Posted by ZeKingPrawn on January 5, 2002, at 17:33:57
In reply to Effexor XR cold turkey, posted by jammy on December 18, 2001, at 21:40:14
Cold turkey is definitely not the way with Effex. It has to do with the half-life of the drug and needs to be stopped GRADUALLY. You have or will figure that out. Side effects will continue until all traces of the drug have been eliminated, which could be up to a month. My last dose was three days ago of 12.5 mg, and I was having mild side effects so I took another. I have been taking it for around two years, 300mg a day. I tried prozac before that and that sucked. I went from being chronically sad (though friends would NEVER have guessed) and moreover, philosophically depressed (pointless, meaningless, nothing means anything) to not worrying about it so much.
When I decided that I would try to go without Effexor, I cut my dose down by 25mg a week, I got down to 25mg and now three pills of 12.5 mg in a week. I am still having side effects. They are not severe, but uncomfortable nonetheless.
Remember, depression and anxiety are neurologically based so there IS a drug that will help you. Some people take "cocktails". Find a Psychiatrist who is specializes in your type of deprssions and causes (mine was from drug use as a teenager) and who is open to different treatments. Some Psychs just seem to be distributors for drugs. And get therapy at the same time, drugs help, but they are much less effective alone. And I was taking 150mg for the first two months which did nothing. 300mg and my life changed.
> I've been cold turkey from effexor xr 150mg since yesterday (mainly because I've not been able to get to a doctor, but also because i've been more bloody depressed since i started taking it than i ever felt before!) I know that I shouldn't just stop it but... anyone got any hints as to how long it'll take before the dizziness, tingling and (so much fun!) scary hallucinatory dreams stop? It feels like my brain's trying to swell out of my skull at the moment!
poster:ZeKingPrawn
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020103/msgs/88899.html