lady: venlor withdrawal

[lady]

[font=Arial Black][/font]e

hi there,

I'm not much into making corrections to my wording right now, so please bare with me. I have had bi polar for 22 yrs now, and it has become a nightmare in my life. i have been on many types of medication through out the years, some working well, some not so well. about two years ago, i was put on venlor and aspen trazodone,about a week ago i went to my doctor for an emergency appointment. he decided i must stop this medication immediately. he then prescribed dopaquel 100mg.

i have been trying to taper off the venlor and trazodone, without much success. the normal dosage is one venlor xr 150mg in the morning, and 3 trezodone 100mg at night, which help me to sleep very well.

scine changing the venlor and trazodone to dopaquel 100mg 1 at night, my sleep pattern has changed to insomnia. i'm having withdraws from the old medication, even tho against my doctors advice i am tapering down. 1) nausea, 2) disorientation, 3) brain shocks, 4) dizziness 5) and what feels close to black outs, 6) no concentrate on anything.

any advice on how long the withdraws will last would be appreciated, would like also to know what are the withdraw symptoms of dopaquel. 1 jan 2012

[Altostrata]

Welcome, lady. Very sorry to hear you're having such a difficult time.

 

It does sound like you are having Venlor (venlafaxine or Effexor in the U.S.). This is one of the most difficult drugs to withdraw from.

 

Does your Venlor XR come in a capsule or a tablet?

 

Here are tips about tapering off venlafaxine.

 

To stop the Venlor withdrawal, you might take a small amount, such as 50mg, daily for a while, then taper more slowly.

 

If you also dropped trazodone at the same time, you may be suffering rebound insomnia from that as well. Making big changes in drugs all at once can be very stressful on your nervous system. Why did your doctor tell you to stop taking these drugs all at once?

 

How long have you been taking Dopaquel (quetiapine, generic of Seroquel)?

[Barbarannamated]

Hi Lady ~

My thought was similar: you mentioned an emergency appointment~ was it related to the Venlor and trazodone

Trazodone 300 is a fairly high dose of a serotonergic med ~ I take 75mg for sleep and higher doses are used to treat depression (not commn in US)

Are you on a mood stabilizer (lithium„divvalproex„etc) ~possibly quetiapine is to serve as mood stabilizer/bipolar med and for sleep

 

It seems like an odd combo for a bipolar treatment ~

Slower than slow is best although tapering both serotonin agents at once seems aggressive

 

You found the rights place for support

[Whatever]

Duplicate post.

[Whatever]

Welcome Lady!

 

I am having a hard time wrapping my head around your doctor's therapeutic approach to BP.

 

Venlor (Effexor) is not commonly used to treat BP. It is used off label but it doesn't work well for BP I and is considered to be a bad idea for BP II. The use if Trazadone baffles me. Unless it was used to treat depression over the newer SSRIs which can send BP into severe mania or perhaps the Trazadone was for insomnia.

 

But for BP a mood stabilizer is usually the first line of treatment, some examples are (I am using the US drug names) are Lamictal and Lithium. Antipsychotics such as Dopaquel (Seroquel) are typically used as add ons if mania gets out of control.

 

So as I understand your situation you went cold turkey while given what is essentially an add on drug which is an antipschotic. Going cold turkey from Venlor/Effexor. is harsh. Many people struggle with WD from Venlor/Effexor even on a slow taper.

 

If you have any Venlor left perhaps you should reinstate it and try to taper. If you must go cold turkey (I went cold turkey off six meds) please understand you will feel ill for longer than if you tapered.

 

IMO your doctor is incompetent. Your 22 years of suffering may have been to your doctor's poor choice if meds.

 

It is not my intention to scare you. People on this forum have suffered under the incompetence of arrogant doctors. You are not alone. In fact you have come to the right place. Please stay and keep us informed so we can support you.

[Whatever]

When dopaquel (seroquel) is used as a sleeping aid, I have known people who experienced protracted insommnia (one friend suffered for six months).

 

You have only been on dopaquel (seroquel) for a week, correct? If it were me, I would discontinue it. Because the drug was just started, it hasn't caused any harm yet and I would want to avoid a future withdraw from yet another pmed. Plus this med is notorious for causing significant weight gain. However, I would also weigh if dopaquel (seroquel) would be benenficial in helping WD from Venlor (Effexor) and Trazadone. Sometimes addng a new pmed to help taper is necessary.

 

This is what I would consider, of course all of this is a personal decision only you can make. And you can ask your doctor for advice, if you trust him/her. Though in my experience many have no knowledge on WD and many deny it exists.

[Altostrata]

I agree with Whatever. If I were you, lady, I would drop the Dopaquel. It isn't helping, and you need to simplify your drug situation.

 

I am also mystified as to the diagnosis and drug combinations.

 

If you are at all able, you should find another doctor.

 

How did you determine you were bipolar to begin with?

[Barbarannamated]

Lady~

I hope you can feel many people want to help

 

Its critical to clarify what the emergency situation was that prompted your doc to immediately DC Venlor and trazodone prior to suggesting DCing Seroquel ~although I agree it's a nasty drug

We aren't doctors and don't have your complete clinical picture ~

[lady]

Hi there

Once more I find myself checking into the forum. I really wanted to say thanks to everyone that is supporting me,

I have decided to taper down the venlor, it is a capsule, and I take out most of the granules till there is a quater left. I then drink that when i wake up, I found that the symptons i had have decreased a lot. So will be carrying on with this amount till whenever. I want to c the dr again, as i said it was an emergency appointment with a new dr, as my old one did not want to help me when i told him i was suicidal. I realized then and there he was not the dr fro me, as i need a back up plan when i am suicidal. The new dr i got the Dopaquel from had a five minute appointment with me, in which i gave him the list of med im on, told him im suicidal and cant take it any more. he looked at it apologised for the short session, and removed what pills i mentioned. he said i was to come back in two weeks time. as yet i have not gone back. I was put on this med as a mood stabilizer and for sleep. sleep of which, i do not have much of! I need to c him again to tlk to him about the sleep thing. as i find im busy all day and way into the wee hours at night cause no sleep comes.

 

I am takin the one trazadone, but to be honest im thinking i need to take two, as i was precibed them for sleep originall, and i need sleep. we will c. will go back to him soon and c what he says.

 

Kindest regards to u all

thankyou

[Altostrata]

Lady, it sounds like your withdrawal symptoms have abated with one-quarter capsule of Venlor?

 

That is good news. It's a good idea to stay on that dosage for a couple of months to let your nervous system stabilize.

 

Did going back on this small amount affect your sleep at all?

 

If your sleep improved a little, I would not add more trazodone. Your system needs to recuperate from the Venlor withdrawal. There is a good chance it will get better without additional medication.

 

You want to minimize drugs to allow your nervous system to stabilize on its own as much as possible.

 

Do I understand correctly, you and your doctor decided NOT to start the Dopaquil? (Which is a good idea as long as your drug situation is changing.)

 

What symptoms did you have originally to get a bipolar diagnosis?