Posted by Marilyn on May 17, 2000, at 18:00:02
In reply to Re: effexor withdrawls, posted by Noa on October 13, 1999, at 17:37:59
I had been on Effexor at a high dose (225mg) for several years. It took me 3 months of gradual tapering to get off of it; yet I still suffered dizziness, weakness, and nightmare-type physical reactions during sleep (panic?). During the last week of tapering off, I added Prozac. (The idea was to switch from Effexor to Prozac, since the Effexor seemed to have stopped working.) I crashed quite quickly and the MD said to go back up on Effexor and continue with Prozac. Being on Effexor the second time around is horrible: if I don't take it every four hours I immediately get the wierd withdrawal dizzies, heartache and panic. I'm taking the extended release, which should last more than four hours! I'm really suffering, but the doc says keep it up and add more Prozac to the mix. I've been on anitdepressants of some kind for seven years; with short breaks when I've been blessed with hypomanic episodes (mostly harmless). As I get older it seems my depressions are more frequent and more severe, even tho' I'm medicated. THen I change medication and suffer through side effects etc. while waiting for it to work. I hate this life. I'm bipolar II and if anyone has a miracle cure please let me know.
poster:Marilyn
thread:10823
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000517/msgs/33809.html