tacomaprime: 40 years old, scared as heck

[tacomaprime]

If need be, I could also stop taking the atorvastatin and /or glyxambi for a bit to see if that makes a difference. 

[Altostrata]

3 hours ago, tacomaprime said:

The headaches started almost immediately after going back to the 37.5mg 4 to 5.weeks ago. 

 

This indicates that 37.5mg is too high for you. If you look back, we did caution you against going up too high on your dosage:

 

On 5/8/2018 at 5:40 PM, Altostrata said:

If you're at 72.9% (don't know exactly what dosage that is), how about updosing a few beads and holding for 2 or 3 months? You don't have to go all the way back to your original dosage.

 

The Effexor adverse effect you are suffering is a classic example of what happens when you reinstate too much. The higher blood pressure isn't good, either.

[tacomaprime]

7 hours ago, Altostrata said:

 

This indicates that 37.5mg is too high for you. If you look back, we did caution you against going up too high on your dosage:

 

 

The Effexor adverse effect you are suffering is a classic example of what happens when you reinstate too much. The higher blood pressure isn't good, either.

Ok.  So I have a few questions, in no particular order.

 

So when I originally started taking the med back 8 years ago, I went from 0, right to 75mg, and had literally no side effects.  So why would going from 27.5 to 37.5 mg cause me so many issues?
At this point, since it seems to be the dosage causing the issues for me, what can I do?  Should I go back to my 72.9% (27.5mg) dosage, and then slowly taper back up to my 37.5mg dosage?  Do I wait to talk to my dr and psychiatrist?  I'm afraid to jump my dosage around all over again, since I've been on the 37.5mg again for 5 weeks now.  I was hoping I would eventually stabilize back at my normal 37.5 mg dosage.

 

I do realize now that you cautioned me against going too high.  But at the time, being worried, having the withdrawal symptoms, and honestly, being an impulsive person by nature, I had already taken my regular 37.5mg dose.

 

Is there any chance I will eventually stabilize on the 37.5mg dosage again, or is it more likely that I have just ruined my brain.

[Altostrata]

What we see here is that going on and off psychiatric drugs, and experiencing adverse reactions or withdrawal syndrome, causes people to become hypersensitive to psychiatric drugs, supplements, and sometimes even foods. They react in odd ways to dosages they took without a problem before.

 

That is why we tend to suggest low doses, to avoid adverse reactions, including "kindling," caused by hypersensitivity.

 

4 hours ago, tacomaprime said:

Is there any chance I will eventually stabilize on the 37.5mg dosage again, or is it more likely that I have just ruined my brain.

 

I have no idea. Your body is telling you 37.5mg gives it a headache, but you can insist it's wrong for a long time, maybe forever. You haven't ruined your brain, you're just torturing it.

 

I find it odd you are willing to ditch everything but venlafaxine. Are you sure you want to go off it? You will never again have the honeymoon you had once on venlafaxine.

[tacomaprime]

27 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

What we see here is that going on and off psychiatric drugs, and experiencing adverse reactions or withdrawal syndrome, causes people to become hypersensitive to psychiatric drugs, supplements, and sometimes even foods. They react in odd ways to dosages they took without a problem before.

 

That is why we tend to suggest low doses, to avoid adverse reactions, including "kindling," caused by hypersensitivity.

 

 

I have no idea. Your body is telling you 37.5mg gives it a headache, but you can insist it's wrong for a long time, maybe forever. You haven't ruined your brain, you're just torturing it.

 

I find it odd you are willing to ditch everything but venlafaxine. Are you sure you want to go off it? You will never again have the honeymoon you had once on venlafaxine.

 

Not taking the atorvastatin or the glyxambi doesn't cause me any side effects like not taking the venlafaxine does.  When I talked to my dr a while ago about possibly tapering he suggested to just take my 37.5mg dose every other day, then every 3rd day.  So on and so forth.  The first day I skipped the med I already had withdrawal symptoms.  Headaches, dizziness, lightheadedness.  Blah blah blah.

 

I know that my anxiety will come back if I stop venlafaxine, but I am willing to go off these drugs if that's my only option.  Even if it means bridging to another drug and then tapering off of it, since it seems to be easier with some other meds other then venlafaxine.  I'm willing to restart my taper if anyone thinks that will help, but no one has recommended that either.  It seems like I have painted myself into a corner and  my only real option is to talk to my dr and see a psychiatrist and see what they recommend.

[Altostrata]

Skipping doses is a terrible way to taper drugs.

 

I have already suggested you reduce your venlafaxine dosage, as it seems the headaches are caused by that. Taking 10 beads out of the Effexor capsule may be sufficient.

 

If you think doctors and psychiatrists have better ideas, by all means consult them. They get paid, i don't.

[tacomaprime]

8 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

Skipping doses is a terrible way to taper drugs.

 

I have already suggested you reduce your venlafaxine dosage, as it seems the headaches are caused by that. Taking 10 beads out of the Effexor capsule may be sufficient.

 

If you think doctors and psychiatrists have better ideas, by all means consult them. They get paid, i don't.

 

Yes, I realize this now.  That was suggested to me back before I found this forum and did some other research.

I must have missed the taking 10 beads out suggestion.  My bad.  Is that something I can do for a month or so, then maybe try taking 5 beads out, then going back to 37.5mg?  

I don't necessarily think they have better ideas, but I'm always open to more information from knowledgeable people.

 

[Altostrata]

Why are you fixated on taking 37.5mg? Do you want to taper off venlafaxine?

 

I don't know if you'll ever be able to tolerate 37.5mg venlafaxine again. Maybe. Helping people increase their drug dosage is not what we do here. You'll have to work on that with a doctor.

[tacomaprime]

1 minute ago, Altostrata said:

Why are you fixated on taking 37.5mg? Do you want to taper off venlafaxine?

 

I don't know if you'll ever be able to tolerate 37.5mg venlafaxine again. Maybe. Helping people increase their drug dosage is not what we do here. You'll have to work on that with a doctor.

I'm not necessarily fixated on it.  It's just the lowest dose I know of that can get prescribed to me.  You have to realize, this is my first time dealing with any of this, and I'm by far not even anything close to a dr or knowledgeable about it.  If I can taper off the Venlafaxine and not have my anxiety come back, I'd love to do that.

[Altostrata]

37.5mg is the lowest dosage capsule, but the lowest effective dosage for you may require that you customize it by taking out beads.

 

Otherwise, you will have to contend with the adverse effects of 37.5mg. Adverse effects are not benign, they indicate a danger to your health.

 

Most likely, you won't be able to find a doctor who agrees with this, but just about everybody here taking venlafaxine is on a customized dosage. It's quite doable.

[tacomaprime]

If my dr decides to switch me to a different med, am I likely to experience these headaches and what not on the new med?  We're discussing possibly doing a prozac bridge to get me off the ven, then possibly weaning me off it, since it's supposed to be easier to wean off of.

[Gridley]

So you can make an informed decision on a Prozac bridge, please read the following link.  Regarding the headaches, it's impossible to predict in advance what side effects a new drug will have.

The Prozac switch or "bridging" with Prozac

[tacomaprime]

1 hour ago, Gridley said:

So you can make an informed decision on a Prozac bridge, please read the following link.  Regarding the headaches, it's impossible to predict in advance what side effects a new drug will have.

The Prozac switch or "bridging" with Prozac

 

Thank you.  After reading that, sounds like my dr is pretty knowledgable about the bridge.  He had something like,  he would want me to do 1 week of 10mg of prozac in concert with the 37.5 mg of venlafaxine I am on, then stop taking the venlafaxine.  Then If prozac worked for me, I could stay on it.  If not, I could slowly taper off of it.  From what I read, that's was the recommended way to do it, in that link anyway.

[tacomaprime]

I was glad to see this part.
"For most people the switch goes smoothly but for some it doesn't. A bridging strategy has the following drawbacks for a minority of those who try it:

If withdrawal symptoms are already underway, switching to a bridge drug doesn't help"

 

Hopefully I'm not in the minority.

[Altostrata]

If you're finding 37.5mg Effexor is too much for you, adding 10mg Prozac is high-risk. The combination can be very stimulating. It could send your blood pressure through the roof.

 

Highly recommend your reducing Effexor by counting beads rather than risk a switch to Prozac. Or at least get down to half your Effexor dosage before adding 5mg Prozac to switch.

[tacomaprime]

Dr. has me on wellbutrin as well, to help with the headaches and dizziness.  So far it seems to be working for the most part.  Assuming that at my next appointment we'll discuss possibly bridging with prozac

[Altostrata]

What do you mean, did you add Wellbutrin? When, at what dosage? What time of day do you take it?

 

Did you change the Effexor? Please update your signature.

 

How is your blood pressure now?

 

 

[tacomaprime]

5 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

What do you mean, did you add Wellbutrin? When, at what dosage? What time of day do you take it?

 

Did you change the Effexor? Please update your signature.

 

How is your blood pressure now?

 

 

 

Yes, added wellbutrin.  Started saturday.  150mg I take it first thing in the morning.

Effexor has not changed yet.  Dr. wanted to get me stabilized, no headaches and dizziness before lowering dosage or bridging.

Blood pressure has actually been back to normal pretty much except for a day or two when I discussed that.

[Altostrata]

Not sure what your doctor's plan is. You usually don't "bridge" from Effexor to Wellbutrin. But if it works, it works.

 

I hope your doctor's plan works for you. Please let us know how you're doing.

[tacomaprime]

The wellbutrin was added to help offset the headaches and dizziness.  

He was talking about bridging me from effexor to prozac, not from effexor to wellbutrin.

[Altostrata]

What will happen to the Wellbutrin when you add Prozac?

 

FYI It will take about 4 days for the Wellbutrin to take full effect.

[tacomaprime]

12 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

What will happen to the Wellbutrin when you add Prozac?

 

FYI It will take about 4 days for the Wellbutrin to take full effect.

 

I'm not 100% sure what he will do with the wellbutrin once on the prozac, if that's the way we decide to go.  I assume I'll switch to the prozac and come off the wellbutrin if I handle the prozac well.

[Altostrata]

Good luck. Let us know how you do.

[Altostrata]

Hello, tacomaprime. How are you doing?