Posted by KaraS on July 3, 2005, at 10:26:52
In reply to Rediculous anti-depression medications (EffexorXR), posted by Doom Behemoth on July 2, 2005, at 17:28:02
I think medication can help but it's often hard to find the right medication for someone. But if you really want to get off of Effexor, you can do it with a minimal of problems. I did it and many others here have too. This is what you need to do:
decrease very slowly and substitute an SSRI medication (or anything that will increase serotonin) at some point before you go off of the Effexor. Prozac is the best drug for this because it's long acting. You'd probably only need one or two days of taking 10 mg. of Prozac.
I decreased Effexor VERY slowly including fractions of a pill. By the time I went off of the last sliver of a pill, I started getting wicked withdrawal symptoms. Had those for two days until I took a low dose of another serotonergic medication for a few days. The symptoms stopped completely. When I stopped the other medication, I had NO withdrawal symptoms. I can't promise you no withdrawal symptoms but, if you have any, they will be greatly reduced.
I won't bore you with the details of why this works but it is based on real science. I'm sure this post will get diverted to the withdrawal board here but there you'd get to hear from others who have used this method successfully.
Good luck!
Kara
poster:KaraS
thread:522630
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050702/msgs/522882.html