Posted by Readersleaders on April 25, 2005, at 15:57:17
Here is my journal from start to present...slow and easy wins the
race.
MY EFFEXOR TAPERING JOURNEYWhere I started:
Prescribed Effexor for panic attacks: doseage progressed from
25mg/tablet once a day for a week to
37.5/mg/XR once a day for a week to 75mg/XR once a day for a week to
150/mg/XR once a day.Side effects: stomach upset, no feeling of emotion, horrific
nightmares, constipation, developed one bladder infection. Developed
a skin condition called:
*Erythema Nodosum* - is an allergic (delayed-hypersensitivity)
reaction that results in the formation of tender, deep (within
thesubcutaneous fat tissue), red bumps on the arms or legs,
particularly on the shins. General symptoms may include malaise,
fatigue and joint pain (most often in the ankles). The lesions
progress to a yellow colour looking like an old bruise. Lesions
generally are gone in 2-8 weeks without recurrence.--150mg/XR/once; stayed there for 1 1/2 years.
--75mg/XR once a day for 9 months. *(After the Erythema Nodosum was
diagnosed the Effexor was lowered to 75mg./XR. Lumps went away,
however I have red & purplish scarring where the lumps use to be)*--37.5/XR once a day for 6 months. Tried doing the "every other day"
dosing, but I felt so bad I just stopped taking it all together. 4
days past and the floodgates of withdrawal started. This what I
experienced:---Itching all over my body; randomly--first my arm, then my ankle, a
few minutes later the top of my head and so on.
---Pins and needle feeling all over body.
---Numbness in all extremities with alternating burning--like on fire
sensation
---Numbness in face; especially skin around and including my top lip.
---Extreme crying jags.
---Extreme feelings of rage
---Nightmares; weakup and feel like nightmare was more than my
reality.
---Clenching of teeth/muscle tightning (I now understand that these
are part of seizures*!!!)
---Panic Attacks (far worse then before I used the medication)
---Severe Headaches
---Extreme Chills (5 blankets--one a down comforter during the summer
(90degree temp. at night).
---Agitation
---Dizziness
---Swishing in my head when I turned my head
---Could not concentrate
---Extreme Diarrhea--using the bathroom 5-6 times a day.
Returned to family doctor who put me on 75mg/XR once a day; now on it
for 9 months.February 24, 2005:
6:30 p.m. - Made the switch from 75mg/XR capsules to taking one
37.5/mg tablet (twice a day). Initial transition was smooth--slightly
dry mouth--did not last more than an hour.February 25, 2005:
6:15 a.m. Upon waking I was coming out of multiple scarry dreams.
Felt very disoriented, slightly shakey and agitated. Was so
disappointed to be feeling this way I was thinking, "maybe the
tablets are not such a good idea and I should go back to capsules"
and I wanted the feeling to be over with. Ate small amount of
Cherrios and half a banana with skim milk. Took one 37.5 mg/tablet.
When disorientation left then I went back to sleep for another 2
hours. Put soothing music on while I slept. Woke up and felt fine.
The day has been very good and my state of mind and body very stable.February 25, 2005:
6:30 p.m. - 37.5/mg tablet. About an hour before taking the
medication my head starts to hurt--like a band is tightning around
it. I'm tempted to just go ahead and take the Effexor, but wait it
out until the scheduled time. I don't want to start taking it earlier
and earlier like being on a merry-go-round--only in reverse! I take
the med. at the right time. It's now 8:59 p.m. and I still have a
headache. Not sure if its totally medication related or not (as we
did eat supper kind of late). I'm drinking lots of water.Every time I tried to fall asleep I was awakened by something I was
doing in a dream. Or I would feel like something sucked the breath
out of my lungs and I would gasp for air. I just couldn't get past
the initial dream state. At 1:00 a.m. I woke with a groogy/doopy mind
and had a panic attack. I splashed cold water on my face, drank some
iced water and watched some Christian T.V. for about 20 minutes out
in the livingroom; I then decided I would stay and sleep on the
couch. I think the panic really kicked in when I realized that it was
Saturday and my doctor wouldn't be in if I wanted to contact him.February 26, 2005 - Saturday
6:15 a.m. - took medicine and then went back to sleep until 10:00
a.m.!!! I started feeling "normal" around 1:00 p.m. I was REALLY
tempted to take a capsule this morning since I didn't have unusually
disturbing times getting to sleep (like last night) while taking
them. But if I do that I will have no way to wean off. The rest of
the day was very good.6:30 p.m. - Saturday
Took med. Great evening; accomplished a much needed to be done task.
Had no problems going to sleep this time.February 27 - Sunday
6:30 a.m. - Sunday
Took med. Had a great sleep; woke and felt the best I have in a long
time. I'm hoping this means my body has adjusted to the tablets and
that I can start shaving some of the med. off sometime this week.February 27, 2005 - Sunday
6:30 p.m.
Sometime in the afternoon I had a panic attack, but it did not last
long at all. Took the med. and felt fine the rest of the evening.February 28 - Monday to March 2 - Wednesday
Taking medication 37.5mg tablet/twice a day. I have had no more panic
attacks in the night or day. There are vivid dreams every night--what
else is new?! It seems that my body has now made the transition from
capsules to tablets.March 3, 2005: Thursday --- March 7, 2005:Monday
Still taking 37.5mg tablets once at 6:30 am and once at 6:30 pm. My
body has totally adjusted to the tablets, no more trouble going to
sleep and no more panic attacks.******************************************
March 8, 2005:Tuesday Cut dosage
7:00 am - Took one 25mg/tablet plus (*)1/4 of a 37.5mg tablet.By taking one 25mg/tablet plus 9.375mg (1/4 of the 37.5mg) =
34.375mg/twice a day or 68.75 per day. That is a 6.25mg decrease from
75mg for the entire day or 8.335% decrease which is in the range of a
5-10% dose reduction that I have seen many other folks doing who are
tapering slowly like me. This is WAY better for me than reducing
dosages in half like most doctors will tell you to do.
(*)Here is how I divided the dose of 37.5mg into fourths:--Put a tablet on some freezer wrap or waxed paper.
--Crush the tablet into a *fine* powder.
--Form the powder into a rectangle making sure that the medication is
*evenly* distributed on all sides and height wise. This took me about
1/2 hour to get it just so using a thin bladed knife. Next time I
will try using a razorblade, hopefully it will take less time to make
the rectangle.
--Divide the rectangle of med. into 4 equal parts.Take only one of the four equal parts (I scraped mine onto a spoonful
of applesauce and I also take my 25mg tablet with applesauce inorder
to get the medication down smoothly. (Effexor tablets are extremely
bitter so you don't want them sticking to your mouth or throat.)
Drank a glass of water.Scrape each of the 3 individual equal parts *seperately* in 3
different containers. I'm using empty pill bottles. Saving the
medication will save you the effort of having to crush and divide the
Effexor every day and night.(Besides putting the 1/4 dose in applesauce, you can add juice to the
bottles and drink the medication out of that just to make sure you
get all the powder out. Then wash and dry the bottle for the next
time you have to store a 1/4 dose in it.)It is now 10:00am and I feel just fine.
March 9, 2005: Wednesday - March 10, 2005 - Thursday
Still taking 37.5mg tablets once at 6:30 am and once at 6:30 pm.
Feeling fine; still having no problems.One thing getting to bed on time is a MUST. Having at least 9 hours a
night ALWAYS makes me feel so much better. Especially with the
tapering--it's essential.March 11 - March 21st
Still at the same dosage.
March 22nd
I'm traveling and all the divided dosages I prepared have spilled. I
resort to going back to taking the 37.5 tablets since trying to
divide and store the medication is not convenient while away from
home.March 23 - April 5th
Continue taking the 37.5 tablet twice a day
April 6th - April 10th
Back home.
Took one 25mg/tablet plus 1/4 of a 37.5mg tablet/twice a day for a
total of 68.75mg/per day.
April 11th - April 14th *Dosage Cut*Took one 25mg/tablet plus 1/5 of a 37.5mg/tablet (7.50mg)/twice a
day, for a total of 65.00mg/per day.April 15th - April 24th *Dosage Cut*
I'm now splitting the 37.5/tablet and the 25mg tablet in half with
a "pill splitter". 1/2 of 37.5 = 18.75 and 1/2 of 25 = 12.50. Taking
half of each in the morning = 31.25mg and taking half of each in the
evening = 31.25mg for a total of 62.50mg for the day. Feeling just as
good at this dose as I did at 75mg.Some may wonder why I do not just take one 37.5 in the morning and
one 25 at night or visa versa; the reason is, I want to keep my body
as level as possible to minimize withdrawal problems.I take a multi-vitamin and use Calcium with Magnesium (Shaklee
Brand). I also take Flaxseed Oil (the kind you refrigerate). I've
just begun going to the gym in the morning--only using the treadmill
and bicycle machines; I do not want to overdo it. It continues to be
important to go to bed on time. Trying to eliminate "what if"
thinking and replace it with thoughts of how I want to feel and
picturing myself doing well in what otherwise were stressful
situations for me. And most importantly I could not to this without
Christ's strength. His love is a beacon of light that comforts and
dispels all darkness.RL
poster:Readersleaders
thread:489340
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20050424/msgs/489340.html