Posted by NeverGiveUp on October 18, 2004, at 11:06:03
In reply to PLEASE Can anyone relate, posted by sammi on October 17, 2004, at 18:18:17
From own experience and I believe from that Crazy Meds site, I would not advise adjusting Effexor by more than 37.5 mg/week. The withdrawal is harsh no matter what, but tolerable at that rate. The withdrawal has nothing to do with your depression and shouldn't be used as a sign that you "need" effexor.I would advise going down 37.5 mg, every two weeks. You will feel bad in different ways for about the first 5 days but then notice you feel much better. Changing by 75 mg-- i always failed, acted very oddly and ultimately gave up:( My own Dr. never even told me to limit to 37.5 mg-- it was from posts at Crazy Meds where I found that out.
I would also advise you to tell a good friend or spouse who you trust when you are about to go down (drop 37.5 mg from your dose). I found that I always fell in a depression and didn't know why, but reminding myself that i will feel bad for about 5 days really helped, although i usually didn't remember on my own, so telling a good friend to remind you and that you might need someone to console you or check on you is a good idea. I would also suggest chosing those weeks other than at times where you will already be under stress-- like a project deadline.
Finally, I would seek a second opinion and probably find a new Doctor, since your Dr., unfortunately, does not seem familiar enough with Effexor in general, in my opinion.
God Bless, Dan
> This is my first time on this site, so my story is a bit long. I hope someone can relate and help me.
>
> I have been on effexor xr for a little over 2 years now. I started on 75mg then I got up to 375mg over time. I also started lamictal at the same time as the effexor xr, that dose has went up alot too, from 50mg to 400mg in the past 2 years.
>
> I have resently changed my psychiatrist because my last one just kept increasing my meds everytime there was a problem. My new doc said that the doses that I was on was just to high so he has been slowly decreasing my meds from 75mg of effexor and 100mg of lamictal each month. Now I am on 225mg of effexor and 200mg of lamictal a day. I have been fine with the change up until this past week. I have had flu like symptoms, really bad back aches, my muscles hurt, I am constantly bitting down on my jaw, my stomach hurts, and I always feel nervous. I feel like I am dying.
>
> The thing is about six months ago my old doc tried to take me off of the effexor by decreasing it 75mg a week but, by the second week I was real bad off, my depression started to come back, I was always dizzy and confused, I even had loss of memory. So she just put me back on the original dose plus added 75mg taking me up to 375mg a day.(see why I changed docs)
>
> This time my symptoms are not the same as before.
> What is wrong with me? Can anyone help?
>
poster:NeverGiveUp
thread:404226
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041018/msgs/404393.html