Posted by jeenobeano on December 9, 2003, at 11:01:37
I've been taking 75mg of Effexor XR once daily for almost 2 years. It's truly been a wonder-drug for me. Aside from an almost negligible decrease in libido, I've suffered from zero side effects these past 2 years -- and it's been the only thing to really get my lifelong problem with GAD under control.
However, I'm now married and my husband and I want to start a family. I've been advised by both my general practitioner and my psychiatrist that there's no reason to discontinue my Effexor, that there's no *proof* that anything untoward would happen to my baby were I to conceive while on Effexor.
HOWEVER -- they have also both said there's a decent chance the baby would suffer from minor withdrawal for a few days after birth, and that Effexor is probably transmitted through a mother's milk. That's all I needed to hear to know I need to get off this medication.
But now -- I"M SO SCARED. Last week, I tried "tapering" myself off by taking out a measly 10 little beads from my 75mg capsule and the effects were horrendous: like a cross between being hung-over, having the flu, and on a hallucinogenic drug. Reason got the better of me and I contacted my psychiatrist who is going to help me start weaning properly on Friday.
Someone please tell me it's going to be ok. My hsuband thinks everything I went thru during my "withdrawal-lite" was entirely in my head. I don't want to hurt our baby-2-B but at the same time I'm an attorney and the sole breadwinner in our family (hubby's a PhD student) -- I can't just take 2 months of sick leave right now.
Sorry to vent. But any advice and/or words of reassurance would be much appreciated.
-- jeenobeano
poster:jeenobeano
thread:288010
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031208/msgs/288010.html