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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by swingsnroundabouts on July 31, 2002, at 17:34:23
I am so sick of the swooshes, the diziness, the vertiggo, the muscle weakness, the funny reaction with a swoosh when something makes me jump, the tingling in my face, the tingling in my head.
How long does this go on for anyone??
Thanks for any replies
Posted by awake at last on July 31, 2002, at 17:42:21
In reply to HELP efexor withdrawal - how long will it go on?, posted by swingsnroundabouts on July 31, 2002, at 17:34:23
> I am so sick of the swooshes, the diziness, the vertiggo, the muscle weakness, the funny reaction with a swoosh when something makes me jump, the tingling in my face, the tingling in my head.
>
> How long does this go on for anyone??
>
> Thanks for any replies
*************************************************I stepped down my dosage by 75 mg each time, experienced withdrawl symptoms for 2 weeks with each step.
Hang in there - it will go away.
Posted by Ctrlaltndel : ( on July 31, 2002, at 19:02:59
In reply to Re: HELP efexor withdrawal - how long will it go on?, posted by awake at last on July 31, 2002, at 17:42:21
Hi..I've been through the withdrawal a few times but the last time I was on 900mg of neurontin and suffered hardly any of the head whooshes and vertigo-mood swings etc..I reduced the effexor 75mg a week.
Maybe the neurontin helps just a few people ...but its worth a try.
Back on effexor now due to anxiety...take care...
Posted by Terri C. on August 1, 2002, at 2:36:59
In reply to Re: HELP efexor withdrawal - how long will it go on? » awake at last, posted by Ctrlaltndel : ( on July 31, 2002, at 19:02:59
As a former user of Effexor, I just wanted to reinforce that the withdrawal effects DO go away....thank goodness! I feel more like I do now than I did when I came?????????????????
Saw that on a card once....thought it was a hoot.Peace...........TC
Posted by shar on August 1, 2002, at 2:52:23
In reply to Re: HELP efexor withdrawal - how long will it go on? » awake at last, posted by Ctrlaltndel : ( on July 31, 2002, at 19:02:59
I am getting to the tail end of my Effexor withdrawal. I stepped it down to 37.5 from 300 mg per day (me and my pdoc). After my last 37.5, I thought I was ok, then got the full force of what you are describing, felt like a bad flu with lots of wonderful nausea, about 48 hours later. Vertigo, chills, cold sweats, nausea, brain fog, nausea, headache, nausea, moodswings.
My pdoc recommended I add 100 mg. to my Wellbutrin, saying it might help. He said from my final dose of Effexor, I should probably be ok within 2 weeks.
The most disturbing thing for me was the mood swings. From ok, to weeping over any little thing, to ENRAGED and ready to destroy stuff (which I did). I hated the raging, but it would just WASH over me, I could feel it coming up. I started taking .5 mg of Klonopin the moment I felt the rage coming, and that helped some. I even kept my dogs away from me, it felt so out of control, I was afraid I might hurt them.
As of today, I am still crying, but not nearly so often. Only one rage reaction today, and it was milder and shorter term than the others. Did not even take a Klonopin for it. Flu like stuff is about 90% gone away.
Whew. I did not expect that strong a withdrawal response. Some people add Prozac the last couple of weeks to help til the withdrawal is over.
Hang in there.
Shar
Posted by fairnymph on August 1, 2002, at 12:12:10
In reply to HELP efexor withdrawal - how long will it go on?, posted by swingsnroundabouts on July 31, 2002, at 17:34:23
Two things:
1) Taper more slowly/gradually. If you taper VERY GRADUALLY (going down by 25-50 mg every 5 days..and yes you will need to get some Effexor IR as Effexor ER does not come at those doses) it will be better. Once you get down to 25 mg you might have to taper to 12.5 mg by cutting the 25 mg's tablets in half and taking that dose for several days. If the withdrawal effects are still unbearable, go down by a smaller dose,and/or stay for a few more days at that dose. LISTEN to your body. I was taking the max dose of Effexor (450 mg) and it took me 6 weeks to come off it fully.
2)Discuss using a low dose of an SSRI (prozac with it's long half life would be a particularily good choice) to help buffer the withdrawal. This is a fairly common practice and while I didn't know about it when I was going off Effexor, I have heard that it works really well.
Good luck and I hope you start feeling better soon. As I said above, the key is to do this GRADUALLY and to LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.
~fairnymph
Posted by swingsnroundabouts on August 1, 2002, at 12:48:22
In reply to Re: HELP efexor withdrawal - how long will it go o, posted by fairnymph on August 1, 2002, at 12:12:10
Thanks all of you for your advice etc. I'm glad to report that the withdrawal effects are wearing off now which is much better - my balance is better too. I couldn't go back to tapering as had already started on 30mg mirtazapine (zispin / remeron) and didn't want to combine too many meds or I may have ended up manic. Thanks again and thank god the worst is over - I would advise really slow withdrawal for anyone else coming off efexor.
This is the end of the thread.
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