Posted by jen2 on February 11, 2005, at 14:30:14
In reply to Re: effexor XR, posted by notcrazy on February 10, 2005, at 22:31:11
Hey notcrazy,
You WILL get through this. You will.
I haven't dealt with withdrawal because I'm still on the Effexor, but I sure had lots of horrible side effects when I first started - the stupid pharmacist dispensed 75mg instead of 37.5mg so I got a real hammer dose from the beginning. I was sure I was going to die. Nausea, vision changes, feeling disconnected, jittery, nervous, anxious, depressed, racing heartbeat... horrible horrible. I was white-knuckling it through my days. But after about four days it cleared, and after about 12 days I started to feel better.
I understand from the others that have posted to the main board that the withdrawal can take from several days to a couple of months to clear, but there are things you can do to help. Be sure to taper off VERY VERY slowly. I've heard that people even go so far as to remove a number of the little pellets from the caplets on an incremental basis from day to day to taper as slowly as possible. Also, some kinds of antihistamines can help with the withdrawal symptoms; apparently Claritin is often used for this by others.
I hope you were able to figure out how to access the info on the main board. If not, let me know and I'll see if I can help.
You will get through this. Just hang on. Get some exercise, drink lots of water, check the other board for ideas, and talk to your doctor.
Keep in touch,
Jen
poster:jen2
thread:455927
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/newbs/20041227/msgs/456335.html