aaa50 - withdrawal from effexor

[Altostrata]

Nadia, in this case aaa is going off Wellbutrin so she can reinstate a bit of Effexor. I'm not advocating forcing it, but I do think she can move along with the Wellbutrin tapering so she can reinstate before that window closes.

[aaa50]

Hi Alto and everyone,

Things are not good..

slipped slowly after the weekend into depression.

yesterday was a vey bad day.

This morning I feel I have a bar inside my head....or half my brain is not working.

The dysthymic feeling is too much for me to handle...the irritability is another.

All this is giving me panic symptoms as well.

My husband is very supportive but is losing slowly his patience.

I don 't think I can do much more like this and at times wish I was dead.

While I will continue the taper as scheduled off wellbutrin, I am reinstating on 37.5 Effexor.

I really had hoped this would not happen but the too fast taper off effexor 6, 7 weeks ago was a bad choice.

I have asked my brain specialist twice if I could take wellbutrin and effexor at the same time....he said yes, he gives people already on an AD bupropion for smoking issues.

 

I am not sure Alto but is the window for reinstating a few weeks?

I am now 7 weeks away from effexor...maybe too late?

[Baxter]

I'm no expert, but you tapered very quickly and are still in the two-month window. Give it a try. If it's going to help, you should see signs within a few days or a week, I would think.

 

I am so sorry you're having a rough time, aaa50.

[aaa50]

Thanks Baxter.

My family and some of my friends are disappointed in me...

I am too, in myself, but I tried and that is all I can say.

I told my husband I would not want him to go through this....

I believe had I done a slow taper off effexor, I would have had a better chance.

This was too fast and it almost destroyed me.

Effexor used to work for me fast...faster than the 4 to 6 weeks waiting time so hopefully it will do it again.

[Altostrata]

aaa, we can't tell if reinstatement will work at this point. Give it a chance.

 

You don't need to go all the way up to 37.5mg, you might find some relief at half that amount.

 

Withdrawal syndrome can be very, very difficult for everyone, you may need to educate your friends. Don't be disappointed in yourself, you did the best you could.

 

It may be rough for a while; you will recover in time.

[aaa50]

Hi Alto,

My mood is much better since yesterday....although the physical stuff, the burning and stinging in particular on my face, neck and arms, is still there.

My bones feel they are glowing.

I feel as if I have just come out of a dreadful war and am shell shocked.

My confidence that I had build up over the years seems to have evaporated...

This latest blunder has truly thrown me for a loop.

 

I know I did the best I could under the circumstances and the place this all took me was not a safe one.

I can imagine that it will take some time to recover from the mess.

Both physical and emotional.

 

I continue the course of the Wellbutrin taper and now at week 2....37.5 twice a day.

My pharmacist seems interested in my schedule..he too suggested the once every other day method but seeing me in this state, he was horrified.

I don't think he will continue to suggest this to others.

[Altostrata]

....

This latest blunder has truly thrown me for a loop.

 

I know I did the best I could under the circumstances and the place this all took me was not a safe one.....

 

aaa, what was the blunder?

 

It sounds to me like you had a bad wave. This characteristic of withdrawal syndrome recovery is indeed discouraging for any of us, because we all assume when we start to feel better, we'll continue to recover.

 

Did you start to take the Effexor again?

[aaa50]

Alto, the blunder was the once every other day for 10 days with effexor which I had taken for 10 years and than over to Wellbutrin which didn't seem to be a good drug for me.

I should have known this was a bad way to taper off Effexor since I knew about the head zaps each time I was late taking it....what on earth made me think I could alternate days is beyond me.

In any case, since it is a different drug than Effexor, it obviously could not cover anything effexor withdrawal was causing me.

So it was a hazardous situation...in withdrawal from one and getting used to another all at the same time.

I am sure that had I tapered ever so slowly over a period of months, even a year, I would have had a better chance at it.

This was practically cold turkey.

I can't believe my doctor has never seen this in his practice which is in one of the biggest teaching hospitals in the city.

He teaches student Neurologists and Neuro-Psychiatrists.

He is totally baffled by all the burning I have.

However, come to think about.....when I mentioned many years ago the book I'm Dancing as Fast As I Can by Barbara Gordon and told him my story was the one described in that book, he said that they have used that book in the classes at the University and concluded that Barbara had a panic disorder, reason for her difficult withdrawal from valium.

We all know that this was far from the truth.

Others thought of her as an addict...another lie.

 

Yes, I reinstated yesterday..37.5mg.

Mood is not great but better...at least no thoughts of wanting to end it all.

But skin is still on fire, all my bones seem they can glow in the dark.

I am also on the first day of taking regular Wellbutrin twice a day ( total of 75mg) instead of 3 times a day..

I might actually break down tomorrow the 75mg in 3 parts again so it is more even throughout the day.

This might have something to do with the worsening of the burning today.

[Altostrata]

Absolutely stop blaming yourself for the "blunder." Every single one of us took medical advice that turned out to be bad.

 

Millions of people are in the same position. It's medical error, it's not you.

[aaa50]

you are right Alto..thank you for reminding me.

Slept little last night...due to the severe burning and many myoclonic jerks..

one was so strong I thought it was a seizure.

 

Today same thing....my skin just burns, tingles, pins and needles.

I am going to take my sister in laws dog to the beach...that will give me some distraction.

We will have him till sunday.

 

Tomorrow my daughter is giving a baby shower for a friend for which I have been asked to make an apple pie and a cheesecake..

another distraction tonight.

 

Alto, did you have that burning all over but mainly in the upper part of the body when you stopped Wellbutrin?

Like arms, neck, face etc.

Or have you heard it from others?

[Altostrata]

No, I didn't have the skin burning but I have heard others have had burning or itching skin in withdrawal.

 

It didn't start with Wellbutrin, did it? It sounded like it was due to the Effexor withdrawal. Did it get worse when you started taking Effexor again?

[aaa50]

No, the burning did not started with Wellbutrin but with the withdrawal from Effexor.

It seemed to get worse 2 days ago while back on Effexor but it has now gone again.

It was replaced with a very weird and uncomfortable head sensation as if my head is stuck in a suction cup and my brain being sucked out.

My eye sight is weird as well and I feel off balance.

My mood is not right either.....very depressed this morning while sitting on the beach with the dog.

It is a bit better now, at dinner time.

 

Its hard to tell what is going on exactly......with back on E and still tapering from W.

Time will tell I guess.

[Altostrata]

It seems as though going back on Effexor relieved at least one symptom.

 

Where are you with the Wellbutrin taper?

[aaa50]

I am in my second week of W taper, with 37.5 am and 37.5 pm

On Thursday I will drop it to 1/2 of 37.5 in am and the same pm.

 

The Effexor might have to take some time to work, like 4 to 6 weeks as it is custom with AD's.

I live in a lot of fear at the moment as well...which makes me feel a bit disconnected.

Hard to find humor in things.....

Laughing comes difficult...

Anyone relate to that??

[Altostrata]

Yes, emotional anesthesia is common in withdrawal.

 

Personally, I think you can taper the Wellbutrin faster.

[aaa50]

Alto,how faster would you think I could go?

 

For the emotional anesthesia, with that it feels the emotions are flat, numbed, as if I am dead in the head but the anxiety sits in the rest of the body.

Physically that feels like a stone inside my head.

Do you relate to that?

[Altostrata]

Yes, that's what I would call emotional anesthesia.

 

If I were you, I'd cut the Wellbutrin in half in the morning and evening. You might do it like this: first and second day, 18.75mg in the morning, 37.5mg in the evening. On the 3rd day: 18.75mg in the morning and evening.

 

If the Effexor is going to work to reduce withdrawal symptoms, you'll feel it sooner than 4-6 weeks.

[aaa50]

OK...so what at day 4?

Cut the 18.75 again in half?

LIke Day 4 will look like this: 18.75 in the morning and 1/2 of 18.75 ( 9.37 or something) in the evening...

Do I hold that for a week or go straight to day5: 1/2 of 18.75 ( 9.37) in the morning..nothing in the evening ( because by now it is pretty much powder)

hold that for a week or day 6: stop

[Altostrata]

Yes, that's what I would call emotional anesthesia.

 

If I were you, I'd cut the Wellbutrin in half in the morning and evening. You might do it like this: first and second day, 18.75mg in the morning, 37.5mg in the evening. On the 3rd day: 18.75mg in the morning and evening.

 

If the Effexor is going to work to reduce withdrawal symptoms, you'll feel it sooner than 4-6 weeks.

 

Hold 18.75mg in morning and evening for a few days and see how you feel. If you don't have problems from the decrease, stop 18.75mg in evening. Hold for a few days.

 

If no problems, stop 18.75mg in the morning. You'd be done with Wellbutrin.

[aaa50]

I am in the process of doing the faster taper..

yesterday was the worst day I've had in months.....the burning/prickling/ head symptoms/mental symptoms were unbearable, I nearly dropped from it.

Amazingly, during the late afternoon and into the evening things started to clear up.

So far today has been better too.

Its for sure a difficult trip....

[aaa50]

still on 18.75mg of Wellbutrin in the am...will go for another few days and than stop it.

As if things aren't already difficult enough, I pulled a back muscle yesterday and I can't get up or down.

Ive been icing it and just took a muscle relaxer.....

Leaving tomorrow too for a long trip overseas....

Good thing I guess is that one of my friends we are meeting there has 5 things wrong with her, one is Lymes disease.....so I will be in good company.

I will use the next 2 weeks to chill and do nothing except swim in the ocean.

 

Wishing you all much recovery and I will be back on line around aug 30.

[Altostrata]

aaa, have a lovely vacation and try to relax as much as possible.

[tramond]

Hoi aaa

I am verry sorry You auffer like this but I will tell you!!

 

I tapered off effexor 75 mg for more than a year................and I suffer verry heavy!!

Will say, that mostly a slooow tapper will save some horrible symptoms but it is not regular!!!

 

Greets to you

 

tramond

[ChessieCat]

For anyone reading this topic, I have been tapering Pristiq using compounded capsules with slow release formula.

 

tips-for-tapering-off-pristiq-desvenlafaxine