Posted by TriedEveryMedication on March 3, 2018, at 2:38:48
In reply to Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs WARNING and update, posted by Mission7 on February 17, 2018, at 12:00:15
> A WARNING for those wanting to quit SSRIs: do it slowly.
>
> I wanted to quit EffexorXR for a handful of reasons, none of them pressing, I just thought it was time. So in the period between last Thanksgiving and the of January, I tapered off. I was aware of the electric jolts, the swooshing sound and other possible withdrawal symptoms. They were present, but not unmanageable and I was able to get Effexor free for over two weeks.
>
> Then, after a period of being completely off Effexor for about two weeks I started to get little crying spells here and there, which lead up to a panic attack and a complete meltdown. I was thrown into a massive depressive episode complete with oversleeping, unable to eat, horrible crying spells and almost a psychosis.
>
> I my panic, I able to stabilize myself with Lorazepam and decided to return to Effexor. The next couple of weeks were horrible as I walked around like a crying zombie. Finally, after that I started to come out of it and now, thank god, I'm OK.
>
> Thanks to a fellow poster, Lamdage22, I was turned on to SurvivingAntiDrepressants.org, where I read similar stories. There advice, and I concur, if you want off on AD quit SLOWLY!!! They recommend reducing your dose by 10% per month.
>
> Thanks for all you love.Effexor has a short half-life. My doc has me cross-taper with prozac which has a half-life of a couple weeks. I take the prozac one day instead of the effexor, then just stop taking the prozac. It fades out of your system slowly over a couple of weeks
It makes quitting effexor almost painless.
poster:TriedEveryMedication
thread:1097008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20180212/msgs/1097134.html