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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 13 of 13. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by maxie4444 on April 6, 2008, at 21:11:59
Help! I'm in effexor withdrawal hell and feel so isolated. Doctors tell me that I can either go on meds to take this away or just deal with it, I'm afraid of taking more meds to cause more problems and never getting off it, it just really is!!!!!!!
I can't function, it's been two weeks and I cry all the time, zaps all the time, I'm sure you've heard this before, what helps?
Posted by obsidian on April 6, 2008, at 21:15:31
In reply to Effexor Withdrawal Hell, posted by maxie4444 on April 6, 2008, at 21:11:59
I think some people might take something like prozac short-term then get off that (which is a lot easier to get off of evidently)
good luck,
sid
Posted by maxie4444 on April 6, 2008, at 21:24:16
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawal Hell » maxie4444, posted by obsidian on April 6, 2008, at 21:15:31
Thanks Sid, much appreciated, and for responding so quickly, I am a newbie at this and not quite sure of things and what to say and not to say...
> I think some people might take something like prozac short-term then get off that (which is a lot easier to get off of evidently)
> good luck,
> sid
Posted by Phillipa on April 6, 2008, at 22:06:42
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawal Hell, posted by maxie4444 on April 6, 2008, at 21:24:16
Welcome to babble a lot of great advise. Did you see the list of boards at bottom of page? You might eigher want to post on withdrawal or I think that there is a very long effexor thread top of this board. My next door neighbor just went though this also and finally after a few weeks went away. I believe in her case since she was already on benzos her doc upped them. But the prozac is used and maybe benydryl? Best of luck to you. Phillipa
Posted by cactus on April 7, 2008, at 13:52:32
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawal Hell, posted by maxie4444 on April 6, 2008, at 21:24:16
i wish i knew about the prozac factor when i came off effexor, i went through hell too. but if you are over a week off it, I'd just put your seat belt on and ride it out, unless you have children to look after or work. good luck I wish you all the best. You are not alone and I totally understand what hell you are going through. Hang in there!!!!!!!!
Posted by maxie4444 on April 7, 2008, at 14:07:05
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawal Hell » maxie4444, posted by cactus on April 7, 2008, at 13:52:32
thanks, it's about two weeks and still can't seem to ... I'm grateful that I don't have kids, however I have job that I have been showing up to sporadically. It's just really difficult to concentrate, I guess you went through the same things.
> i wish i knew about the prozac factor when i came off effexor, i went through hell too. but if you are over a week off it, I'd just put your seat belt on and ride it out, unless you have children to look after or work. good luck I wish you all the best. You are not alone and I totally understand what hell you are going through. Hang in there!!!!!!!!
Posted by Gee on April 7, 2008, at 15:53:43
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawal Hell, posted by maxie4444 on April 7, 2008, at 14:07:05
Definitely try some Benedryl. I found I didn't have to take a ton (like a whole pill) to get the effects. If I took a whole one then I fell asleep. But it definitely helped with the zaps. And they do go away after a while. I don't remember how long, but one day it was like "Hey, I'm not getting their gone!" Also, drink lots of water. That helped a lot
Posted by bleauberry on April 7, 2008, at 18:58:05
In reply to Effexor Withdrawal Hell, posted by maxie4444 on April 6, 2008, at 21:11:59
The two most popular things for effexor withdrawal are prozac and benadryl. I don't know how the benadryl works exactly, but others liked it, and it is mentioned in Dr Bobs Psychopharmacology Tips section. Prozac has a very long halflife allowing a gradual taper off the serotonin reuptake mechanism. It can be taken at 10mg once every 2 to 4 days. Getting off of it later down the road is a world easier than getting off effexor.
You could also take small amounts of effexor for relief and then continue weaning off it. That's what I would do. With pills you can cut or break them into tiny little pieces for custom micro doses. With capsules just dump the contents out and count how many beads to take each day, or make little piles of powder, and each day reduce it a little bit.
Posted by cactus on April 7, 2008, at 22:30:58
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawal Hell, posted by maxie4444 on April 7, 2008, at 14:07:05
if it's 2 week keep going, i was house bound for the 1st 2 weeks then slowly got better after a month but, it took almost 8 weeks to feel semi normal again. The zaps went away after about 3 weeks for me. I tried benadryl but i can't honestly say if it helped me or not. I was swigging it out of the bottle. it will get better, you a way over the worst of it!!!!
Posted by krycek on April 11, 2008, at 22:39:57
In reply to Effexor Withdrawal Hell, posted by maxie4444 on April 6, 2008, at 21:11:59
I managed to get off of 300 mg of Effexor XR with 20 mg Prozac. I had no vertigo, and no zaps. Some headaches and general malase. I did it in two months and I am happy for it as the Effexor wasn't doing its job anyway. I don't know about the Benedryl though, it'll make you tired so you can sleep through the crappy feelings, I guess.
Kisses,Laura
Posted by 49er on April 13, 2008, at 15:56:07
In reply to Effexor Withdrawal Hell, posted by maxie4444 on April 6, 2008, at 21:11:59
> Help! I'm in effexor withdrawal hell and feel so isolated. Doctors tell me that I can either go on meds to take this away or just deal with it, I'm afraid of taking more meds to cause more problems and never getting off it, it just really is!!!!!!!
> I can't function, it's been two weeks and I cry all the time, zaps all the time, I'm sure you've heard this before, what helps?Maxie,
Sad to say, most doctors don't seem to understand withdrawal very well.
Did you CT the med or what was your tapering schedule?
On the Paxil Progress Boards, which is run by an RN, the recommendation is 10% of the current dose every 3 to 6 weeks. They have discovered that a slow tapering gives the brain the necessary time to make the neurochemical changes.
I am tapering off of Remeron which while isn't in Effexor's class as far as tapering off of, it comes pretty close. By sticking to the 10% rule, I have been able to at least function. I still have withdrawal symptoms but if I had tapered more quickly, it would have been alot worse.
49er
Posted by kaleidoscope on April 13, 2008, at 16:58:26
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawal Hell » maxie4444, posted by 49er on April 13, 2008, at 15:56:07
>On the Paxil Progress Boards, which is run by an RN, the recommendation is 10% of the current dose every 3 to 6 weeks.
That would seem sensible for people who've had particular difficulty withdrawing - but not for most people.
Regards
Posted by maxie4444 on April 21, 2008, at 21:27:09
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawal Hell » maxie4444, posted by 49er on April 13, 2008, at 15:56:07
To all you good folks,
Just wanted to thank everyone who wrote me. I'm feeling much better, just went through, put on a new med, seem to still have withdrawal symptons, less severe...
Namaste,
Maxie
This is the end of the thread.
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