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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 2 of 2. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Cazzie on October 5, 2001, at 8:41:13
Hi, just wanted to share this with you. I have been on Effexor and Xanax for depression/anxiety for 3 years and various other SSRIs prior to that combo. I want to get off my meds because I want to get pregnant next year.
I wound up addicted to 2mg a day of Xanax after a particularly stressful period in my life. I won't go in to details about how I got on it etc except it was under a doctor's care. I didn't even know I was addicted until a script ran out and I didn't renew it. Two days later I was into the biggest panic attack I had ever had and severe muscle cramps, disorientation, "sponginess" (if anyone understands that feeling- it was like nothing felt solid anymore). After that my doc just prescribed me some more - until recently. I told him I wanted to conceive soon and didn't want to do so while dependent on drugs that would affect my baby.
In his opinion (sorry this is long winded) I hadn't been on a large enough dose to be a problem coming off of it cold turkey and the previous panic attack was a coincidence. Ok says I, bowing to his experience...
You guessed the next bit.
I looked up Xanax withdrawal on the web and found that it is not so much the amount as the length of time on the drug that affects dependence. I took all that info to my doc and he agreed to try a very slow reducing regime and prescribed .25 mg tabs so that I could control the amount of reduction.
Well, I am down to .375mg per day after a few months. I experience a "bump" every .125 reduction and take an antihistimine to help me sleep and analgesic to combat the muscle pain and wait until I am stable for a week before going down again.
So, at this rate I have two or three more weeks to go before I am down to 0! I know these amounts sound really small but the effects on me were not small. I have had no panic attacks and remain on 75mg XR Effexor daily.
Effexor is the next to go I hope. Although Effexor has had the least side effects of any antidepressant I've tried, I do know how nasty coming off it can be - even after just skipping a couple of days while on holiday or whatever I hate the "shock" syndrome.
Thanks to everyone that contributes to this forum it has been a great resource for me over the years.
Caz
Posted by kid_A on October 5, 2001, at 18:03:28
In reply to Xanax withdrawal, success at last, posted by Cazzie on October 5, 2001, at 8:41:13
> Effexor is the next to go I hope. Although Effexor has had the least side effects of any antidepressant I've tried, I do know how nasty coming off it can be - even after just skipping a couple of days while on holiday or whatever I hate the "shock" syndrome.A few days? I get that feeling if I miss a dose, I take it three times a day... Maybe I should start taking more... Ughhh... That feeling of your whole body coursing w/ electricity and your brain feeling totally fried... It feels like you're going to die...
Xanax... My pdoc wont let me take more than 1.25 to 1.5 mg per day... I've been on it for about 3 month or more... I don't think I could get by w/ out it... Effexor and me don't always add up, but Im trying to stick it out until I get to some magic dose that makes everything 'click'...
Good luck... I know how it feels to skip your meds...
This is the end of the thread.
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