Posted by colin wallace on March 10, 2002, at 6:22:20
In reply to Re: Effexor XR withdrawal hell.. » Virginia, posted by maximillian on March 10, 2002, at 5:25:18
Christ, it continually astounds me as to how ******* ignorant some doctors are regarding the process of withdrawing from effexor (and other such AD's with very short half-lives).
There is absolutely no need whatsoever for you to endure those tortuous withdrawals, and I'd personally like to make your doc. try such an abrupt taper/discontinuance- then perhaps he'd think again before recommending such idiocy!
(Yes, I do feel strongly about this, having been in exactly the same boat- without a paddle).
The withdrawals you are experiencing are due to effexor's short lasting action in powerfully blocking the re-uptake of seratonin(and to a lesser extent, noradrenaline) in the brain.
Many people have problems discontinuing, or even tapering effexor due to the relatively quick dispersal of this blocking effect,which is basically a nasty shock to the brain when it has to very suddenly rely on its own 'downgraded'neuro-chemicals- a bit like suddenly kicking a crutch out from beneath a man with sprained ligaments.
It is well known that taking prozac can greatly help ease this transition, due to its very long half-life (some 18 days if I remember rightly)
In other words, as the seratonin reuptake blocking effect of effexor dissipates, prozac performs a longer lasting blocking effect which will GRADUALLY diminish over the course of a few weeks- just taking it for three or four days can make all the difference.Bit like handing somebody a cane for a while, after you've kicked away the crutch!!I don't mean to decry effexor here by any means (especially with the crutch analogy!), but people, especially physicians should be far more aware of need to properly manage withdrawing from it.I tried it both ways, and using prozac made it relatively painless (I'm afraid you're all too familiar with the other way).Of course, there may well be a valid reason for your docs. taking you off suddenly and without assistance, and as always, this is just my humble (but informed) opinion.
Please hang in there.
Wishing you well'
Col.
poster:colin wallace
thread:97272
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020307/msgs/97298.html