Posted by seeknsolace on May 3, 2004, at 15:59:48
In reply to Re: relative efficacy of Effexor to the SSRIs » TanyaJean, posted by SLS on May 3, 2004, at 10:09:27
> Hi TJ.
>
> > Scott, are you a student or psychologist or teacher? I missed it if you've ever said.
>
> Car salesman. :-)
>
> That sounds so funny, but it's true. I was a straight A student through my sophomore year of college, where I was working on a biology major. At that point I could no longer read, learn, and remember. I had to quit. After that, I floundered from job to job. Not pretty, but not unique. There are so many stories like that here. I had such a passion for medicine. I had to give up on that calling once I realized that even if I were brought into remission, medication breakthrough relapse was almost a certainty with the stresses of medical school and internship. I couldn't afford to take that chance.
>
> I don't know how to account for the difficult time you had coming off of Effexor. It reminds me of what it felt like to discontinue Klonopin. But even that did not involve residual symptoms beyond one week. To come off of Effexor, I dosed myself as many times during the day as was necessary to stave off withdrawal symptoms. I would swallow a few grains here and a few grains there. I would purposely wait for symptoms of withdrawal to return and manifest briefly before taking a dose to alleviate them. It made sense to me intuitively that this would encourage the system to change by exposing it to the stimulus of withdrawal. I was able to go longer and longer periods of time before needing to dose again. To dose only once a day in the morning would not allow me to prevent a withdrawal syndrome from appearing by evening. I simply dosed whenever I needed to. I kind of did it by "feel". I know that I am susceptible to Effexor discontinuation withdrawal syndrome because I had to experience it several times prior to my using this flexible dosing schedule. I find that I can now get off of Ativan and Paxil the same way when necessary. I would like to think that this method of discontinuation would work for everyone, but I guess that is just wishful thinking. What you and some others describe as long-term residual effects of Effexor is scary. I don't know if a flexible dosing taper would prevent it.
>
>
> - ScottScott, I like car salesmen btw! :) What make/model cars do you sell (plz say imports!!) Hey you wanna buy my car and get me in something new?? What are pals for?? :)
poster:seeknsolace
thread:1016
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040429/msgs/342924.html