Posted by SLS on May 22, 2005, at 11:44:58
In reply to Aching body-withdrawal from Effexor, posted by Emmi on May 22, 2005, at 10:35:29
> Thank GOD someone mentioned joint pain and muscle soreness. I thought I was losing my mind.
I'm still looking for mine.
> My Doc has been ordering my meds from pharmacy.ca. They can make any med in any quantity so we're diminishing effexor by 10mg at a time. I was at 150 and finally am down to 65 mg. Once I hit 85mg, I thought I had lock-jaw! the tension!! Next came sore neck, sore knees (can no longer scrouch down to play with my puppy) then sore shoulders etc etc. Is this normal and will it go away once the effexor is out of my body??
These symptoms can be part of the withdrawal syndrome, and appear on quite a few lists as being potential effects of drug discontinuation. Even so, it would be unfortunate should another medical issue be overlooked. I would not want to place myself in a position of giving you the wrong advice. Perhaps you can temporarily increase the dosage of Effexor to see if these things disappear. That might be the best diagnostic procedure of all.
The last 75mg seem to be the hardest to taper. You might want to try dosing several times a day rather than once or twice. It helps prevent an ebb in blood levels. It is not at all inprudent to spend two weeks or less at each dosage. However, you may find that at some point - perhaps 12.5 - 18.75mg - no further reduction is possible without the emergence of the withdrawal symptoms. At this point, you will discontinue taking the medication altogether. With a little luck, your final withdrawal symptoms will be milder and short-lived. Personally, I have done well using a flexible-dosing strategy, whereby you allow your body tell you how much medication you need to optimize your taper.
There are several alternatives that have been offered here on the Withdrawal board. It is probably best if you read through the threads yourself and determine which method you would like to try. In the meantime, you might find that Benadryl, and over-the-counter antihistamine and anticholinergic might reduce the severity of your symptoms.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:501204
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20050519/msgs/501213.html