Posted by KatieUK on March 14, 2004, at 19:53:33
In reply to Re: Efexor XR - Long Term Withdrawal - Anyone Else?, posted by Lizzy7711 on February 22, 2004, at 16:42:59
Just in case anyone wondered …. I think my last posting was about 4 months ago, and I’m still not off the efexor. But getting there, slowly. And when I say slowly, I mean extremely, extremely slowly. It’s frustrating and annoying, but I’m going to get there in the end – could be a good idea for Lizzy, for example, if you dod decide that you want to stop taking the drug; if you are patient, persistent, (good at counting,) and determined not to have to experience withdrawal symptoms (which I certainly am after having been there ‘only’ once), it does the job.
first I tried to reduce by taking one 37.5mg pill twice a day, but had symptoms before the next pill was scheduled. It then seemed logical to try taking less of the slow release capsule, so I put myself on a slow reduction plan. Gp asked advice from a different psychiatrist, one I’ve never met, who said to try without taking another medication, so:THE METHOD: first I tried to reduce by taking one 37.5mg pill twice a day, but had symptoms before the next pill was scheduled. It then seemed logical to try taking less of the slow release capsule, so I put myself on a slow reduction plan. First I opened the 75mg capsule and took out 5 granules (they do vary in size but I figured that it’d average out), then put it back together. The next day I took out 10 granules, then 15. then, when I started to feel some symptoms (bit of zapping and nausea) I stayed on the same amount for 2 days. Then went up to 3, then 4, for the same reason. Then I did go back to 3 (impatience got the better of me). Tonight will be my first night of counting out and chucking 170 – and boy, is it exciting(!) thought that I’d got halfway ages ago, but the one time I could be bothered to count all the granules in a capsule there were 278 – it really is a long haul. Since the bad symptoms only started after I’d stopped taking the drug altogether before, I am a bit worried about the end of the process, but logically I know that it has to work, even if I end up taking 1 granule every other day for 2 months! (joke)
SMALL ANECDOTE: I had food poisoning a few weeks ago, for just a couple of days. Then, a few days later, I started to feel sick. As I hadn’t felt quite like that with the poisoning, and as it had pretty much gone, I thought that it must have been a withdrawal symptom, and maybe I’d been going to fast or something. So I went up a bit – counted out a few less granules. But then I realised the obvious: it was because I had vomited in the middle of the night while ill, after taking my pill just prior to going to bed – I had thrown up the pill. And then, 4/5 days later, despite having successfully taken all pills in the interim period, I started to feel some withdrawal nausea. That, to me, illustrates a pretty extreme withdrawal reaction! (not meant in an ‘I’m worse off than any of you’ way – more an ‘how can it continue that this problem is not known about, not taken note of, and not warned about’ sort of way.)
ONE LAST THING: I am sooo tired so much of the time, and I’m sleeping sooooooo much. It’s my biggest frustration about still being on the efexor – I don’t know if I can attribute it to the drug (or withdrawal from it), something else, or just me. And I feel so lazy and guilty about sleeping so much. Sometimes in the day it’s like having been shot with a sleep-inducing bullet – I just HAVE to lie down and sleep STRAIGHT AWAY, or else roll over in the morning and go back to sleep. If this sounds familiar to anyone I would love to hear from them….
AND THE COMEDY ENDING IS: dues to (1) guilt at sleeping in the day being slightly reduced if it doesn’t involve going back to bed and (2) the much lower temperature in my bedroom, I have been sleeping (napping) on my sofa a lot recently. And I now have a very bad infestation of bedbugs in it. Have to get the man from the council to keep on coming round to spray poison in my living room, and he said that it wouldn’t have happened, or at least be anything like so bad, if I hadn’t been sleeping on the damn thing! Talk about a side-effect!!
poster:KatieUK
thread:104118
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040313/msgs/324411.html