Posted by SLS on October 2, 2005, at 17:01:09
In reply to Offsetting Effexor with Zoloft??, posted by Frazle on October 2, 2005, at 14:26:42
> I was on 300mg Effexor for about 1.5yr and wanted to get off because I was tired of the side effects, insomnia, constipation, and sweats. I also felt like I was copping better with life.
> I started weaning very slow:
> 225 2wks, 150, 2wks, 75 2wks, 37.5 2wks, from there I started to half the number of pellets every other day until I reached none, this took about 2 weeks.It sounds like you did everything right. During this process, did you experience any withdrawal symptoms at all?
> I have been off for about 1.5 weeks and have fallen unto bouts of anxiety and extreme depression like nothing I ever had before I started the Effexor. My partner is my objective gage. Btw: I have had all of the classic withdrawal symptoms from Effexor. Nausea, diarrhea, insomnia, brain zaps, tinnitus.
> Does this sound like a rebound effect or a relapse??
It would be difficult to distinguish between a true depression relapse versus a withdrawal rebound depression. That your depression is co-occurring with withdrawal symptoms might provide evidence that the depression is actually a rebound withdrawal symptom.
> I've never felt this bad ever!
I have found that an abrupt relapse of depression feels worse and has more attendant anxiety than what a more stable baseline depression would cause. In other words, it is possible that you are experiencing a true relapse, possibly being made worse by a withdrawal rebound.
I think your idea of switching over to another SRI drug makes sense. Prozac is the drug that is most often chosen. It has the longest half-life and is said to be a more gentle drug to discontinue. This method should work, even if you are not a Prozac-responder.
> I have some Zoloft that I'm considering taking short term. Has anyone ever tried using Zoloft as a weaning assistor?
Zoloft might relieve your symptoms temporarily, but then what? It would be interesting to see if a very small amount of Zoloft makes the withdrawal symptoms and depression disappear at the same time. It might indicate that the depression is indeed a withdrawal phenomenon.
One of the things you can do is try some Benadryl (diphenhydramine), and over-the-counter antihistamine with anticholinergic properties. People report that it really helps with the physical withdrawal symptoms. Another drug that might help is Phenergan (promethazine). It would be particularly helpful with the anxiety.
> What I want is to get off meds.
Me too.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:561964
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20050822/msgs/562007.html