Posted by lisa99 on June 8, 2001, at 10:19:57
I tried to come off Effexor XR in September at the same time going on to Topamax (which I had been on before but had absolutely no effect). It was a nightmare. I had a reverse effect to the Topamax in that I had the worst swings ever. With respect to the Effexor XR, I had the terrible dizziness/blood-brain surges which affected my vision and hearing. I came off the Topamax, and went back on to only 37.5 of Effexor. Based upon entries on this website which I discovered after this ordeal (THANK GOD FOR DR. BOB'S SITE), I decided about two months ago to try to come off the Effexor again but wean myself off for awhile at 1/2 of the 37.5...in the middle of that taper, I was given Effexor SR "by mistake" at the pharmacy (apparently it is in their best interest monetarily to push for patients to take SR--it was not prescribed for me, nor was my doctor called, but I'm not going to do anything about it). I returned to the XR and again begain the weaning process. I did that for about 3 weeks with eventually taking it once every other day, then third day, etc. I've been off it completely for about 5-7 days, and am experiencing a lesser version of the same dizziness/blood-brain surges I had back in September. I also experience the phenomena that it feels that if you move your head too quickly the "outside" of your head moves but the "inside" takes a few seconds to "catch up" and realign itself to the outside.
I've been on the Effexor XR for probably 12 to 18 months in combination with Wellbutrin and Depakote (and Klonopin mostly for Restless Leg Syndrome).
QUESTIONS:
1. Has anyone experienced what I am describing;
2. How long does it generally take to experience COMPLETE withdrawal from Effexor XR; and
3. Does anyone have any suggestions regarding the tapering approach I took and if I should try some other tapering method?
poster:lisa99
thread:65771
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010605/msgs/65771.html