Posted by Zellie on November 11, 2003, at 18:10:42
In reply to Withdrawal from venlafaxine, posted by on-the-wave on November 11, 2003, at 13:11:14
It is my understanding that the longer a person has had a history of depression, and the earlier the onset in life, the more likely they will benefit from continuing the medication therapy indefinitely.
Apparently there are people who have episodes of depression once or twice in their life, who can successfully go on and then off of anti-depressants, without recurring episodes. However, the greater the number of recurrences of episodes a person has had, the greater the likelihood that they will continue to occur.
I have suffered from major depression for as long as my memory goes back...4 years old perhaps. I have seen numerous physicians, including psychiatrists, psychologists, G.P.s, psychotherapists, etc, beginning back in the sixties. Back then, there were no answers. Even in the eighties there was little help in the way of medicine (valium, imiprimine).
Now that I have finally found a drug that gives me relief, hope, emotional stability, and peace, I have no desire to come off of it, so long as the benefits of it continue to outweigh the side effects.
My point is, most physicians seem very eager to wean their patients off anti-depressants as soon as possible, and the patients sometimes begin again to suffer depression. So I have to ask, why the urgency to go off the meds? If side-effects are unbearable, then I can easily see why. Otherwise, if there is a long history of continual or repeated depression, why stop the meds arbitrarily?
Moreover, I have also read in several places that if the patient returns to taking the anti-depressant later, the drug's efficacy may be substantially reduced, compared to the prior occassion of being on it.
Regarding sexual side-effects, if they do not ease up with time, then apparently viagara (for use by both men AND women)can be helpful. Also, apparently Wellbutrin has been used, taken a couple of hours prior to sex, with some success. Of course, this eliminates sponteneity, but, in my estimation, it is better than discontinuing the anti-depressant.
If you are resolved to go off the Effexor, then doing so extremely slowly is necessary. Others in this thread have posted methods they've discovered that can ease symptoms. Everyone is different, so you must find what works with your body chemistry, and you must weigh out the pros and cons.
Kindest regards,
Zellie> I have been on effexor at 300mg for ±3 years and have just had a break through in therapy in which i have recovered from about 20 years of depression. I am very anxious to ween myself off the effexor asap. I am worried that my GP will not know how to do this effectively because:
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> i. During taking the medication when I missed taking it in the morning, by the evening i would have headaches, dizziness, mood swings, etc.
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> ii. I tried to discontinue on my own about 12 months ago by reducing to 150mg for 1 week and 75mg for 3 days (75mg by approximating half a 150mg capsule)and experienced severe mood swings, feelings of total invincibility, elation, depression, anger, etc. This continued for about 10 days before i relented and continued the medication with almost immediate recovery to my medicated normalcy.
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> My current side effects are reduced sexual interest, not being able to urinate for long periods, impotence plus very vivid dreams.
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> Is there a strategy for tapering the effexor which i can refer my GP to.
poster:Zellie
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031111/msgs/278716.html