![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by sl on May 26, 2001, at 16:05:12
I think I just hit the wall. I took this nasty down-swing in mood yesterday, just like LAST time there were nasty thunderstorms headed our way. But this time I can't get back to normal. I'm just...horrible, in an awful sad mood and I just wanna sleep til ...forever. I dragged myself out and bought St Johns Wort and Evening Primrose Oil hoping to feel better in time to enjoy a little of this 3day wkend, but I think I may have hit the Wall...the Wall between being ON Effexor and NOT on Effexor. My teeth are tingling. :/
So I'm not going to take anymore. I was tapered down to 1/4 my peak dosage, and if I'm going to be miserable I might as well be _totally miserable_.So I'm going to lay down and watch sci-fi and pretend I'm sick. I may come back later to whine, but I'll try to keep it to this one thread at least. :P
I also asked my nurse to prescribe me codeine (after reading that other post about it) but I don't think she'll be back in the office to answer me til Tuesday. :/
sl
PS in case I didn't mention it, if anyone knows any secrets to make me feel better that don't involve alcohol or illegal ingredients, please PLEASE share.
Posted by DebbieLynn on May 27, 2001, at 10:49:13
In reply to Effexor Withdrawal, posted by sl on May 26, 2001, at 16:05:12
> I think I just hit the wall. I took this nasty down-swing in mood yesterday, just like LAST time there were nasty thunderstorms headed our way. But this time I can't get back to normal. I'm just...horrible, in an awful sad mood and I just wanna sleep til ...forever. I dragged myself out and bought St Johns Wort and Evening Primrose Oil hoping to feel better in time to enjoy a little of this 3day wkend, but I think I may have hit the Wall...the Wall between being ON Effexor and NOT on Effexor. My teeth are tingling. :/
> So I'm not going to take anymore. I was tapered down to 1/4 my peak dosage, and if I'm going to be miserable I might as well be _totally miserable_.
>
> So I'm going to lay down and watch sci-fi and pretend I'm sick. I may come back later to whine, but I'll try to keep it to this one thread at least. :P
>
> I also asked my nurse to prescribe me codeine (after reading that other post about it) but I don't think she'll be back in the office to answer me til Tuesday. :/
>
> sl
>
> PS in case I didn't mention it, if anyone knows any secrets to make me feel better that don't involve alcohol or illegal ingredients, please PLEASE share.
Hello! I am on Effexor and have heard horror stories about coming off of it. I am scared!!! I am on XR 225mg. I feel great! I have energy and my moods are even. What dose were you on?? I am so scared to come off of it. Did you wean slowly??
Posted by sl on May 27, 2001, at 12:16:35
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawal, posted by DebbieLynn on May 27, 2001, at 10:49:13
> Hello! I am on Effexor and have heard horror stories about coming off of it. I am scared!!! I am on XR 225mg. I feel great! I have energy and my moods are even. What dose were you on?? I am so scared to come off of it. Did you wean slowly??
I was on 150/day, time-release.
And it wasn't effective. Mebbe cuz I was't on big enuf dosage.
Don't be scared. If you have to go off it, then you DO and there's nothing to do but just take it one day at a time. BUT it sounds like it's working wonderful for you so you might not have to come off it.
When I came off it, I went to every other day...then half a dose every other day, then 1/4 dose every other day. And on Friday when my mood went downhill so bad, I decided NO MORE. :/The withdrawal isn't supposed to start for a couple days, but my teeth have been tingling and I've got no energy and...blech.
Anyway, relax and enjoy the benfits so far! :)
sl
Posted by DebbieLynn on May 27, 2001, at 20:01:03
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawal, posted by sl on May 27, 2001, at 12:16:35
> > Hello! I am on Effexor and have heard horror stories about coming off of it. I am scared!!! I am on XR 225mg. I feel great! I have energy and my moods are even. What dose were you on?? I am so scared to come off of it. Did you wean slowly??
>
> I was on 150/day, time-release.
> And it wasn't effective. Mebbe cuz I was't on big enuf dosage.
> Don't be scared. If you have to go off it, then you DO and there's nothing to do but just take it one day at a time. BUT it sounds like it's working wonderful for you so you might not have to come off it.
> When I came off it, I went to every other day...then half a dose every other day, then 1/4 dose every other day. And on Friday when my mood went downhill so bad, I decided NO MORE. :/
>
> The withdrawal isn't supposed to start for a couple days, but my teeth have been tingling and I've got no energy and...blech.
>
> Anyway, relax and enjoy the benfits so far! :)
>
> sl
It sounds to me that you may have gone off of it too fast. My doctor did tell me it can take 3-4 weeks to come off of it. I wonder why Effexor is so hard to come off of???Thanks - Debbie
Posted by sl on May 27, 2001, at 20:37:50
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawal, posted by DebbieLynn on May 27, 2001, at 20:01:03
> > The withdrawal isn't supposed to start for a couple days, but my teeth have been tingling and I've got no energy and...blech.
> It sounds to me that you may have gone off of it too fast. My doctor did tell me it can take 3-4 weeks to come off of it. I wonder why Effexor is so hard to come off of???I probably DID come off it too fast. But as soon as my mood went downhill, I knew I needed to get off it ASAP so I could start the new one that much sooner. I'm miserable, mentally and physically, and I need to start the new meds but I can't til Effexor has been done for a week.
The physical withdrawal symptoms are worse now, I haven't taken any Effexor since Thursday. I'm nauseous, dizzy, headachey, and twitchy. And so scatterbrained my friend told me he thought I should be on Ritalin. :P
But I've also read on here about people who took it all slow and stuff and STILL wound up miserable, so I might as well go faster if I'm going to feel lousy ANYWAY.
And my [wonderful] pharmacist told me it'll take 3 weeks for my brain to go back to "normal". :/
I have no idea why Effexor is so much worse to come off than other drugs, by the way, it really doesn't SEEM like it should be that much worse.I'm taking St John's Wort and Evening Primrose Oil to try to blunt the mood-crashes and side-effects too....and a week from tomorrow I start Nortriptyline. *shiver*
Can anyone give me a quick crash-course in Nortriptyline? What'll happen if I drink on it, does it cause any weird side effects that might not be in the literature, etc?
Thanks...
sl
Posted by Mitch on May 28, 2001, at 1:14:24
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawal Nortriptyline Qs, posted by sl on May 27, 2001, at 20:37:50
sl,
Been on nortiptyline-I found it the most tolerable of the tricylic antidepressants. If you were *tired* on Effexor, this might help. If it doesn't I would ask about some Desipramine or Wellbutrin (that is if you don't have anxiety troubles!).
> > > The withdrawal isn't supposed to start for a couple days, but my teeth have been tingling and I've got no energy and...blech.
> > It sounds to me that you may have gone off of it too fast. My doctor did tell me it can take 3-4 weeks to come off of it. I wonder why Effexor is so hard to come off of???
>
> I probably DID come off it too fast. But as soon as my mood went downhill, I knew I needed to get off it ASAP so I could start the new one that much sooner. I'm miserable, mentally and physically, and I need to start the new meds but I can't til Effexor has been done for a week.
>
> The physical withdrawal symptoms are worse now, I haven't taken any Effexor since Thursday. I'm nauseous, dizzy, headachey, and twitchy. And so scatterbrained my friend told me he thought I should be on Ritalin. :P
>
> But I've also read on here about people who took it all slow and stuff and STILL wound up miserable, so I might as well go faster if I'm going to feel lousy ANYWAY.
> And my [wonderful] pharmacist told me it'll take 3 weeks for my brain to go back to "normal". :/
> I have no idea why Effexor is so much worse to come off than other drugs, by the way, it really doesn't SEEM like it should be that much worse.
>
> I'm taking St John's Wort and Evening Primrose Oil to try to blunt the mood-crashes and side-effects too....and a week from tomorrow I start Nortriptyline. *shiver*
>
> Can anyone give me a quick crash-course in Nortriptyline? What'll happen if I drink on it, does it cause any weird side effects that might not be in the literature, etc?
>
> Thanks...
> sl
Posted by sl on May 28, 2001, at 10:06:26
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawal Nortriptyline Qs » sl, posted by Mitch on May 28, 2001, at 1:14:24
YES, I was horrifically sleepy on Effexor. Wellbutrin...I'm on a med vacation of sorts for the summer, cuz it wasn't working anymore, that's why I'm trying something new. Desipramine is next on the list. ;)
Could you tell me...where there any side effects besides fairly common ones?
And what happened if you had a few drinks while taking Nortriptyline?sl
> Been on nortiptyline-I found it the most tolerable of the tricylic antidepressants. If you were *tired* on Effexor, this might help. If it doesn't I would ask about some Desipramine or Wellbutrin (that is if you don't have anxiety troubles!).
Posted by Mitch on May 28, 2001, at 12:40:39
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawal Nortriptyline Qs, posted by sl on May 28, 2001, at 10:06:26
> Could you tell me...where there any side effects besides fairly common ones?
To be honest-it actually was the most tolerable of ANY antidepressant I have ever taken. I may ask pdoc to add it back when I cycle into a seasonal major depressive episode in July. I could sleep OK on it. I just took 20-25mg a day. If you are unipolar you probably are going to need 50mg/day maybe more. You need to start out low and titrate it up. You will get some dry mouth and blurred vision-but not as much as the other TCA's (and this fades some). I didn't get much dizziness from it like other TCA's (and much less dizziness than Remeron!). It is somewhat constipating. I have diarrhea-predominant IBS symptoms and it stopped that in a hurry! If you are 40+ you might want to get an EKG done when your blood level gets in the therapeutic range.
> And what happened if you had a few drinks while taking Nortriptyline?
A *few* drinks were no problem-aggravated dry mouth mostly. But watch it on overindulging a lot. If you get hung-over you can get some nasty vertigo and orthostatic hypotension the next day. Try not to go to sleep all buzzed-up and drink extra water before bed.
Posted by sl on May 28, 2001, at 13:53:26
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawal Nortriptyline Qs, posted by Mitch on May 28, 2001, at 12:40:39
>could sleep OK on it. I just took 20-25mg a day. If you are unipolar you probably are going to need 50mg/day maybe more. You need to start out low and titrate it up. You will get some dry
I dunno what "titrate" means, but I'm starting at 25mg and upping it by 25mg each week, absolute limit is 100mg. And yes, I'm Unipolar. I'll be doing most of the monitoring myself with very basic Dr's supervision, since her resident is lousy and she herself is rather too busy to try to be a Pdoc in addition to her normal duties as an internist. I know, I know, she IS willing to do it, but I want to be the least nuisance I can be so she doesn't try to refer me to a regular psychiatrist who I'll have to start training all over again. :P
>mouth and blurred vision-but not as much as the other TCA's (and this fades some).
I've never taken another tricyclic. I was on Wellbutrin, then Effexor, and now this Notriptyline in a week. Something to keep in mind...
>I didn't get much dizziness from it like other TCA's (and much less dizziness than Remeron!).
Oh, I'll keep that in mind! Remeron is farther down the list for if Nortriptyline isn't effective or the side effects are intolerable so I hope I just don't get that far.
>It is somewhat constipating. I have diarrhea-predominant IBS symptoms and it stopped that in a hurry! If you are 40+ you might want to get an EKG done when your blood level gets in the therapeutic range.
Nope, I'm 27 next wkend and other than major depression and airborne allergens, I'm healthy as a horse. ;)
There'll be no blood-level checks that I know of, just me knowing my body and what side-effects can be tolerated at the minimum dose effective. (if you understood that)> > And what happened if you had a few drinks while taking Nortriptyline?
> A *few* drinks were no problem-aggravated dry mouth mostly. But watch it on overindulging a lot. If you get hung-over you can get some nasty vertigo and orthostatic hypotension the next day. Try not to go to sleep all buzzed-up and drink extra water before bed.Okay, so you're saying the hangover will be worse than normal. Sounds like it's got taht whole dehydration side-effect that's so common on ADs.
I decided I'll start it the Monday AFTER my birthday so I can relax and drink what I want without worrying about [unanticipated] effects from alcohol.
But in general I don't drink often so it should be okay...I just want to be able to celebrate my birthday without worrying I'm going to get staggering drunk (like my LAST wkend on effexor!!!) on a fairly small amount of alcohol!!
Thanks a lot!sl
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.