Posted by Katydid50 on January 21, 2004, at 16:51:48
In reply to Re: Long-term effects, posted by stjames on July 8, 2000, at 23:15:07
I left town for a long holiday weekend with everything except my Effexor XR 75 mg..(Initially prescribed for panic attacks)I had no intention of stopping, it just happened by accident. Despite being a registered nurse, I had no knowledge of the withdrawal symptoms and their severity. Less than 48 hrs without the med, I was as sick as I've ever been in my life. I had visual distortions that bordered on hallucinations, sense of unreality, positional vertigo,flu-like nausea and headache. Not since the 60's had I ever experienced a trip like this. In trying to analyze my symptoms, withdrawal seemed a likely bet. I called another nurse, who researched this topic for me and then I knew I was in trouble. And I felt so stupid, too! I should have known better. I called the physician on call and begrudgingly was prescribed 3 tablets; enough to get me through until I returned home. He had heard of this with Paxil but, not Effexor. After one dose, and approx 4 hrs I was starting to feel better. Then, I knew I had become physically addicted. I confronted my doctor with 2 inches of printed materials on the withdrawal syndrome & possible tapering programs using replacement drugs. His response was to just "take half of your usual dose". He tried to convince me that I should not come off it; eventually gave me 2 prescriptions: one for 75 mg & another for 37.5 mg and basically said to let him know how it was going,whatever I decided to do. I need to find an appropriate physician to help me set up a withdrawal program; it seems Prozac is the weaning drug of choice--longer half life. It's not easy to find physicians who know the protocol. I'm going to find a psych doc & keep my fingers crossed.
poster:Katydid50
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040118/msgs/303843.html