Posted by CamW. on September 8, 2003, at 13:10:06
In reply to Re: lack of sleep, posted by cobamis on September 8, 2003, at 10:40:57
cobamis - If you have trouble (ie. withdrawl effects) when taking 37.5mg of Effexor XR™ (venlafaxine - ext. rel.) every other day, you could consider adding Prozac™ (fluoxetine 10mg to 20mg daily) to the daily Effexor. Take both ADs for a week, then stop the Effexor and take the Prozac for one more week, then stop.
The extremely long half-life of Prozac is well over 100 hours (including psycho-active metabolites), so the drug leaves your body much more slowly than Effexor. The half-life of Effexor XR is only about (aboot) 18 - 20 hours (give or take); with the regular-acting Effexor (which is taken three times daily) one can begin to feel withdrawl symptoms within 8 hours of a missed dose. I know that if I miss a day of Effexor I feel out of sorts; if I miss 2 days in a row I really feel like .... uh .... excrement).
Most people are able to withdraw from Effexor (and Paxil™ [paroxetine], and Zoloft™ [sertraline]) using the above method. I have come across a doc who uses the regular strength Effexor™ (venlafaxine) and multiple daily dosing if a person is unable to comfortably stop after a couple of weeks at 37.5mg daily. This method does work, but it is finicky and a pain where I would put a window (guess we're not s'pose to cuss anymore, huh .... shi .... er, crap); one has to be fairly motivated (or anal retentive, or compulsive, or .... I can say "anal" can't I?).
Hope that this is of some help. - Cam
poster:CamW.
thread:257820
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030907/msgs/258082.html