Posted by apenname on July 20, 2005, at 11:40:26
In reply to Effexor withdrawal...over-the-counter help?, posted by Sarah71 on July 19, 2005, at 18:14:07
Hi,
You'll see a number of recommendations on here. My favorite is the tapering method discussed by SLS and others. What you'll need to do is get some 37.5mg doses from your doctor or a pharmacy (many pharmacies will give you a few "hold-over until your next prescription" doses if you bring in your current empty bottle).What I did is from the 75mg, a week of 37.5mg, and then when I went from that to 0mg, every time the dizziness hit, I took a 37.5mg dose for a couple of days, and then after that, opened up the capsule, did a half dose for a few days, and so on. Each new dose was either smaller than the previous one 24 hours earlier or the same amount with a longer time before I needed to take it. There are variations in method here, I did no more than one dose per day, others do smaller partial doses every 6-12 hours.
Check for posts by rabble_rouser about vitamins that helped him have Zero withdrawal symptoms, which is great! I also found exercise, healthy eating, doing as much as possible to take care of myself, and reducing stress eased the symptoms.
Others have had success with Claritin or Benadryl. Others, a small dose of Prozac. These additions I understand are only to be used to treat the dizziness and zaps and as your body + brain gets used to being without Effexor, you need them less and less. Thus, you would not be trading one medication for another, just using the other for surviving the withdrawal period.
As for the doctor increasing the dose, when I went through that a long time ago, mine did that until it was clear that it was effectively treating the depression. At the same time, she emphasized that I can't just let the medicine do it all, I have to work on my issues. I think of it as learning coping skills.
Good luck!
aPenName
poster:apenname
thread:530239
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20050712/msgs/530574.html