![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 2 of 2. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Sarah71 on July 19, 2005, at 18:14:07
Hello,
I have been on Effexor for a little over one year...recently, I decided to ween myself off of it not only because I do not want to rely on the medication to get through some residual issues (my doctor originally prescribed it after my Dad passed away), but also because I have felt like my doctor just keeps increasing the dosage for no good reason.
Anyway, I have gradually decreased the dosage over the past six weeks and was down to 75mg...I took one pill in that dosage per day for the past two weeks and finally ran out three days ago, but am now experiencing many of the withdrawal symptoms I have read about on the internet, but the two that are bothering me the most are the nausea/motion sickness and especially the "zaps" that I feel throughout my body every 30 seconds.
Concerning the latter, is there anyone out there that knows of an over-the-counter solution? I just do not want to replace one med with another to get through this, so any suggestions would be most appreciated.
Thank you for "listening"!
Sarah
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
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Withdrawal | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.