at a time, until you finally are off.
But even then you will probably still feel pretty bad.
The good news is, if you can make it past the 3rd day, then things slowly begin to get better. The bad new is, the third day of no Effexor is horrendous.I hope you succed. The info I gave you about the 18.5 mg, incremental tapering isn't published. But if your doctor wants to confirm it, he can call Wyeth or you can--tell them you want to report trouble with discontinuation and they will get you to someone who will ask and aswer your questions.
I think it's going to be a balance. Try to get off it as quickly as possible, and there will be discomfort. But don't do it so quickly that it turns into a nightmare.
There is also another drug that is commonly used in Canada/UK/Australia to help people get through the side effects, but I don't remember the name. It is a medicine that is given to chemotherapy patients to help them deal with the side effect of that treatment. You might want to look into that. They are reporting success with it.
Oh, to get to the 18.5 mg, you might have to break a capsule apart--I don't recal if they make an 18.5, but they may. If you have to break the capsule, which is not advisable, but maybe the only way to do it. If you do, divide the little grains up into a pile and take that. DO NOT CHECK or break the grainuals--they are time-release. If you break them, you may get all the medicine at once and that would be very bad.
Use caution & God bless.
poster:burnedout
thread:286301
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031202/msgs/286524.html