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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by ander35 on January 4, 2014, at 13:29:53
So I switched from Effexor to Wellbutrin, but I still take about 15 mg of Effexor because I had withdrawals when I stopped it. I also just quit smoking. I am on the last low dose of the nicotine patch which is fine, I feel over it.
So I decided to drop that last Effexor and I lost it. I felt like I was feeling my feelings for the first time in 15 years, when I started meds. It just shook me up, bad.
I felt lonely and like I had no feelings before because of the meds. I was crying badly and etc. Really bad.
Are SSRi's this bad or am I just feeling temporary withdrawls from Effexor and nicotine?
I feel like I was realizing that these drugs made me a zombie and ruined my life for 15 years yet I cannot function without it.
I don't know what to think.
Posted by alexandra_k on January 4, 2014, at 14:01:13
In reply to Ok this is the thread! Trouble coming off Effexor, posted by ander35 on January 4, 2014, at 13:29:53
> I feel like I was realizing that these drugs made me a zombie and ruined my life for 15 years yet I cannot function without it.
> I don't know what to think.I think that often things can hit you later than the physiology would suggest they would. Hang in there. I know that people always say 'things will get better with time' and that it can feel frustrating to hear that sometimes, but it really is true.
Maybe... You need some time to come to grips with your not being a zombie anymore. You need time to adjust / come to terms with your new, reactive, self.
Something like that happened for me when I quit smoking. It does get easier with time... But things were fairly rocky for a year or so, honestly. I'm not sure I can blame smoking, entirely, but... That was a huge part of it in retrospect.
Posted by ander35 on January 4, 2014, at 14:05:02
In reply to Re: Ok this is the thread! Trouble coming off Effexor, posted by alexandra_k on January 4, 2014, at 14:01:13
Thank you. I guess if it did kill my feelings or make me a zombie me and cause me to lose time, it is not the end of the world, I will not die.
I really think I should finish the smoking quit before i tackle the last 15 of Effexor.
I just don't think I can do both now and still be able to function. I was like crying uncontrollably.
Posted by Emme_V2 on January 4, 2014, at 18:35:17
In reply to Ok this is the thread! Trouble coming off Effexor, posted by ander35 on January 4, 2014, at 13:29:53
> So I switched from Effexor to Wellbutrin, but I still take about 15 mg of Effexor because I had withdrawals when I stopped it. I also just quit smoking. I am on the last low dose of the nicotine patch which is fine, I feel over it.
>
> So I decided to drop that last Effexor and I lost it. I felt like I was feeling my feelings for the first time in 15 years, when I started meds. It just shook me up, bad.
>
> I felt lonely and like I had no feelings before because of the meds. I was crying badly and etc. Really bad.
>
> Are SSRi's this bad or am I just feeling temporary withdrawls from Effexor and nicotine?
>
> I feel like I was realizing that these drugs made me a zombie and ruined my life for 15 years yet I cannot function without it.
>
> I don't know what to think.
>
I really think you may be feeling discontinuation effects from coming off the Effexor. It is a particularly difficult medication to stop. Although 15 mg sounds low enough that you should be able to stop at that point, you may in fact need an even more gradual taper. Why don't you try a week or two of 7.5 mg before stopping altogether? There is no need for you to suffer unnecessarily.
Posted by alexandra_k on January 4, 2014, at 19:29:18
In reply to Re: Ok this is the thread! Trouble coming off Effexor » ander35, posted by Emme_V2 on January 4, 2014, at 18:35:17
yes.
i remember having a hard time of it coming off effexor when i was smoking... i really wouldn't suggest trying to do both of those at once. sometimes... one has to pick ones battles. either of those are very worthy battles to pick. you will win the war, eventually :)
honestly... one thing that helped me a great deal was exercise. finding something... where you can take that god awful wrenching angry confusing hurting messed up feeling... and get it out in some way. run until the pain of running kicks out the pain of everything else for a few blessed minutes. or something like that. then the endorphin rush at the end... your body's natural happy pills :)
Posted by alexandra_k on January 4, 2014, at 19:38:21
In reply to Re: Ok this is the thread! Trouble coming off Effexor, posted by alexandra_k on January 4, 2014, at 19:29:18
maybe (for me) it was about all kinds of painful feelings coming up. and... irritable feelings. dis-ease.
it didn't feel to me like i had much control over those feelings. i felt at their mercy, rather. and like i was choking on them a lot of the time and really barely staying afloat.
things like... rowing a 500 meter in a record time (for you) or biking a record distance in 2 minutes or 5 minutes... or whatever... so many things like this... well, it is a bit of an acquired taste... but that kind of pain is kind of sweet in the sense that you do have control over it. it is something that you choose to inflict on yourself.
i find it bundles up all the dis-ease feelings and the fidgets and the restlessness and sort of concentrates it for that brief period.
then, when i'm done... the endorphins kick in / the fidgets / the dis-ease... are gone.
i'm not saying intense exercise is a cure-all. but i think... it is something that is seriously under-apreciated in current western society...
Posted by baseball55 on January 4, 2014, at 22:23:40
In reply to Ok this is the thread! Trouble coming off Effexor, posted by ander35 on January 4, 2014, at 13:29:53
Don't know for sure what's what. But I know people who have quit nicotine and delved into severe depression. Years ago, my husband and I decided to quit smoking together and, by day two, were ready to kill each other. Quitting smoking is no joke.
Posted by Phillipa on January 5, 2014, at 9:08:28
In reply to Re: Ok this is the thread! Trouble coming off Effexor, posted by baseball55 on January 4, 2014, at 22:23:40
Been reading this thread and I wonder why I never was addicted to nicotine it just made me dizzy and only smoked when drank beer. So when stopped drinking stopped the nicotine. At the time I still could run and didn't per say really take ad's just couldn't tolerate them. I do wish could run now. PJ
Posted by ander35 on January 5, 2014, at 11:08:44
In reply to Re: Ok this is the thread! Trouble coming off Effexor, posted by alexandra_k on January 4, 2014, at 19:38:21
Thank you for answering. I had forgotten the tales of Effexor being the hardest AD to stop and that it is molecularly related to morphine and etc etc.
I think coming off it while coming off smoking and being on wellbutrin which would amplify things is why i felt that way.
Maybe in a few months it will be manageable with exercise.
Thanks :)
Posted by sukarno on January 5, 2014, at 16:23:08
In reply to Thank you guys, posted by ander35 on January 5, 2014, at 11:08:44
I'm sorry you are not feeling well.
If it was me I would switch to e-cigarettes
and slowly taper Effexor. You may be
able to mix your Effexor dose with
150mL of water (15mg tablet mixed
with 150mL of water).Drink 140mL (14mg) and after
you stabilise try drinking 130mL (13mg)
and so on.Good luck. :-)
Posted by bleauberry on January 9, 2014, at 17:43:26
In reply to Ok this is the thread! Trouble coming off Effexor, posted by ander35 on January 4, 2014, at 13:29:53
Just so you are aware, effexor is usually one of the most difficult antidepressants to get off of. There is suspected indirect connection with the opioid system which may play a role there. But effexor notorious for nasty and lengthy withdrawal symptoms. Oh sorry, that's not politically correct. Discontinuation symptoms. Ok. Whatever. It sucks for sure whatever one wants to call it.
Wow you did great with the cigs! Wow. Nice. I did not get the sense in your post how great of an accomplishment that is. Huge pat on the back!!! Nice.
I don't think the nicotine withdrawals are much involved at this time. It is the effexor.
You don't have to suffer the torture. Here is a way to make it smoother. It takes a while, plan on a couple months, but will be so much less torture you can get on with your life while getting off effexor without much torturous distraction.
Is it immediate release or time released? If immediate, that's easy, you can just make any custom size off a pill you want....a quarter, a half, an eight, a crumb, two crumbs, whatever. If a capsule, the little beads inside are enteric coated and the medicine is inside those beads. You can count out the beads for exact dosing. For example, let's say you counted 200 beads in the capsule and it is 20mg. Ok, so 10 beads is the same as 1mg. Now you can count out whatever dose you want, sprinkle it on applesauce or anything soft, swallow without chewing. You'll have to count for a starting point. If instead it is a tablet, then by breaking it up it will become regular release instead of time released. Crush it to powder and then you can make custom doses.
Once you've got that, then just an example of a dosing schedule might look like this:
Day 1 20mg
day 2 19mg
day 3 18mg
day 4 18mg
day 5 18mg
day 6 17mg
day 7 17mg
day 8 16mg
day 9 15mgThe idea is to take tiny steps down, settle for a few days somewhere to stabilize, then just keep going. No rush, no hurry, methodical and patient. A couple months later, you will be free and will not have had much pain getting there. Plus, you avoid the risk of snapping the brain into some bizarre place with all the chaos of a rapid withdrawal.
This is the end of the thread.
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