Posted , 6 users are following.
Reducing from a three year regular 75mg use now been on 1 month of 37.5mg. Getting "electric shock"-type knocking in my head which seems to be helped by drinking more water..come off 37.5mg to none. AAAnyoneismilar statei
0 likes, 16 replies
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cheryl06744 patricia96761
Posted
I'm surprised your doctor didn't have you taper slowly in getting down from 75mg to 37.5mg. Slow taper reduces the severity of withdrawal symptoms. Get a gram/oz scale. If you are on the capsules it will require taking the beads out and weighing your doses. This will also allow to taper all the way down to 1 mg rather than jumping from 37.5 MG which I do not recommend you do.
Purpledobermann cheryl06744
Posted
cheryl06744 Purpledobermann
Posted
I've used a jewelry scale to weigh. So there is not counting beads involved.
kyber10774 patricia96761
Posted
I had an appointment with my Dr last week. Earlier in this forum I had noted that I had been on 300 mg a day for 4 years. The Dr indicated that under 225 mg there would be no significant or noticeable changes. (Wonder if he's ever taken it). It's been 6 week since I have been clear of it. Even my pharmacist is adamant that I should not be experiancing any issues. Last night, I had gone to bed and was watching some TV. I felt like I was cold and stared to shiver. I decided to get up and go for a warm bath to warm up. I reealized that I wasn't shivering - I was vibrating - all over my body. The warm bath soothed ad the vibrating finally stopped. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?
cheryl06744 kyber10774
Posted
Hi kyber,as I noted in my previous response tapers need to be done slowly. Doctors and pharmacists are oblivious to withdrawal symptoms and everyone's chemistry is different. Their logic is based on general information regarding antidepressants and very rarely will you find doctors that are knowledgeable about withdrawal symptoms as this is not a common study of practice . What you've experienced is a classic tardive withdrawal symptom. Your body had a delayed response to the reduced dose.
Suggestion is 10% reduction of current dose which i believe is every 4-6 weeks.
patricia96761 kyber10774
Posted
kyber10774 cheryl06744
Posted
It was a slow withdrawal - 6 weeks of reducing dosage. It's been an additional 6 weeks since I came off it completely.
cheryl06744 kyber10774
Posted
Sorry kyber I didn't see your previous posts. Are you saying you tapered down from 300 mg to 0mg in 6 weeks and are completely off of effexor 6 weeks to date now?
kyber10774 cheryl06744
Posted
That's right, and I'm still not feeling right. Somedays I compare the moods that I used to be in to to what they are now, and I wonder which is the real me. From what I have been told, and what I have read here, I just need to have patience and I will stabilize. Soon I hope!
Thanks
cheryl06744 kyber10774
Posted
6 weeks is still an extremely fast taper especially from such a high dose. But if you aren't too badly affected then you are really lucky and I commend you for choosing to be off of ADs.
If you continue to have odd withdrawal symptoms i found the survivingantidepressants forum a good source of information. The staff and moderators are past or current AD users.
Purpledobermann kyber10774
Posted
kyber10774 cheryl06744
Posted
Thanks for the info and support. You have been really helpful.
stephane patricia96761
Posted
Hi Patricia, I was on 75mgs. Effexor XR for over 12 years. I've been tapering over the past 3-1/2 years. I am now down to 3 beads. I've done this in a very controlled conservation slow manner. I have no w/d symptoms. As of 6 months ago, I've been removing 1 bead per month. There are different thoughts on counting beads but it has worked wonderfully for me. I start with taking the largest of the 3 beads for a month to 6 weeks, then one smaller bead with 2 large beads for another month to 6 weeks and so on until a month prior to my next drop I'm taking 3 tiny beads. Then, when I do the next drop, I'll be taking 2 large beads and so on. This method has worked wonderfully. I have no anxiety and my sleep is still good. I'll be finishing this taper over the next year or so with the view that once I get to the 1 bead, I'll alternate days until I finally wean myself off. This is my goal anyway so I'm hoping all this work won't come back to bite me. All the best!
cheryl06744 stephane
Posted
Carrie, what a safe and conservative timeframe. I'm sure you'll be fine especially if you aren't having an problems currently. I was on effexor 37.5 mg for 5 yrs and did an addituonal 1 yr tapper but towards the very end this past May I Unfortunately I got bite in the rear even with my long taper. Mostly all sensory issues. I got reinstated at a higher dose in june but not all sensory issues have been resolved as of yet. I had been on effexor twice before in the past same dose and always did a 1 yr taper. I didn't have any problems coming off before but those were both short term usage of 1 year or less. This time around the 1 year taper obviously want long enough but I found that out the hard way. Long story short. ..definitely slow slow slow taper depending on length of usage. If ever I'm lucky enough to stabilize I'm gonna do an even slower taper just like you.
stephane cheryl06744
Posted
Thank you Cheryl. You will stabilize, just requires some time. Once you've stabilized you can begin a very slow taper. Unless there's other reasons that you need to get off the Effexor right away, there's no point in rushing the taper. I work full time so need to feel good at all times or else I won't be able to function. This is primarily why I've chosen to be very safe and do this very carefully. I also don't have side effects from the drug, so there's nothing compelling me to speed up the process. It's all good. I won't drop unless and until I feel very very good at the time and I've held at that level for quite some time. I want my CNS to understand that it's not getting the drug it craves and in reducing in tiny tiny amounts over time is the way to do this. I'm confident you'll be fine and you'll beat this in time.