Posted by Sean9 on April 3, 2003, at 9:57:49
In reply to going off Effexor, would like feedback on my plan., posted by MaryG on April 3, 2003, at 8:07:37
Mary,
I would not recommend quitting cold turkey. The withdrawal is very painful and the symptoms you were experiencing will be at their most extreme. The best plan seems to involve tapering down 37 mg each week over a period of 4 weeks, with the last week being one 37 mg pill every other day (I think the every other day gets your body used running on zero Effexor). After that the symptoms suppsedly last another 2 weeks, but not as severe.
Talk to your doctor about this stuff: You can take Benadryl as needed to relieve some of the withdrawal symptoms like electric shocks and vertigo, also Allegra-D is supposed to help and Dramamine. Low dosage of Prozac can help relieve symptoms as prescribed. Also there is a drug used for treating naseua in chemotherapy patients that apparantly can be prescribed to help. You may want to consider switching to another med (like Prozac) as you come off Effexor. Prozac is supposed to be much easier to quit if you decide to. Effexor is really tough to quit, sounds like you already know that. Be careful and read up on all the postings dealing with Effexor Withdrawal, there is a lot of information on this site. Good luck, you can do it, and the symptoms will pass (no one has ever comlpained they are forever).
poster:Sean9
thread:215729
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030402/msgs/215755.html