Posted by burnedout on December 21, 2003, at 13:30:22
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR? » Rev. J., posted by Salty_Dog on December 21, 2003, at 0:38:34
To find the possible side effects of Effexor & the discontinuation effects go to www.effexor.com
Look at both the info the consumer and the info for the doctors. Near the bottom of most pages there is a list of "some" of the effects of withdrawal or even lowering the dose.
I have been off it for over a year now. I still have Tinnitus which started during withdrawal, my B.P. went from 120/70 to 170/120. Now it's at 150/110 so I guess that's good. The "sensory sensations" they are talking about is electrical shocks when you move your eyes.
During the withdrawal phase, it was happening all the time, now only when I awake.
It feels sort of like putting your tounge on a fully-charged 9-volt or one of the heavy duty headlight batteries.
Just the other night the sound in my ears kept me awake. I took a hypnotic to try and knock me out. It did for an hour. When I awoke, I went to get something else to try to calm me down. During that time, I counted 27 "brain/eye zaps."
They stop you right in your track.
You wouldn't know what the warning about "sensory perception--electical like," means unless it can happens to you. And the tinnintus is maddening.The withdrawal effects are now finally being adressed. They even say if you've been one it just one week, you need to taper off.
They have a schedule for tapering: 75 mg/d for 4 days, see how you do, try another 75, until off. This may work for some but not all if you get into trouble, you'll know it right away & you'r doc had better interrupt whatever he is doing and attend to you--otherwise, your liable to wind up in the ER.
Wyeth say that if your take it for more than 5 weeks, the .75 mg/reduction/x4days is only a guide--that the individual needs to be closely monitore and the taper adjusted to the individual.I hope you make it through with little discomfort. just at the first sign of some of the withdrawal affects listed, you need to go back to where you were, stabalize and start over.
For me, during withdrawal, it was shaking, sweating so heavily that my blue-jeans were soake, falling over, passing out from pain, the electrical zaps, the tinnitus and many more.
In fact we (my doc & I) counted something like 52 things that went wrong all at once.But I made it through.
Again, whatever you do. DO NOT STOP TAKING IT ALL AT ONCE. --what can be the result of that? Death.
poster:burnedout
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031219/msgs/292145.html