Posted by Anna Laura on December 10, 2001, at 12:23:43
In reply to Re: Withdrawing from Effexor: nightmares » Anna Laura, posted by Elizabeth on December 10, 2001, at 11:17:38
> Hi. The thing that comes to mind for your situation is benzodiazepines -- Klonopin, Valium, Serax, .... They can relieve nightmares (and more generally help you sleep better) and they also act as muscle relaxants to various degrees (some are better than others, but I'm not too sure which ones), so they might help with your back pain too.
>
> > "...If you experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms it's because you already have some problems indipendently from Effexor"- was his reply.
>
> *groan* Has this guy ever heard of REM rebound? (I'm not clear on why you're getting back pain, but REM rebound is probably the cause of the intense dreams -- Effexor, like most ADs, suppresses REM sleep to a degree.)
>
> > I noticed this problem gets better as i take SAME.
>
> Are you planning on taking that with Parnate? I think that might be a problem. I'd look into it very carefully before trying it, and you should probably do so soon because there may be a washout period. Speaking of that, how long after stopping the Effexor does your pdoc want you to wait before starting Parnate?
>
> Hope this helps. Good luck with things.
>
> -elizabeth
Thanks for answering Elizabeth.
The pdoc told me to taper Effexor from 300 mg. to 150 mg. right away which i did. He told me to stay on the 150 mg. dose for five days, then to taper to 75 mg. for seven days. I am supposed to take the first pill of Parnate on day eight which will be the next week around Tuesday. I think this is a quite abrupt switch, and i told him about that: he replied i shouldn't worry about it. I' m a little bit scared to take Parnate while having Effexor still going on in my system. This guy is a very well known pdoc though; i was told he has got a great deal of experience since he has been working in the hospital university clinic for more then thirty years. By the way, I'im going to call him tomorrow and tell him about the SAME thing.
poster:Anna Laura
thread:86412
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011202/msgs/86468.html