Posted by blueberry on May 14, 2006, at 6:58:36
In reply to Stopping Effexor suddenly and changing to Prozac, posted by Bonnie_CA on May 13, 2006, at 1:46:20
Staying with effexor for a while longer along with prozac is a good idea in my opinion. Years ago there was someone here that took both as a combo and did well with it.
Just because prozac is replacing effexor for the serotonin boosting, that doesn't mean there won't be withdrawals. There will be withdrawals. They will have nothing to do with serotonin. The body is accustomed to that effexor molecule in a lot of other ways besides serotonin issues.
For a smooth transition, take your time and make it long...weeks or even months. Dump a capsule of effexor into a small bowl or plate, and take a custom sized dose...you don't have to take the whole capsule. For example, you could divide out maye 2/3 of what is inside the capsule, then divide that into 3 parts and take 1 part 3 times a day. Each day make the parts just ever so slightly smaller than the day before. I've never seen the inside of effexor capsules, but I think I remember someone commenting that they were beads? If so, you can count how many beads you take at a time. Reduce how many beads you take each day. I remember someone saying they withdrew from effexor with no withdrawals by taking one less bead every day until finally they were down to just a few beads a day. It takes a while though. To avoid withdrawals, take your time and reduce the dosage in little tiny steps.
poster:blueberry
thread:643351
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20060505/msgs/643782.html