Will prozac help with withdrawal syndrome from Effexor?

[returningtonormal]

Hello,

Today has been another panic driven, fearful day that reached cresendo. I was so axious and depressed that I went to my car reaching out to the CSB (Community Services Board) in hysterics. I trying to get in touch with my old counselor who was a class act and help me immeasurably 3 years ago(Unfortunately, she cannot see patients who have insurance). Of course she was not in and I was handed off to someone in the crisis dept. This gentlemen listened to me cry, and beg in desperation for an answer to my woes with Effexor withdraw and whether starting Prozac 10 mg would help get me to a better place fo awhile. He gave me his pc speel about no being able to discuss medications or what they may or may not do. I asked him if I was a street crack addict would he recommend that I seek medical advice from my pimp? I told him Effexor was given to me by a drug dealer in a suit that is backed by the FDA. The only difference between the crack dealer the psych doc is one pretends his medical degree means he is a real doctor backed by physical scientific findings to support his "chemical Imbalance" theory. The street dealer knows that he is selling s#$@& and does not try to polish it. We all know you can't polish S#$%6. He was so flat and uncaring. I was surprised. I always found that center to be very helpful. He really did not care. I told him I would call my old counselor on Monday as she was not in. He promptly hung up. In the CSB, many are interins, others that are there truely care about ALL patients not just those with great insurance. This guy was just reading the manual and did not see the urgency at all.

 

***** MY QUESTION STILL REMAINS..WHAT ARE THE THOUGHTS ON TAKING PROZAC AFTER 3 MONTHS WITH DRAW FROM EFFEXOR. I DID NOT TAPER PROPERLY AND I CANNOT CONTINUE ON LKE THIS WITH THE THOUGHTS, DEPRESSION, FEAR, AXIETY ECT..

 

Thank you for any advise you may have

[Altostrata]

rtn, I moved your new topic here for a general discussion.

 

If there was a simple way to treat withdrawal syndrome, I would be happy to tell everyone about it.

 

Some people do better when they take another antidepressant while experiencing withdrawal syndrome and some do not. The results are unpredictable. Here are the possibilities:

• You will have an adverse reaction to the second antidepressant, such as Prozac, because your nervous system has been sensitized to all neuroactive substances. This will further destabilize your nervous system.

   

  (For this reason, if you must try another antidepressant, you might start at a very, very low dosage to see how you react.)

• The second antidepressant won't do anything.

• The second antidepressant will partially relieve your symptoms. You can continue to have withdrawal syndrome from Effexor even after you take Prozac, for example.

• The second antidepressant will help. After a while, you will want to taper off it very gradually because your nervous system might be sensitized to dosage changes.

We don't give any recommendations for doing this because there is no way to predict the outcome.

 

Reinstating the original drug at a partial dose is a little less risky, because you already know how you react to it, but the same things can happen.

[Narcissus]

I was given prozac to supposedly soften the effects of my Effexor withdrawal. It did not help, if anything it made things worse.

[returningtonormal]

Hello PDG, I've taken two Prozac thus far. The ativan really seemed to calm me down alot. I took 0.05 the first day which lasted me into the next day. Today I took half of 0.05. So far I can't feel a difference as it has only been a few days. Its not too late to stop I suppose. I want to give it a good two weeks. How long did you take Prozac after Effexor and what was the dosage?