Posted by apenname on June 14, 2005, at 13:06:49
In reply to Re: How long do Effexor XR withdrawals last? » apenname, posted by SLS on June 14, 2005, at 7:57:58
I took a 37.5 mg pill yesterday and was finally able to think straight and get some work done.
I skimmed through the pamphlet that came with the Effexor XR samples. It not only listed a lot of interesting symptoms (I'd have to check, but many of them sounded like what's reported here) for both "normal dose" but also for discontinuation (it said "see precautions"). It looked to me as if everything people have experienced was listed, but listed in medical terms. (Also of interest was the number of people in the placebo group who had dizziness as a side effect in the short-term trials). I personally found reading the pamphlet interesting and good for relieving anxiety, but I was approaching it from a data analysis perspective and was trying to keep a firm lid on hypochondriac feelings.
My psychiatrist called back and said to do half pill a day for a week and then see if I can go to zero from there. He recommended having the half pill with peanut butter. The pamphlet said that if necessary, the capsule can be broken open and sprinkled on a spoonful of applesauce.
I agree with Scott, and other posters here, always be careful to slowly reduce dose. A nurse friend of mine had me vow not to go off the medication without doing it under psychiatric care, and chided me when she found out I'd dropped the last dose 3 days early.
Thanks for the benadryl advice, but I'm not going to try it. As it is, most medication (over the counter, etc), gives me side effects. Effexor was one of the ones that didn't, except for the blood pressure! So far, non-medication options which help are hot tea (caffienated black or green), exercise, reading a good book, and sleep. Dizziness and concentration problems seem to get much worse when I'm getting hungry, so food helps as well. I'm also going to be checking to see if I have low blood pressure (which dizziness is also a symptom of), as the main reason for discontinuing Effexor is because it increases my blood pressure.
I'll do the half pill a day as the doctor recommended. We'll see how it goes. I was actually planning on waiting until I was completely done with the Effexor and post my "No Effexor XR horrors" story here to let people know that there is at least one case where the dose reduction was easy!
-Meg
poster:apenname
thread:486906
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20050611/msgs/512592.html