Posted by fairnymph on August 1, 2002, at 12:12:10
In reply to HELP efexor withdrawal - how long will it go on?, posted by swingsnroundabouts on July 31, 2002, at 17:34:23
Two things:
1) Taper more slowly/gradually. If you taper VERY GRADUALLY (going down by 25-50 mg every 5 days..and yes you will need to get some Effexor IR as Effexor ER does not come at those doses) it will be better. Once you get down to 25 mg you might have to taper to 12.5 mg by cutting the 25 mg's tablets in half and taking that dose for several days. If the withdrawal effects are still unbearable, go down by a smaller dose,and/or stay for a few more days at that dose. LISTEN to your body. I was taking the max dose of Effexor (450 mg) and it took me 6 weeks to come off it fully.
2)Discuss using a low dose of an SSRI (prozac with it's long half life would be a particularily good choice) to help buffer the withdrawal. This is a fairly common practice and while I didn't know about it when I was going off Effexor, I have heard that it works really well.
Good luck and I hope you start feeling better soon. As I said above, the key is to do this GRADUALLY and to LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.
~fairnymph
poster:fairnymph
thread:114684
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020731/msgs/114803.html