Posted by bleauberry on June 23, 2008, at 18:01:17
In reply to desperately need advice - Xanax, anxiety, insomnia, posted by sunnydays on June 23, 2008, at 14:28:40
At the new dose of effexor, you are getting a bigger push on norepinephrine and dopamine than the old dose. In my guess that is a big player in what you are feeling. It should subside but may take a couple weeks.
I had withdrawals from 1mg xanax after just 2 weeks using it maybe once every 2 days. I had to do a taper to get off smoother, which was .5mg for a few nights, then .125 for a week, then .125 every other day. In the meantime, other tools were used for anxiety and sleep. The herb passionflower in tincture form was a lifesaver, as well as skullcap which I sometimes combined the two. Lemon balm is another one. Common calming herbs are chamomile and hops, in many herbal formulas, but they make me more depressed.
Melatonin helps people sleep, but for sure there have been many reports of it making people who are prone to depression more depressed. It did that to me.
Valerian root herb is a good one. For some people, like me, it works immediately. For others it takes a couple weeks to kick in. Good for anxiety or insomnia or both. With herbs, combos work better than any single herb.
Tiny bits of remeron (3mg-7.5mg) give a pretty good sleep while weaning off xanax or getting used to a new antidepressant dose.
So, I think the higher dose of effexor could be causing a lot of the problem, and xanax is fueling the fire even more. Tamer alternatives are listed above to manage the anxiety and insomnia until they subside. For me, that was about 3 weeks.
poster:bleauberry
thread:836059
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080617/msgs/836093.html