Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 1096758

Shown: posts 1 to 18 of 18. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs

Posted by Mission7 on January 29, 2018, at 21:18:39

Quitting EffexorXR after 20 years Update: Quitting was mostly uneventful. I tapered the dose VERY slowly over the period of a month and a half and my last dose was Jan 2 and consisted of 3 little BBs. I feared it was going to be a nightmare, but it's been pretty uneventful.

Until now.

For the last two weeks I've noticed myself getting little teary spells here and there due to the worsening health of my dog. Tonight, I had a panic attack which put me running at the track and taking a Lorazepam. Running calmed me down until the Lorazepam took hold and now I am OK.

My fears are that after quitting 20 yrs of ADs, I'm heading straight for a major depressive episode in the near future.

I was hoping not to go back on Effexor and, would like to try something else. Something with a similar profile.

I've proactively been trying to meditate, exercise and do ALL the things the books say. Not sure what to do.

 

Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs

Posted by Lamdage22 on January 30, 2018, at 1:36:13

In reply to Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs, posted by Mission7 on January 29, 2018, at 21:18:39

You probably did it too quickly according to most professionals that advocate getting off psychiatric drugs. The consensus is 5-10% less every 4-6 weeks. It is not unusual that withdrawal effects kick in a few weeks after. You could go back on a small dosage and titrate VERY slowly from there.

 

Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs

Posted by Christ_empowered on January 30, 2018, at 6:52:40

In reply to Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs, posted by Mission7 on January 29, 2018, at 21:18:39

hi. try to be patient with yourself, as best you can. its OK to have emotions, even in the 21st century.

supplements help some people. I'm into Orthomolecular, myself, but...its not for everyone.

do you write, do art work? sorry about your dog.

im happy that you've been able to taper the effexor. not everyone goes thru a nightmare getting off psych drugs.

hope things get better for you.

 

Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs

Posted by SLS on January 30, 2018, at 8:28:19

In reply to Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs, posted by Lamdage22 on January 30, 2018, at 1:36:13

> The consensus is 5-10% less every 4-6 weeks.

I question whether or not this represents a consensus.


- Scott

 

Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs » Mission7

Posted by SLS on January 30, 2018, at 8:30:10

In reply to Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs, posted by Mission7 on January 29, 2018, at 21:18:39

I think that you are relapsing.

Why did you discontinue Effexor?


- Scott


> Quitting EffexorXR after 20 years Update: Quitting was mostly uneventful. I tapered the dose VERY slowly over the period of a month and a half and my last dose was Jan 2 and consisted of 3 little BBs. I feared it was going to be a nightmare, but it's been pretty uneventful.
>
> Until now.
>
> For the last two weeks I've noticed myself getting little teary spells here and there due to the worsening health of my dog. Tonight, I had a panic attack which put me running at the track and taking a Lorazepam. Running calmed me down until the Lorazepam took hold and now I am OK.
>
> My fears are that after quitting 20 yrs of ADs, I'm heading straight for a major depressive episode in the near future.
>
> I was hoping not to go back on Effexor and, would like to try something else. Something with a similar profile.
>
> I've proactively been trying to meditate, exercise and do ALL the things the books say. Not sure what to do.

 

Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs

Posted by Mission7 on January 30, 2018, at 9:44:07

In reply to Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs » Mission7, posted by SLS on January 30, 2018, at 8:30:10

> I think that you are relapsing.
>
> Why did you discontinue Effexor?
>
>
> - Scott
>

I quit cause it had been so long and sometimes I thought it wasn't doing any good.


Last night after gobbling down 1 mg of Lorazepam I would able to relax. An hour or so after that, however, I vomited for 10 minutes.

Could it be the flu?
Flashbacks?
A mix?

I started taking some Effexor again.

 

Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs » Mission7

Posted by SLS on January 30, 2018, at 10:26:52

In reply to Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs, posted by Mission7 on January 30, 2018, at 9:44:07

> > I think that you are relapsing.
> >
> > Why did you discontinue Effexor?

> I quit cause it had been so long and sometimes I thought it wasn't doing any good.
>
>
> Last night after gobbling down 1 mg of Lorazepam I would able to relax. An hour or so after that, however, I vomited for 10 minutes.
>
> Could it be the flu?

I don't know. Withdrawal from serotonin reuptake inhhibitors is sometimes described as being flu-like.

> I started taking some Effexor again.

Please post your results.


- Scott

 

Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs

Posted by Mission7 on January 30, 2018, at 11:03:48

In reply to Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs, posted by Mission7 on January 30, 2018, at 9:44:07

I remember when I first took Effexor it gave me a sense of euphoria. IT WAS FUN! Over the years, it changed to something that just prevented major episodes and anxiety attacks.

I would like to try an older $SSRI with characteristics not unlike Effexor at low doses. The highest does I maintained was 150mg/day

 

Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs

Posted by Lamdage22 on January 30, 2018, at 12:35:41

In reply to Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs » Mission7, posted by SLS on January 30, 2018, at 8:30:10

> I think that you are relapsing.

Thats the usual that you will hear from your psychiatrist. He discontinues it way too quickly and then tells you that it is your illness resurfacing. Sometimes that may be true, but often times its not.

To each his own.

 

Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs

Posted by Lamdage22 on January 30, 2018, at 12:39:52

In reply to Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs, posted by Lamdage22 on January 30, 2018, at 1:36:13

I recommend getting off, but not right now. You could log onto www.survivingantidepressants.org and tell them how you titrated. They will probably recommend to reinstate a small dosage and then titrate correctly (no more than 10% every couple weeks) from there.

It all depends on who you ask!

 

Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs » Mission7

Posted by SLS on January 30, 2018, at 15:59:11

In reply to Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs, posted by Mission7 on January 30, 2018, at 11:03:48

> I remember when I first took Effexor it gave me a sense of euphoria. IT WAS FUN! Over the years, it changed to something that just prevented major episodes and anxiety attacks.
>
> I would like to try an older $SSRI with characteristics not unlike Effexor at low doses. The highest does I maintained was 150mg/day

Why do you want to limit yourself to an older SSRI? They are more likely than Effexor to produce apathy and sexual side effects.

No SSRI can act like low dosages of Effexor. The first SSRI that doctors choose now is Lexapro.

Only 150 mg/day of Effexor?

If you decide to return to Effexor as a treatment, I would investigate going up to at least 300 mg/day if you can tolerate it. 450 mg/day is not unheard of. I think there is something that higher dosages of Effexor have that Pristiq, the metabolite of Effexor, lacks. I don't know of anyone who failed to respond to high dosages of Effexor who went on to respond to Pristiq at 100 mg/day. Maybe someone else can comment.

Another avenue might be to work with drugs that inhibit the reuptake of serotonin and modulate receptors at the same time. Viibryd and Trintellix are examples. I may try Trintellix (vortioxetine). It is supposed to be pretty clean and works to improve cognition, even in the absence of an antidepressant effect. If I fail to respond to it, I am going to try Effexor 300-450 mg/day.

I am most interested to see what others have to say here.


- Scott

 

Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs

Posted by Christ_empowered on January 30, 2018, at 16:58:15

In reply to Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs, posted by Mission7 on January 30, 2018, at 11:03:48

hi. what problems do you get during depression? ssri drugs help a lot with ruminations and ocd-type problems. they're kind of...emotional novocaine, though, so there's a numbing component to taking one.

personally, wellbutrin helped me as well w/ parts of depression as the ssri drugs did, but w/o as much apathy. some people take wellbutrin plus an ssri, to get more broad spectrum symptom coverage.

my other thought would be to go back to effexor and add something. maybe remeron, at night? i forget the underlying mechanisms, but that combination helps some people.

not all depression is treated with antidepressants. i take lamictal, and that helps. some people take stimulants. some people just do psychotherapy. low doses of the newer tranquilizers sometimes help, sometimes.

sorry you're suffering.

 

Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs

Posted by baseball55 on January 31, 2018, at 17:22:19

In reply to Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs, posted by Mission7 on January 29, 2018, at 21:18:39

I understand that you would worry about possibly becoming depressed again after 20 years on an anti-depressant. But aside from a general worry, why think you may be relapsing? You have been sad and teary about your dog - perfectly normal and understandable. You felt panicky once, but coped well with exercise and ativan.

You're off the effexor. Why not just see how it goes?

> Quitting EffexorXR after 20 years Update: Quitting was mostly uneventful. I tapered the dose VERY slowly over the period of a month and a half and my last dose was Jan 2 and consisted of 3 little BBs. I feared it was going to be a nightmare, but it's been pretty uneventful.
>
> Until now.
>
> For the last two weeks I've noticed myself getting little teary spells here and there due to the worsening health of my dog. Tonight, I had a panic attack which put me running at the track and taking a Lorazepam. Running calmed me down until the Lorazepam took hold and now I am OK.
>
> My fears are that after quitting 20 yrs of ADs, I'm heading straight for a major depressive episode in the near future.
>
> I was hoping not to go back on Effexor and, would like to try something else. Something with a similar profile.
>
> I've proactively been trying to meditate, exercise and do ALL the things the books say. Not sure what to do.

 

Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs » Lamdage22

Posted by Mission7 on February 2, 2018, at 21:11:11

In reply to Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs, posted by Lamdage22 on January 30, 2018, at 12:39:52

Thank you for the SurvivingAntiDepressants.org link. I read through that and started to spike with a little Effexor, which seems to be helping.

 

Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs » baseball55

Posted by Mission7 on February 2, 2018, at 21:15:23

In reply to Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs, posted by baseball55 on January 31, 2018, at 17:22:19

It's more than just a little teary eyes and nervous. That horrible sense of all encompassing doom began to return. And it happened so quickly!

 

Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs » SLS

Posted by Mission7 on February 2, 2018, at 21:23:57

In reply to Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs » Mission7, posted by SLS on January 30, 2018, at 15:59:11

If I were to try something I would hope for something that is available in a generic form.

From my memory: Effexor serotonin with low dose and norepinephrine at high doses. High doses of Effexor made me very angry.

 

Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs

Posted by Mission7 on February 2, 2018, at 21:25:47

In reply to Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs » SLS, posted by Mission7 on February 2, 2018, at 21:23:57

All and all, I feel OK. The crying spells a diminishing and I'm able to get a little work done. I began spiking my day with Effexor BBs here and there and Lorazepam when needed.

 

Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs » Mission7

Posted by SLS on February 2, 2018, at 22:41:50

In reply to Re: Quitting Effexor After 20 yrs » SLS, posted by Mission7 on February 2, 2018, at 21:23:57

> If I were to try something I would hope for something that is available in a generic form.
>
> From my memory: Effexor serotonin with low dose and norepinephrine at high doses. High doses of Effexor made me very angry.

Yes, at higher dosages, Effexor hits NE as well as 5-HT. I'm sorry that you don't react well to high dosages.

I hope you find the right balance.


- Scott


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