Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 6937

Shown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

Effexor

Posted by Lisa Frey on June 2, 1999, at 9:34:10

I take 75mg of Effexor BID for 2 years, every time I try to stop taking it I have horrible, horrible dreams, hallucinations, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, even though I taper off my dosage over 2 weeks. Any suggestions?

 

Re: Effexor

Posted by Lisa Yocum on June 2, 1999, at 12:55:45

In reply to Effexor, posted by Lisa Frey on June 2, 1999, at 9:34:10

> I take 75mg of Effexor BID for 2 years, every time I try to stop taking it I have horrible, horrible dreams, hallucinations, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, even though I taper off my dosage over 2 weeks. Any suggestions?

I've been taking prozac for six years. I decided, with the approval from my psychiatrist, to make a go of it without an antidepressant. That was around Christmas. By late March we decided I should resume taking an antidepressant. We both thought effexor would be a good possibility. For the past two months I have been okay on the effexor accept for extreme constipation. My refill expired (he gave me a two month trial). I've talked to him on the phone, and I've got an appointment scheduled with him tomorrow. But I quit taking the 150mg. of effexor ten or eleven days ago, and I am having some horrible withdrawls. I just want to know if you have heard from anyone else about this. I am a recovering alcoholic and have not had a drink in 5 1/2 yrs. But I don't remember ever having a hangover that felt this awful even after some of my largest drinking episodes. I don't think I have been this physically, emotionally, and mentally debilated EVER. My hope is that I can get back on the prozac and be fine. But it dawned on me this morning that I might be like this for a long time. Do you have any idea when this will go away?

 

Re: Effexor discontinuation

Posted by John on June 3, 1999, at 11:23:47

In reply to Re: Effexor, posted by Lisa Yocum on June 2, 1999, at 12:55:45

I've had this problem as well, but once you start taking effexor again, the discontinuation symptoms disappear rapidly.

I had similar problems with withdrawal on paxil (after it lost efficacy), but my shrink added a small dose (10mg) of prozac for a couple of weeks and the withdrawal went away. Also, I continued decreasing the doses slowly with paxil over the period of a month. My doc said the withdrawal has to do with the shorter half-lives of these drugs (esp. effexor) causing a rapid drop in serotonin levels and hence the nasty discontinuation symptoms. Since prozac has an epic half-life (72 hours?), it maintains the serotonin level long enough to prevent the symptoms. I don't react well to prozac (makes me feel anxious), but the dose was low enough to not increase anxiety much and still keep discontinuation at bay--honestly, a slow burn, low-level anxiety is MUCH better than discontinuation syndrome.

 

Re: Effexor...women and sex

Posted by sally on June 25, 1999, at 0:40:54

In reply to Effexor, posted by Lisa Frey on June 2, 1999, at 9:34:10

I have been taking Efexor for about six months and Depakote for about a year now, and I have been noticing some pretty strange sexual side effects. Every time I orgasm, I lose control of my bladder and urinate. This is not female ejaculation, since it is clearly urine that is coming out. It is very embarrassing not to mention gross. I was wondering if anyone else has been having the same problems. If you do, please email me at medzgirl@yahoo.com.

 

Re: Effexor

Posted by Anne on June 27, 1999, at 14:15:25

In reply to Re: Effexor, posted by Lisa Yocum on June 2, 1999, at 12:55:45

I stopped Effexor twice (300mg) 'cold turkey' and each time the effects were strong. The first time, I had such intense, incredible dreams that I actually enjoyed the experience. The worst side effect was that I slept for most of two days. The second withdrawal was horrible. I felt so nauseaus, I nearly went to the hospital. My dreams were absolute nightmares that ended with me screaming myself awake because people or animals were trying to kill me. This lasted several days, until I finally restarted the medicine.


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