Posted , 11 users are following.
Hi, I'm in the process of switching from effexor xr (75mgs) to Prozac (20mgs). Has anyone done this and had a good experience? I suffer from anxiety and am worriied I have a rough road ahead of me. I'm wondering what I'm in for. Will my anxiety get worse? Will I have withdrawals from Effexor? I'm weaning off the Effexor and starting prozac at the same time. Thanks!
0 likes, 26 replies
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jcd111982 vanilla27
Posted
Greetings! I took Effexor for anxiety. My psychiatrist had me taper down from 150mg of Effexor to 75mg of Effexor over the course of a year. Then a month ago, I stopped taking 75mg of Effexor daily and started taking 20mg of Prozac. (I'd read that many people use an overlap/bridge strategy, but he advised against it.) Anyway, it's been a month and my anxiety is through the roof. My assumption is that it's actually being caused by withdrawal from Effexor. Surely this isn't how I'll feel for the rest of my life! Let me know if you've had this experience.
linda19709 jcd111982
Posted
laurence65441 linda19709
Posted
It's 1 + years on for me. It's so difficult to say anything other than anecdotal experience. I'm now on Ven 225,g + 15mg Mirtazapine and I think latter (known to help with sleep) does indeed help me sleep well. What they are doing to my brain I don't know! We all don't know (ordinary mortals and researchers). After all, these drugs hit receptors that have functions too myriad to consider. BUT although I personally feel that drugs have their place, for some people, and that some drugs work well with some people and poorly (or nastily) with others, I don't fee that anyone should neglect the others choices of help alongside drugs.
To hope that a drug alone will `cure' is (IMO) too much to hope for. So consider other `add-on' non-drug things e.g. talking therapy, mindfulness, whatever. An in the case of anxiety, find a way of exposing yourself to the anxious situations rather than avoid them.
Maybe u know something about how u got into this state, and so it may help to do something addressing that.
You don't have to do everything on your own too. Look for support places (self-help groups)
I've just been away to a place for a few days, and I was scared about how I would feel on this remote island a long way from home. I turned out to be a lot better than I had imagined. I know if someone told me what I've just said, that I'd still think `0h they don't know me', but at least on this occssion I was wrong
Not meaning to sound lecturesome!
Cheers
P.S. Feel free to ask anything else
laurence65441 linda19709
Posted
P.S. Although the people saying ( X or Y drug stopped working), bear in mind that this may appear to be true, but could be because it's your mental state that has got worse so the drug dose may no longer be sufficient. in depression this is termed `breakthrough depression'. I'm just saying this as something you need to consider. It's damn hard. Our mental states make it hard to be objective.
Guest vanilla27
Posted
Hi Jcd!
Rest assured, you are having the same experience I did
I was switched right over from paroxetine, which is just as bad coming off from as ven. You can't really tell what's withdrawals and what are side effects. But you are a month in, the worst of it should be pretty much over for you! I think around week 5-6 there was an improvement for me. I'm now at 9 weeks and I find myself being able to do things again without freaking out, laughing a bit etc.. I've stayed the course with 20mg and will continue until at least 12-16 weeks as that's when the most improvement is supposed to happen. I know it seems like such a long ways away, but if I can stick it out this long, anyone can. Trust me, I'm not a fan of being uncomfortable haha. I do still have loads of anxiety, but it is slowly improving. This med is so slow to work!
linda19709 vanilla27
Posted
Hi vanilla27, I see this is 2 yrs old, but just saw this. I have been on effexor for 17yrs, and it stopped helping. My dr is weaning me off of it, while adding prozac to make the transition tolerable. It's been abut a month. Not any fun. Besides the headaces, shakiness, feeling hot, todsy I felt like a panic attack came on. This is so hard to handle at times. I know it takes time. But, boy it would be nice to start to feel some improvement. And yes, it's hard to tell the difference between withdrawl and side effects. I would never wish this on anyone.
Chazgee vanilla27
Posted
Hi, i know this is an old feed but I am going through this just now. I was on fluoxitine for years for depression but i started getting bad anxiety so docs put me on venlafaxine. Thought I was dying at 1st until they put me on prolonged release lol. Anyway, they are great for anxiety but awful for my depression! I made the decision to go back on fluoxetine, even though I knew the withdrawals would be terrible as missing 1 was unreal! Im now down to 37.5mg venlafaxine XL and got 20mg of fluoxetine which doc says I can start just now. I'm a bit worried about it because i had to stop fluoxetine for a week before starting venlafaxine lol but that may have been because it wasn't the prolonged ones! Kinda feeling ok about it now as I see most of you were given the same. Anyway I'm babbling lol just wanted to put my bit in for future readers. I am so dizzy it's unreal, But i am getting there lol Doc says she'll give me propanadol along with the fluoxetine if my anxiety flares up...Wish me luck!
lynn67615 vanilla27
Posted
linda19709 vanilla27
Posted
Hi Vanilla, as of 2 weeks now I'm off of effexor, and been on 40mg prozac , still feeling rough. But I am going to see a psychiatrist in a few weeks. It doesn't seem like the prozac is doing the job. And maybe the dosage needs to be adjusted. I have worked with my family dr throughout this for the past few months, and was getting nowhere fast, as far as the symptoms I'm having. My suggestion is see a specialist if you're not feeling better after so much time. I think i.should have felt some improvement by now, but havent. So that's what I'm doing. Good luck to you, this is no fun, and I sympathize with all going thru this.
rdb84 vanilla27
Posted
Long story short was on 150mgs of ven for 10 yrs was able to wean my self of by taking it every few days over the span of a couple months. Was in a good mental state of mind and honestly don't remember the wds being to bad. Was med free for the past few years. And maybe not that short of a story after all. Over the past few months anxiety followed by depression returned. I went to my gp we tried Lexapro for a month didn't help. So I stupidity suggested to just go back on ven again. It's been a month on 75mgs with little to no improvement. My question is could I just replace Prozac for ven to try and avoid wds and possibly just give Prozac a chance?