Posted by ccb on October 7, 2004, at 9:22:26
In reply to Re: Snake: How long does withdrawal last?, posted by Petranella on September 28, 2004, at 14:20:59
I was on effexor 75 mg for about 5 years. I had the capsules. My doctor advised me to go down the the 37 mg capsules for a week, then take one every other day for another week. I got the brain zaps and my world was constantly spinning.
I ended up pulling open the capsules and taking the "dots" inside. There are about 200 dots in each 75 mg capsule. I started taking 195 dots per day for a week, then went down to 190 per day for a week, etc. When I got to the lower number of dots each day (80 or so) I had to slow down the weaning, taking 79 for a couple of weeks, then 78 for a couple of weeks... you get the idea. If the brain zaps or dizziness returned, I would bump the dose back up to my previous dose and wait another week or so before I tried to reduce the number of dots again.
It is a long process, but it worked for me. When I got down to 4 dots per day, I was able to stop all together. I had a little dizziness, but nothing I couldn't handle. Finally, I was free of effexor!!!
I have been off the medicine for about 2 months now and feel good. I'm no longer an effexor zombie. You can do it!!! Just go slow and steady. I know 9 months seems like a long time, but just remember your end goal, and that it can be done. Good Luck!
> I've been on 150mg Effexor for approx 6 years - for anxiety (one episode after giving up smoking - no one told me about the side effects of withdrawl then). I'm always tired and have no motivation and would really love to get off these awful tablets. First time I tried was cold turkey (felt awful) and was back on them in a couple of days. Have tried to go down to 75mg, but that brings the withdrawl symptons back with the those horrible `brain shimmers' . Can anyone advise what is the best reduction method. I have heard that you can go onto liquid Prozac and this helps to reduce the dosage really slowly. Any ideas.
poster:ccb
thread:1016
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041007/msgs/399927.html