Special Effexor: A reader shares.
This is from a blog reader named Liam, vis-a-vis Effexor withdrawal and other pharmacological cocktails.
Honestly, for all the horror stories, Effexor withdrawal is a little scary, but not all that bad, if you need to go off it. The "shocks" that get reported on all the websites will scare the shit out of you the first time or two they happen (I was convinced I was having an epileptic seizure or a heart attack) but aren't dangerous or painful, and as long as you aren't driving or operating heavy machinery, they're not incompatible with leading a normal life for the 2 or 3 weeks you get them. (It's interesting to note that the antidepressants which people complain the most about withdrawal from, Effexor and Paxil, both have extremely short half-lives.)
Also, I would hope that down as you've seemed to be the last few weeks that you wouldn't just stop taking Effexor-- if you get switched to another drug or drugs, as long as they're hitting both receptors (norepinephrine and seratonin), you should get few or no withdrawal symptoms. That means an SSRI and Wellbutrin, or a tricyclic or tetracyclic, should do the trick. I'd place Effexor withdrawal just below Paxil withdrawal for unpleasantness, but both of them of are an order of magnitude less unpleasant than Klonopin or Adderall withdrawal, both of which I've done as well.
I can't take Prozac either-- I'm the only person in four generations of my family who's unipolar/dysthymic (though I'm still in my early 30s, so who knows?) rather than type 1 bipolar, but the genetics are there, so docs have always been afraid to give me Prozac, which can take a week to get out of your system if you start getting loopy on it. Zoloft I'm on now, but in almost homeopathic doses-- more than 75mg a day, and I get all of the most unpleasant SSRI side effects. (My current cocktail is a mix of Zoloft, Pamelor, and Adderall. Worked so far for a bit more than a year.) Over the years, I've been on Paxil (pooped out, but great while it lasted), Effexor (ditto, wouldn't have made it through law school without it), Pamelor (tough side effects at doses higher than 75mg/day), Wellbutrin (doesn't agree with my stomach), Celexa (made me unbelievably sick), Strattera (did nothing but give me dry mouth), and the aforementioned Zoloft, in addition to the lithium and Depakote I was on as a teenager when everyone was concerned I'd get manic if I was on antidepressants. And the usual variety of benzos for anxiety, but I think I've been happier off Klonopin than on it, and Atavan screws with my memory, bad.
I find hearing from people like Liam very helpful. Write to me or post a comment here about your own experience.
Comments
I've been on Pamelor for years. The new stuff doesn't work. There was an article in Science recently about tricyclics and ECT as having beneficial brain effects - see about Protein 11 in Science, I think. It makes changes. I haven't had to try to get off Klonopin yet. That's been a few years too.
My only fear is that I can't get hired anywhere, because they'll look up my health records, paranoid but not far off, the jobs are mostly at academic institutions.
I appreciate your ability to remember all the med combinations. I'm doing somewhat okay with Pamelor, Klonipin and Clonazepam. But, I know it's all about to change. Thank god, i'm already through school.
Posted by: Gena | February 21, 2006 11:15 PM
I've been on Pamelor for years. The new stuff doesn't work. There was an article in Science recently about tricyclics and ECT as having beneficial brain effects - see about Protein 11 in Science, I think. It makes changes. I haven't had to try to get off Klonopin yet. That's been a few years too.
My only fear is that I can't get hired anywhere, because they'll look up my health records, paranoid but not far off, the jobs are mostly at academic institutions.
I appreciate your ability to remember all the med combinations. I'm doing somewhat okay with Pamelor, Klonipin and Clonazepam. But, I know it's all about to change. Thank god, i'm already through school.
Posted by: Gena | February 21, 2006 11:15 PM