Posted , 5 users are following.
I am being weaned off of effexor that I've taken for 17 yrs, plus taking 40 MG of prozac, which may make this more tolerable. So I'm into a month of this transition, and today, (6-27-18) besides all of the other things I'm feeling, I got a real panicky feeling today, and pretty anxious. Will this ever get better, I fight tears daily.
0 likes, 5 replies
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tammy76379 linda19709
Posted
Hi Linda. Awww, it's a tough thing to wean off. I did it several months ago after being in it for 13+ years. But I'm back on it. Long story, but I'm glad to be back in it. But my question is why are you weaning off? If you are feeling good on it, there must be a medical reason? If that's the case, you may be weaning off too fast.... Withdrawal from Effexor can be harsh if done too quickly. It took me closer to three months to wean off to try Lexapro, which didn't work for me.
But the withdrawal your feeling is very normal . Your brain got used to this medication and it's going to take a while to leave your system. Remember way back when you started, it took at least 4 weeks before you felt a difference and probably closer to 8 weeks before you started to feel like yourself again. That's why I question why you're weaning off.
If you have some Ativan, trying taking a little of that to help you over the rough spots. I use a small dose (25mg) of trazadone to sleep so I don't wake up with anxiety. It's not addictive and I have no withdrawal from it if I don't take it for a few days.
Anyway, if you want to private message me or need more feedback from others here, please do so! God bless you!!!!
linda19709 tammy76379
Posted
Hi Tammy, I'm not sure how to private message on this forum. But the reason I am stopping the effexor is because it has stopped helping me. I recall about a month and a half ago, feeling like a disconnected and anxious feeling, which was not going away. That's when I contacted my dr. And she originally put me on 20mg of prozac, and that made me feel terrible, anxious, hot, just very out of my mind. She said it was probably too much seratonin, so from there she sent me a schedule to get off of the effexor. Then I felt real anxious again, and she increased the prozac to 40mg, which is where I am now. A month into the 40mg, and I have 2 days left of taking the 37.5mg of effexor. I knew I would feel bad, but didn't expect to feel panicky today. It kind of scared me. Luckily, I have access to texting or calling my dr. But I try not to bug her too much.
carl67287 linda19709
Posted
I used to be on fluoxetine Prozac 20mg but it seemed to not be working I take activan 1mg each morning also and have today started .5mg to wean off that too feeling a bit shaky and yuck
Ops_gal linda19709
Posted
LInda, I feel your pain. After being on Effexor for about that same number of years, I decided to see if I could come off it. The only reason I can give for wanting to try is that I just wanted to see if I could go w/o it. When I first started taking it, I was also drinking HEAVILY. I'm almost 8 years sober now so really thought, HEY, lets try to see what 100% "clean" looks like. I researched on line, reduced my dosage slowly week after week (for two months). I started at 150 milligrams. Was doing pretty good til I got to 10 milligrams and then all hell broke loose. I felt , well...….the feeling is kind of hard to put into words.....TEARY for sure, but the rest of it is probably exactly what you are feeling right now. Just disconnected, overwhelmed by life, nausea, . All kinds of fun stuff. Like the other person that replied, I went back on a low dose. If I was 'ill' from anything else, I wouldn't deny myself medicine and I have learned that , like it or not, I needed this low dose (37.5) to feel like myself.
I am glad you are working with your Dr to do this. I have been told that Prozac will help. Its about finding what works for you. Personally, I could not even function by the time I got to 10 milligrams. It was AWFUL and I just wasnt' willing to put myself thru that. I wish you the best of luck.
linda19709 Ops_gal
Posted
Thank you Opsgal, it helps knowing that I'm not alone in this adjustment. I would have thought that by this time, it would have been easier, but with each dosage change there is a change in how I feel, and it's not a good feeling. I appreciate you responding, and hope you're doing ok.