Posted by Althea8869 on January 28, 2004, at 22:40:17
In reply to Re: Effexor withdrawal, posted by Vasterling on January 28, 2004, at 21:33:50
I have been following many of the different threads on this site and learned much from the posts - so first a quick thanks for the info. It is a strangely cathartic process to learn of other struggles that are indeed very similar to mine.
With regard to effexor I can tell you that its withdrawl is worse than any other drug that I have ever tried - in no small part because of its relatively short half life.
Here are some reccomendations that may help some of you - though make no mistake - the ride is extended and it is difficult - but is does end.
One excellent recommendation that was given to me was to reduce the effexor to a relatively low dose (rather quickly) and then introduce prozac(low dose) to the mix. Continue this for about two weeks and then dump the effexor rapidly (3 days) continuing with the prozac for another week and then titrate off the prozac quickly thereafter. At this point you may want to introduce low level benzo (klono works well) for another couple weeks. The idea here is simply to replace the Effexor with a similarly acting agent that has a very long half life(prozac) that makes for far less withdawl (in most). A few other suggestions: DHA from algea (aka neuromins) - laugh all you want those of you against "supplements", but the top pharmacologists at harvard, mit and Mass General believe this drug could well become the single most important "brain" supplement ever discovered. The research is out there (plenty of it in fact) you could call any one of a number of the doctors at Mass General Psychiatry and ask them for info. It is a specialized formation of the popular Omega 3 supplement, but is derived directly from algea using a very special patented technology. Almost all Omega 3 supplements come from fish oil. Getting it from algea improves its efficacy by as much as 500%. Another excellent supplement that is helpful is Inositol powder (must be pure).Hope all this helps. All i can tell you is that the withdrawl from Effexor @300mg per day was the single most awful experience of my life. It felt somtimes like my eyes and my head were completely disconnected - many of you know just what I am talking about. The "brain shocks" became almost constant during the first four or five days. But the bottom line here- and I hope you walk away with, if nothing else, this: its does end - though many of the symptoms you were talking the Effexor for may return, they are nothing in comparison to the protracted withrawl from effexor. There should be far more serious warnings about effexor withdrawl for those considering it - all this despite the fact that Effexor for many people proves very succussful.
Good luck to all of you and thank you again for your honesty.
poster:Althea8869
thread:1016
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040127/msgs/306722.html