Monika: Rapid taper Effexor 150mg

[Monika]

I took Effexor for 2 years for my anxiety. I was on 150 mg, after 1,5 years it didn’t work anymore. I have still taken it but added many supplements as well which made me feeling better after 2 months. Then I thought to stop with Effexor. I did it in 9 weeks totally. The first steps were not so bad. On 37,5 I was 3 weeks and the first days were difficult but after a few days I began feeling very well. I was 6 weeks Effexor free and after a few days after my last dose I started to feel worse with time. Very anxious, nauseous, insomnia, can’t eat, very nervous all the time. I found the Effexor forum which has recommended me to reinstate to very little dose. Last Sunday I went back to 9 mg and within few hours felt a short improvement. The day later also, was for a moment more relax and less anxious. Yesterday I had very bad day so I decided this morning to update my dose with extra 4 beads. I took it like always at 7 am and did not feel any relief, maybe 5 hours later got some rest for a few minutes and then I started to suffer again very hard. I am really panicking and know it doesn’t help to make a good decision. What I suppose to do? I really appreciate your response, I am so desperate. 

[getofflex]

Hello, and welcome to SA.  We are a peer owned and run forum of people who have been or are getting off of psychiatric drugs.  I'm sorry that you are having to deal with these difficulties.  

 

First of all, can you please give us specific information about your drug history for all drugs you are on and have been on, especially for the past 18-24 months?  It would be especially helpful to have the details of your drugs in a concise list (no symptoms), only drug names, specific dates (as best you can say for example early March if you don't recall the day) and dosages of each medication decrease or increase.  Please read the link below for instructions.  This will allow us to give you the best guidance.  

 

How to List Drug History in Signature

 

Here is some information about how these drugs actually work.  

 

How Psychiatric Drugs Remodel Your Brain

 

This helps you understand what withdrawal syndrome is: 

 

What is Withdrawal Syndrome?

 

 

Also, as we are recovering, we suggest keeping things slow, simple, and stable. 

 

Keep it Simple, Slow, and Stable

 

 

When we recover, there are times of feeling OK mixed in with times of feeling bad.  This is called windows and waves.  It sounds like what you are going through at this time. 

 

Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

Here are some techniques to cope with symptoms.  This first set of links can be helpful with anxiety.

 

 

Audio:  First Aid for Panic (4 minutes)
 

CBT Course:  An Introductory Self-Help Course in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
 

Audio:  How to Recover from Anxiety - Dr Claire Weekes
 

Anxiety Stuff - all kinds of stuff about anxiety attacks and things that help ...

 

Non Drug Ways to Cope with Withdrawal Symptoms

 

 

We don't suggest many supplements, but 2 that many of us find helpful are magnesium and omega-3 fish oil. Here are the links for info about those. It is suggested to add one at a time, and start with a low dose to see how it affects you. 

 

Magnesium

 

Omega 3 Fish Oil

 

How long ago did you do your reinstatement?  How long after the reinstatement did you start to feel worse?  

 

About Reinstating and Stabilizing to Reduce Withdrawal Symptoms

 

I've given you quite a bit of information here.  Please read through it, and mull it over, and we will take it from there. In the meantime, take care of yourself, and take heart.  We in this forum have been through this, and we understand first hand the pain and discomfort you are going through.  Please know that the brain is amazing in it's healing abilities.  It takes time, but healing can and will happen. 

[Monika]

I started with Effexor 6/06 2019 and was on 150 mg. Before Effexor I have taken different kinds of meds always with short effect. (Prothiaden) I taper in 9 weeks to 0 mg. I was Effexor free 6 weeks but with time started to suffer very hard. I started with reinstatement ( 9 mg) on Sunday 2nd of May, within 5 hours I felt relief for 1-2 hours. Was more relax and less anxious. The second day ( I take Effexor at 7 am) I started to feel worse 7 hours after my pill but in the late evening got more relax again. Tuesday I felt for a while better around 5 pm , day later around 12 o clock but then suffer again. Thursday I updosed  extra 4 beads and got some rest in my head for very short at 5 pm and again suffered hard. Friday was my best day, I felt relief for a few hours. It started at 2 pm then got worse again and in late evening again better. Saturday was very relax in the morning until 11 am and then started to struggle again. It went better again for a while at 5 pm and again very hard in the late evening. Couldn’t sleep al night and the day later was very bad. In the late evening got more relax. It is a really rollercoaster, with different times of relief on each day. I am going to updose again tomorrow with extra 6 beads. I am so desperate and loosing hope if it will succeed. I am looking forward to hear sth from you. Thank you in advance. Monika

[Altostrata]

Welcome, @Monika

 

How much Effexor are you taking now? Be sure to take it at the same time each day.

 

How are you feeling?

 

On 5/9/2021 at 6:25 PM, Monika said:

Friday was my best day, I felt relief for a few hours. It started at 2 pm then got worse again and in late evening again better. Saturday was very relax in the morning until 11 am and then started to struggle again.

 

Whenever you change the dosage of Effexor, it takes about 4 days to get to full effect. When you increase the dosage, you may not feel an effect for 4 days or more.

 

Since you had an immediate slight good effect from reinstating Effexor, if I were you, I'd stop increasing the dosage and see how the new drug level affects you, for at least a couple of weeks. As you have already seen, it may takes a few days to feel better, but you can take too much and cause more symptoms.

 

Normally, as your nervous system settles down from an adverse drug effect such as withdrawal, you will feel waves and windows for a while, maybe months. Please stay calm, it is frustrating but the normal recovery pattern. If you try to correct it with more drugs, you may cause additional adverse reactions.

 

Read

 
What is withdrawal syndrome? 
 
About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms 
 
The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

To help us out, follow these instructions Please put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature You may need to use a computer to do this.

[Monika]

I started with Effexor 6/06 2019 and was on 150 mg. Before Effexor I have taken different kinds of meds always with short effect. (Prothiaden) I taper in 9 weeks to 0 mg. I was Effexor free 6 weeks but with time started to suffer very hard. I started with reinstatement ( 9 mg) on Sunday 2nd of May, within 5 hours I felt relief for 1-2 hours. Was more relax and less anxious. The second day ( I take Effexor at 7 am) I started to feel worse 7 hours after my pill but in the late evening got more relax again. Tuesday I felt for a while better around 5 pm , day later around 12 o clock but then suffer again. Thursday I updosed  extra 4 beads and got some rest in my head for very short at 5 pm and again suffered hard. Friday was my best day, I felt relief for a few hours. It started at 2 pm then got worse again and in late evening again better. Saturday was very relax in the morning until 11 am and then started to struggle again. It went better again for a while at 5 pm and again very hard in the late evening. Couldn’t sleep al night and the day later was very bad. In the late evening got more relax. It is a really rollercoaster, with different times of relief on each day. I am going to updose again tomorrow with extra 6 beads. I am so desperate and loosing hope if it will succeed. I am looking forward to hear sth from you. Thank you in advance. Monika

[Monika]

Hallo, I have updosed on Monday extra 5 beads so now I take 11,5 mg. again within a few hours I had relief, the day later also, even next morning I was better. But then got worse, at moments even worse than before I reinstated. Is it normal I feel so bad again? How I can know if the dose is not too high? 

[Monika]

@Altostrata

Hallo, I have updosed on Monday extra 5 beads so now I take 11,5 mg. again within a few hours I had relief, the day later also, even next morning I was better. But then got worse, at moments even worse than before Ireinstated. Is it normal I feel so bad again? How I can know if the dose is not too high? 

[jozeff]

Hi Monika,

 

You posted the same text a couple of times, this is a but confusing when going through your topic. I also did this when I started on SAD because I got desperate in believing that people didn't read my story. No offense,  just a tip.

 

I think you should give it some time. You went back to 11.5 mg from a couple of beads and 9 mg in a few days. 

 

I took effexor for many years in the past. Going from 150 to 75 to 37.5 and then counting beads. When I felt worse or got Brain zaps I took 2 or 3 beads and felt relief within hours . 

 

My experience is that sticking to this dose is probably best right now. The thing is: your body might still be trying to correct to get used to a couple of beads you started taking  10 days ago. If you keep adjusting your dose based on how you feel every day you keep changing things a lot. I did just that,.... oh I feel bad today : take a bit more medication. 2 days later I feel fine and lower a bit... this will not work! I've learned the hard way.

 

If I'm correct you are on 11.5 mg for 5 days now. I would stick to this for 2 weeks or so and go from there.

 

It could be that 11.5 mg is too much for you or too little. I dont know, maybe a moderator  has some ideas about this. What I know is that keeping changing your dose is a bad idea and I want to save you from doing that. You are not fluctuating dose currently but I just wantedto warn you.

 

I'm not a medical person! I am a AD user for over 20 years and share my experience to help people. My parents and my wife also take/took meds so I have over 80 years of AD use to learn from. Problem is that we are all different, we change in time etc. What might work for you may be damaging to others.

 

Take small steps and don't over think.

 

Wish you all the best

 

Cheers

 

Jozeff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Monika]

6 hours ago, jozeff said:

Hi Monika,

 

You posted the same text a couple of times, this is a but confusing when going through your topic. I also did this when I started on SAD because I got desperate in believing that people didn't read my story. No offense,  just a tip.

 

I think you should give it some time. You went back to 11.5 mg from a couple of beads and 9 mg in a few days. 

 

I took effexor for many years in the past. Going from 150 to 75 to 37.5 and then counting beads. When I felt worse or got Brain zaps I took 2 or 3 beads and felt relief within hours . 

 

My experience is that sticking to this dose is probably best right now. The thing is: your body might still be trying to correct to get used to a couple of beads you started taking  10 days ago. If you keep adjusting your dose based on how you feel every day you keep changing things a lot. I did just that,.... oh I feel bad today : take a bit more medication. 2 days later I feel fine and lower a bit... this will not work! I've learned the hard way.

 

If I'm correct you are on 11.5 mg for 5 days now. I would stick to this for 2 weeks or so and go from there.

 

It could be that 11.5 mg is too much for you or too little. I dont know, maybe a moderator  has some ideas about this. What I know is that keeping changing your dose is a bad idea and I want to save you from doing that. You are not fluctuating dose currently but I just wantedto warn you.

 

I'm not a medical person! I am a AD user for over 20 years and share my experience to help people. My parents and my wife also take/took meds so I have over 80 years of AD use to learn from. Problem is that we are all different, we change in time etc. What might work for you may be damaging to others.

 

Take small steps and don't over think.

 

Wish you all the best

 

Cheers

 

Jozeff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Jozeff, thank you for your support. I am wondering what I have to do if the reinstatement will not succeed. Should I start with totally new AD, will this not be to dangerous? Any experience with switching to a new meds after not succeed reinstatement?

thank you 

[Altostrata]

20 hours ago, Monika said:

Hallo, I have updosed on Monday extra 5 beads so now I take 11,5 mg. again within a few hours I had relief, the day later also, even next morning I was better. But then got worse, at moments even worse than before I reinstated. Is it normal I feel so bad again? How I can know if the dose is not too high? 

 

Hello, @Monika How are you measuring 11.5mg?

 

If this helped a little, that's a good sign. Your nervous system probably will gradually settle down over some weeks, with some ups and downs. There is no need to worry about increasing or switching to another drug at this time.

 

Do you feel better or worse at any particular times of day? How do you feel after you take the beads as compared to how you feel before you take them? 

 

To help us out, follow these instructions Please put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature You may need to use a computer to do this.

[Monika]

19 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

 

Hello, @Monika How are you measuring 11.5mg?

 

If this helped a little, that's a good sign. Your nervous system probably will gradually settle down over some weeks, with some ups and downs. There is no need to worry about increasing or switching to another drug at this time.

 

Do you feel better or worse at any particular times of day? How do you feel after you take the beads as compared to how you feel before you take them? 

 

To help us out, follow these instructions Please put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature You may need to use a computer to do this.

@Altostrata

i had relief but now with time I feel again bad that is way I am worried. It is very weird for me, is it normal that my symptoms increase after updose until it will stabilize again? Since Wednesday I don’t feel good. I am wondering why? 

[Altostrata]

Please read The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

[Monika]

@Altostrata but when I feel bad it is soms even worse then before I reinstated. Is it normal? I am so scared , I am loosing any hope. I had 2 days of relief after updose and now suffer very hard. 

[Monika]

17 minutes ago, Monika said:

@Altostrata

i had relief but now with time I feel again bad that is way I am worried. It is very weird for me, is it normal that my symptoms increase after updose until it will stabilize again? Since Wednesday I don’t feel good. I am wondering why? 

@Altostrata Monday and Tuesday even Wednesday I felt better after I took the pill, but Thursday I felt for a while better in the late evening, Friday in the morning (I take the pill at 7 am) and Saturday all day very hard.

[Altostrata]

Are you taking Effexor at the same time each day? Please stay very regular with your dosing, and do not skip doses.

 

19 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

Please read The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

This will answer your questions.

[jozeff]

Hi Monika,

 

Do you have a job? I tend to feel way better when I'm working and have a lot of issues during weekends... you say that Saturday was very tough.

 

Weekends/holidays can be tricky...less sleep (go to bed later), unhealthy food, less structure compared to being at work etc ..

 

Both my wife and I struggle in the weekends no matter if we taper or not.

 

Are there specific days you feel low?

 

Good luck!

Cheers

 

Jozef