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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Cindy on January 6, 2000, at 22:17:38
Every time I try to stop taking meds I get terrible withdrawl symptoms and suicidal thoughts just to excape the sympotms and before anti-depressants I was NEVER suicidal. I've been told my symptoms describe VIRDIGO, which I'd never heard of. I feel dizzy, nausea, headachy, sea sick, tearful, and my ears feel like I'm in a tunnel or underwater. I can't remember ever felling this bad, only when stopping Paxil, Wellbutrin and now Effexor. Any thoughts on how to make it easier?
Posted by Sean on January 6, 2000, at 22:31:28
In reply to How to stop taking Anti-depressants, posted by Cindy on January 6, 2000, at 22:17:38
> Every time I try to stop taking meds I get terrible withdrawl symptoms and suicidal thoughts just to excape the sympotms and before anti-depressants I was NEVER suicidal. I've been told my symptoms describe VIRDIGO, which I'd never heard of. I feel dizzy, nausea, headachy, sea sick, tearful, and my ears feel like I'm in a tunnel or underwater. I can't remember ever felling this bad, only when stopping Paxil, Wellbutrin and now Effexor. Any thoughts on how to make it easier?
Go extra-super slowly. If it takes 3 to 6 months
then so be it. My personal opinion is that almost
all AD's have withdrawl effects which are not
well described in the literature and can be quite
severe - as you have described! Take care,
Sean.
Posted by jamie on January 7, 2000, at 2:26:02
In reply to How to stop taking Anti-depressants, posted by Cindy on January 6, 2000, at 22:17:38
> Every time I try to stop taking meds I get terrible withdrawl symptoms and suicidal thoughts just to excape the sympotms and before anti-depressants I was NEVER suicidal. I've been told my symptoms describe VIRDIGO, which I'd never heard of. I feel dizzy, nausea, headachy, sea sick, tearful, and my ears feel like I'm in a tunnel or underwater. I can't remember ever felling this bad, only when stopping Paxil, Wellbutrin and now Effexor. Any thoughts on how to make it easier?
Some meds have worse withdrawals than others, and it varies considerably from one person to the next. I think effexor has the worst withdrawals of them all. I was reading in Dr. Bob's Tips that benadryl is helpful for effexor withdrawals.
Even with a long slow taper off your med you can still have withdrawals. But they should be milder the slower you taper off. You can break or cut your pills into smaller pieces for incremental changes in dose size. If capsules, you can empty contents into water or juice and customize doses that way. Another strategy is to get a prescrip for just a few capsules of prozac. While discontinuing your med, the prozac will let you down much more gently due to its long halflife.
A general rule of thumb is to decrease your dose by 10% a week. Regardless, you still might have some withdrawals. I can understand that, but the suicidal feelings is pretty scary. That's probably a result of too rapid a dropoff of serotonin levels. I am not suggesting this, and I'm sure a doctor would not endorse it, but I have withdrawn smoother from meds by supplenting with 5HTP to replace the serotonin while tapering down. How much to take is purely a guess. Probably not the wisest thing to do to, but I've found it helpful. I think the best you can do is taper slowly in small increments but still expect some withdrawals. Get some prozac in your system while tapering down.
jamie
Posted by S. Suggs on January 7, 2000, at 12:09:11
In reply to How to stop taking Anti-depressants, posted by Cindy on January 6, 2000, at 22:17:38
If stopping and having vertigo, ask your doc to call in some antivert (meclizine sp?). 25 to 50 mg I think is the dose. It may make you sleepy and defeat the purpose, but it will help with being dizzy. Odly enough, you used to be able to but this over the counter in the brand name of Bonnine (for motion sickness). If at the drug store in the near future, look for Bonnine and check the back for ingredients. If if says meclizine HCL, you have the right stuff. Best of luck and Blessings,
S. Suggs
Posted by Cindy on January 10, 2000, at 13:25:13
In reply to Re: How to stop taking Anti-depressants, posted by S. Suggs on January 7, 2000, at 12:09:11
Thanks for all your input. It's nice to know others have lived through this and so will I. I am feeling ever so slightly better each day, inch by inch. But at least it's in the right direction.
This is the end of the thread.
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