Posted by bleauberry on May 30, 2011, at 20:26:55
In reply to Pristiq - One Heck of a Taper Strategy, posted by Laurie1041 on May 28, 2011, at 21:31:46
I was on meds for about 15 years. My final stretch was with prozac+zyprexa. After ECt had failed and proz/zyp stopped working it was about a 3 month careful process in small steps to get to the final dose. Which was mere crumbs by then.
The reason you got sick on Pristiq was because when it was broken the time released characteristic was destroyed. So you got all of that dose at one time immediately, instead of spread out evenly and slowly over a long time. To try it again, use the flat side of a butter knife to smash it into powder. Then you can make whatever kind of custom doses you want and take them frequently throughout the day in a manner to try to duplicate a steady slow release in small amounts. Every dose is now immediate release, not time release.
Lex isn't any picnic to get off of either, but at least it isn't as bad as effexor/pristiq.
I wonder why those meds are so hard on withdrawal? I don't know. I've seen some science studies that theorized there was some as yet unknown link with the opioid system. That would make sense. I once thought maybe it was because it was a combination serotonin/norepinephrine thing. But then I remembered how easy my withdrawal was from milnacipran, so no, that wasn't it.
Anyway, all I can say is....tiny steps, be patient, don't rush it past the point of intolerance.
The more common way to get off those meds is with prozac, not lexapro. That's because of prozac's long halflife, it makes everything much easier to manage. A single dose once a week or multiple doses, whatever. It's still early into Lex so probably wouldn't be a big deal if you thought about doing that.
A long time ago in Dr Bobs Psychopharmacology Notes I remember comments that Benadryl is helpful for the withdrawal symptoms of Effexor. I don't know by what mechanism, but some doctors found it useful.
Totally off the subject, in the above paragraph I just saw another example of how memory loss in ECT is so random and selective. Total huge chunks of memory gone....but yet....I can recall fairly odd random things such as somehting I saw in Dr Bobs Tips a long time ago. Weird.
Anyway, I think you will do well. Just take it easy and slow. It took 11 years to get here, but it won't take that long to get off. My guess is 2 to 5 months, somewhere in there.
poster:bleauberry
thread:986490
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110529/msgs/986699.html