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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by oublier on February 17, 2009, at 3:15:37
Hi everyone, I'm new here.
I'm being treated for MDD/dysthymia and GAD. I was on Zoloft from June 2007-July 2008 (was great for the depression but did nothing for the anxiety), Cymbalta (60mg) from July 2008-beginning of February 2009, and have been on Effexor (150mg) for about 10 days now. I ended up switching from Cymbalta to Effexor for drug plan reasons and there wasn't a washout period. I was prescribed Effexor by a different doctor several years ago but stopped taking it after a month because I found it was making my anxiety worse.
I'm really hating the side effects of the Effexor and while I know they do wear off with time, I don't really want to be on a drug so notorious for weight gain and rough discontinuation symptoms. I'm seeing my doctor (GP) today to talk about coming off the Effexor and trying something like Manerix or EMSAM. What's a reasonable weaning schedule? I just want to be off this stuff as soon as possible so I can start looking into non-SSRI/SNRI options that might be better for dysthymia.
Posted by Phillipa on February 17, 2009, at 11:20:16
In reply to Effexor weaning schedule, posted by oublier on February 17, 2009, at 3:15:37
Wecome to babble. What dose are you on now. You haven't been on it for long so I'd think just cut down and off. I dc'd effexor after l0 when first a new med and just stopped it. but that is me. Phillipa
Posted by jms600 on February 17, 2009, at 16:46:07
In reply to Effexor weaning schedule, posted by oublier on February 17, 2009, at 3:15:37
Yes - Effexor can be sheer hell to withdraw from. With it's long half-life, Prozac's elimination from the body is slower than other SSRIs - and so some people switch to Prozac when withdrawing from other SSRIs as the withdrawal problems are less severe. However you still need to taper the drug.
Where this is true with Effexor and Prozac I'm not so sure. I suspect so, but you would need to research it or post a separate question on here.
Posted by bleauberry on February 17, 2009, at 17:29:57
In reply to Effexor weaning schedule, posted by oublier on February 17, 2009, at 3:15:37
Everyone will have a different weaning tolerance.
You can empty out the capsules and split up the contents to make custom sized doses. That way you can drop down in small incremenets. Some people who successfully withdrew from effexor without much trouble did so by removing a tiny bit of the capsule contents each day.
It's the large drops in dose that hurt. Avoid those. Go down in tiny little steps.
How long to stay at each new low dose is up to you and your comfort level. Go as fast as you can, or as slow as you need to.
You can even do a PRN schedule after you have gotten the dose way down low. You can then stop cold, but take another tiny dose at any time you want, but not on any particular schedule. It is merely to stop withdrawals temporarily and buy you some more adjustment time.
Best bet, go slow and low. I know you are in a hurry. We all are. The faster you go the more it will hurt. The slower you go, the easier it is.
I withdrew from Remeron in about 4 weeks by slowing cutting tiny chunks off the pills with a razor blade, taking a little more off every other day or so.
Same strategy with Zyprexa, the hardest of all for me, but it went fairly smooth. To be that smooth it took about 2 months to get from 5mg to zero.
Same stragety with Paxil. Got from 20mg to zero in about a month cutting tiny bits of the pill at a time.
Xanax too.
About the only leftover withdrawal I had from any of these after the final dose was a bit of dizziness for a few days and some of the famous brain zaps though they were mild after such a careful extended weaning.
With capsulized meds, like Duloxetine or Effexor, you empty out the capsules and remove some of the beads inside. The remainder can be put back in the capsule or sprinkled on soft food not to be chewed, such as applesauce, yogurt, pudding. Just swallow it whole. No capsule needed.
This is the end of the thread.
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