Nicki: tapering Pristiq

[Nicki]

Tapering Prescription Calculator Tool/Pristiq

 

Hi, I was on Paxil 10 mg for 23 years due to sleep issues after child birth and no clear exit strategy on how to get off of it  and recently switched to Desveniafaxine 50 mg on the recommendation of a psychiatrist after some panic attacks at work.  I was advised to reduce Paxil for 5 days to 5 mg and then began taking both the Paxil and Desveniafaxine for 3 days after which I was told to stop taking the Paxil all together.  

 

I have had lots of  physical side effects such as  nausea and profuse sweating as well as sleep issues but I also felt that I was more in touch with my own feelings,,,like I could feel again.  I have chosen to start therapy and work through some issues around anxiety and want to get off the meds all together.  My GP in late August recommended that I start by cutting the Pristiq in half and then further recommended that I only take the half pill every second or third day.  

 

Thats when it all came crashing down and I experienced almost every possible withdrawal symptom including suicidal thoughts.  I have now learnt that these pills shouldn't be split and that I should never skip a day.  It is my intention to follow the tapering recommendations provided on this website but as I will need to find a compounding pharmacy I am wondering if you have a calculator tool or know of one so that I can use to have my doctor create a prescription.

 

 I have found a pharmacy here in Canada with such a tool, but they are more aggressive with the time lines around decreasing meds and also use 10% of the original  amount for reduction rather than 10% of the previous amount.  Also, thanks for all the great information, it has been a life line.  

 

Edited October 30, 2022 by ChessieCat
added title and spacing

[Altostrata]

Welcome, @Nicki

 

Did you initially feel better on 50mg desvenlafaxine? 

 

I hope you have communicated your difficulties to your prescriber -- it's the only way they'll learn.

[Nicki]

Hi, I didn't feel good taking the 50 mg desvenlafaxine as I had a lot of sweating, nausea, difficulty staying away.  In hindsight that might have been partially the result of coming off of the Paxil however.  Ultimately my doctor recommend that I reduce the dosage in order to potentially reduce the side effects (which totally backfired).

I have now found a compounding pharmacy here in Ontario, Pharmacy.ca, a recommendation off of this web site and they have been amazing to deal with.  They can compound any amount of desvenlafaxine, have experience with tapering and were so patient answering my questions.  They recommend a faster tapering, but I am going to stick with the 10% of the original amount monthly plan.  My doctor is totally on side with what I want to do and the pace that I want to go at and immediately wrote the prescription and today I started my first slow release 25 mg.  Hopefully that's a good baseline to start at.  I have constant zapping or ringing in my ears and a few mood ups and downs but nothing compared to what I have been experiencing these last few months.  I feel that I am on the right track to get off these meds slowly but surely.  It continues to amaze me that you really have to self advocate through out this process due to lack of knowledge by many in the medical profession.

[ChessieCat]

4 hours ago, Nicki said:

They recommend a faster tapering, but I am going to stick with the 10% of the original amount monthly plan.

 

SA's tapering protocol is hyperbolic and is no more than 10% of the CURRENT dose with a hold of at least 4 weeks to allow the brain to adapt to not getting as much of the drug.  It is important to listen to your body/symptoms and hold for longer if needed.

 

There are two graphs at the bottom of Post #1 of this topic comparing SA's taper method and the 10% of original dose method:

 

Why taper paper: dose-occupancy curves

 

 

[Nicki]

Thanks, re tapering.  Sorry for the confusion, that's what I meant to say,  10@ of the previous amount is what I am going to follow, not 10@ of the original amount.