Posted by Dove on December 20, 2007, at 11:36:11
In reply to Re: Serzone (nefazadone) and 5HT2a question.. !!! » garyengelm, posted by amigan on December 19, 2007, at 20:31:07
The withdrawal syndrome from Serzone is no cake-walk. It may not be heroin (i.e. no euphoric effects) but it can be really difficult to quit taking. I would also caution against switching to or adding Effexor (Venlafaxine) if you are having problems withdrawing Serzone. For me personally, getting off of Effexor is much more trying than ramping down Serzone, but as always, your mileage may vary.
Trazodone is not a terrible idea, will be much more sedating and is a close match to Serzone to help with some of those withdrawal effects.
I would also consider adding a mood stabilzer to see if that helps, perhaps your whole system is getting too agitated from the anti-depressants.
What does your doctor think? Are they willing to test out a sedating anti-depressant and/or mood stabilzer? Do they think you are getting pre-seretonin syndrome or just getting agitated? There are many sedating ADs out there, even old-school Tricyclics (such as Amitriptyline) that can lessen the withdrawal effects along with dampening your anxiety, along with utilizing benzo's.
You have to decide which issue needs to be addressed first. Your depression, your severe anxiety or your withdrawal from Serzone. If you can't get off the Serzone or add any other med to help with the first two issues then you need to concentrate on removing the Serzone and deal with the anxiety with-drawal effects the best you can until that step is done.
You can essentially ramp up quick on a sedating ad (or low-dose Remeron) while withdrawing from the Serzone (I have done this--while also utilizing klonopin as needed). Spent two weeks in a drowsy fog but did get off both Serzone and Effexor using this method.
However, if you think all of this is connected to some sort of bipolar cycling, then you may need to visit the mood stabilizer and/or atypical anti-psychotic route to enable you to remove the Serzone.
poster:Dove
thread:801424
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071213/msgs/801745.html