Posted by John2222 on November 7, 2003, at 22:33:18
In reply to Re: Effexor withdrawl symptoms, posted by HisOwn on November 6, 2003, at 20:39:09
After taking Effexor XR for about 1 1/2 years I am now reducing from a top of 112.5. I'm currently at 37.5 mg. I always reduced in small steps (from 112.5 to 75 to 50 to 37.5).
To get the 50 mg XR I took some 150 mg capsules I had and purchased some empty gel caps at the health food store (got a whole bag for about $5.00). I took one 150 mg capsule and divided it into 3 approx 50 mg capsules.
My recommendation from my experience is go really slow. Even the 37.5 to 0 is too much in my experience--so I'm planning after awhile to split the 37.5 into 2 ~19 mg capsules and try that for several weeks.
Why torture ourselves! Although Effexor XR really has worked great for combination depression and anxiety, the withdrawal is bad. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever be finished.
For example, what do I do 6 months from now if I get a relapse or reoccurance? (which is common)
John
> Thanks for the support. Sorry about the "H***" (theater term for the week before opening when you seem like you will never go home again or back to a 'normal' life). It is good to get some information on a time frame here. I have been stepping down off this stuff for the past two months and didn't really have any trouble until I hit 75 then had to stay on that for 3 weeks. Then stepped down to the 37.5 for 2 weeks then off... I've got to tell you, though, this has seemed like the longest 4 days of my life. The information I have found here has been a life-saver! I have the awful taste in my mouth, the electro-shocks, the heart palpitations, the bouts of crying, ect. I also have major pain along my spine-between my shoulder blades and in my neck, and a cough... flu or effexor...can't tell.
poster:John2222
thread:1016
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031105/msgs/277644.html