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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by colleendias on September 12, 2008, at 18:30:52
hi
been on 20mg paxil 8 yr.. 2times tried taper, gettin to 4mg after 11months..!then bummed n pdoc put me back on 20mg..ggrrrr..!
now suggests i wean paxil while comming up on effexor, which he says wil be easier to withdraw from, has longer half life..!..im scared as it seems effexor is as bad as paxil.
anyone try this road?
any info very welcome..
Posted by bleauberry on September 20, 2008, at 18:10:27
In reply to paxil to effexor switch, posted by colleendias on September 12, 2008, at 18:30:52
Sounds crazy to me. Effexor and paxil are both the worst ADs to withdraw from. You would be just switching one of the worst for the another of the worst. And besides, since you mentioned halflife, the halflives of effexor extended release and paxil are about the same. So I don't know what the doc meant by a longer halflife. Maybe a few hours or something insignificant at best.
A rather popular method I am surprised he didn't mention is prozac, with a halflife of nearly a week, and not totally gone until 5 weeks. It allows a more gentle gradual withdrawal. Substituting prozac in place of effexor is a common strategy to get off effexor.
With prozac you just need to be cautious of not taking too much of it or too much of paxil at the same time. Examples of likely safe combos for withdrawal...15mg paxil + 2.5mg prozac; 10mg paxil + 5mg prozac; 5mg paxil + 10mg prozac; 2.5mg paxil 10mg prozac. Or even just switch straight across to 10mg-20mg. As you probably already know, you can cut paxil tabs to custom sizes with a knife, razor blade, or pill splitter. I believe you can also get it in liquid form for even easier custom dosing. For prozac, dump the contents of a capsule into a glass of orange juice, stir well, and drink a custom size dose. For example, 1/4 of a glass of OJ with 10mg prozac in it would be 2.5mg. With a glass with some kind of measuring printed or self-drawn on the outside, you can even get it as accurate as 1mg. The leftover stays good in the fridge for at least a week. Just stir it real good each time since prozac will not dissolve.
I don't know, if you are to switch to effexor, I don't see any possible way that is going to be easier, and could likely even be harder. I mean, everyone has testimonies of how bad paxil is to get off, but those testimonies are even worse for effexor.
Posted by colleendias on October 21, 2008, at 18:23:23
In reply to paxil to effexor switch, posted by colleendias on September 12, 2008, at 18:30:52
doing great on taper ..not needed to switch to prozac or effexor thankfully..
withdrawl so much easier than last try 5 yr ago.
seems the main difference is i prepared myself well, got lots of support in place, and big one not drinking alcohol..fear is lessened by that alone.
down from 20mg to 13 mg in 22 days.. minimal withdrawls..thank you for support
This is the end of the thread.
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