Posted by SLS on July 9, 2000, at 16:06:18
In reply to Re: Possible withdrawal agony scares me, posted by riverrock on July 9, 2000, at 12:44:20
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> > I think I would just ask to be sedated for 2 weeks or something. Really scary and awful sounding.
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> > Shar
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> Shar, I spent about two hours this morning reading through the posts from the last 6 months or so.....Holy cow! I had no idea how scary this stuff could be...I am currently taking 400mg of Welbutrin and had just worked my way up to 75mg of Effexor XR to replace the Welbutrin, when I changed my mind!! Have already gone back to 37.5mg capsule and plan to ween myself off this week. Too, many horror stories, too many side effects...I am so sensitive to the sexual dysfunction side effects of SRI's I should have know this would be the same...I can put up with alot of side effects, but that ain't one of 'em!!!And at 75mgs it is already happening. Welbutrin alone just wasn't doing the trick...maybe my pdoc will find something else to combine it with....I like your idea of being sedated for 2 weeks :-)
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> Thank you everyone for all the information you have posted here and for helping me make another difficult dicision about AD's....Back to the drawing board......
> Beth
Dear Beth,Effexor is not a drug from Hell. It is an extremely effective antidepressant that has helped people for whom no other treatment was adequate.
I am a bit dismayed that you have decided not to try Effexor based upon what you have read here. For the most part, these complaints about Effexor involve the withdrawal symptoms that appear when it is discontinued too quickly. Other drugs have this same potential. Effexor is a good drug, and can really act well when combined with Wellbutrin. If the time comes when you must discontinue Effexor, there are ways of preventing intense withdrawal symptoms. First of all, it must be tapered slowly. I see too many people attempt to discontinue both Effexor and Paxil abruptly. Withdrawal symptoms are almost guaranteed under these conditions.
One of the better methods of discontinuing Effexor is to use Prozac as "buffer" substitute to allow the body to acclimate gradually to the loss of its serotonin action. I am surprised that I don't see this done more often here. The strategy is simple. Take one 20mg Prozac pill. Sometimes a second dose of 10mg is added a week later. That's it. It would be nice to hear from people who have tried this method to see how well it really works. I think I might start a new thread to find out.
If Wellbutrin is partially effective, I would be inclined to add another drug to it rather than switch. Effexor and Zoloft are good choices. Actually, Wellbutrin makes a good drug to combine with just about everything.
I am not suggesting that you try taking Effexor as your next drug, but I encourage you not exclude it from your list of alternatives.
Be well.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000708/msgs/39897.html