Posted by creeppedOutWendy on January 14, 2004, at 14:20:08
In reply to Re: How long would these withdrawal symtoms last?, posted by ankh on January 14, 2004, at 14:14:34
Thank you for your suggestion. But if I don't do anything about it and just deal with the symptoms, would it ever go away. and how long would it take?
> > It has been a week since I quit Effexor completely. I have been expereincing pretty much every symptoms posted by others. I was taking half dosage of what I was taking for three weeks before I quit it completely (My doctor recommended this). I'm taking it ok, but not sure how much more I can handle this. Does anyone know how long these withdrawal symptoms would last?
> >
> > Thanks
> >
>
> OK, I can speak to this from personal experience -- I tried a different antidepressant every winter for years.
>
> Effexor was by far the hardest to quit, and the one I most wanted to quit because of the bloody dreams and migraines (though I will always be grateful for having experienced migraine auras during that time -- somehow we can forget pain and remember beauty even when they happen together -- a good thing for me to have learned).
>
> But about getting off this stuff:
>
> Here's what finally worked for me -- taking 50 milligrams per week of Prozac for three months.
>
> Yes, I mean that -- a tiny amount, once a week, and that held off the Effexor withdrawal.
>
> I get winter depression (and recently diagnosed attention deficit, maybe from childhood concussions plus a recent one). So I was on the upswing through the withdrawal period anyhow --February, March and April.
>
> My mood was going up anyhow, and it was time to quit the winter's drug, but just INCREDIBLY hard.
>
> Fortunately my doctor had heard whispers about this in the hallways between presentations at psychiatric meetings -- this was before withdrawal was admitted to be a problem.
>
> ----> So, short answer -- consider asking for
> ----> a very, very, very small dose of Prozac,
> ----> which is a persistent drug; a fraction of
> ----> the usual daily dose taken once a week
> ----> got me off Effexor.
>
> Good luck.
poster:creeppedOutWendy
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040114/msgs/300711.html