LilyBridget: about me

[LilyBridget]

Hi all, I’m ready to make an appt with my Dr to begin withdrawing from Effexor after 14 years. I want to have lots of info myself because I don’t expect him to know everything about it. I appreciate so many ppl sharing info & experiences on here. Lately I’ve had some serious suicidal ideations and I’m sick of it. 🦋

[ChessieCat]

Hi LilyBridget and welcome to SA,

 

I'm really pleased that you have found SA both before commencing to get off your drug and also before seeing your doctor.  Not many medical professionals understand psychiatric drug tapering and withdrawal which is why this site exists.

 

Before you begin tapering what you need to know

 

SA recommends tapering by no more than 10% of the current dose followed by a hold of about 4 weeks to allow the brain to adapt to not getting as much of the drug.  Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

When the drug is taken away too quickly we can get withdrawal symptoms:  Dr Joseph Glenmullen's Withdrawal Symptoms

 

This topic explains how to get the dose you need:  Tips for tapering off Effexor (venlafaxine)

 

Tapering Calculator - Online

 

 

Please create your drug signature.  The mods like to be able to see a member's drug history at a glance and not have read through it.  The preferred format for your drug signature is as follows. 

 

Keep it simple.  NO diagnoses or symptoms please - thank you.

• details for last 2 years - dates, ALL drugs, doses
• summary for older than 2 years - just years and drug/s

as an example:

Drug name:  date, dose; date, dose; date, dose;

 

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

 

I will provide more information in the next post.  This is your own introductions topic where your can ask questions about your own situation and journal your progress.

 

[ChessieCat]

Here's some additional information which might help you to understand what is happening:

 

Recovery isn't linear it happens in a Windows and Waves Pattern

 

Withdrawal Normal Description

When we take a psychiatric drug, we are adding chemical/s to the brain.  The brain then has to change to adapt to getting the chemical/s.  It might have to change something to do with A and then once that change has been made it affects B so another change has to be made and so on down the line.  It is a chain reaction, a domino effect.

 

The same thing happens when we take the drug away.  That's why it's possible to experience such a vast array of withdrawal symptoms, and they can change, and be of different intensity.

 

are-we-there-yet-how-long-is-withdrawal-going-to-take

 

These explain it really well:

 

Video:  Healing From Antidepressants - Patterns of Recovery

 

On 8/31/2011 at 5:28 AM, Rhiannon said:

When we stop taking the drug, we have a brain that has designed itself so that it works in the presence of the drug; now it can't work properly without the drug because it's designed itself so that the drug is part of its chemistry and structure. It's like a plant that has grown on a trellis; you can't just yank out the trellis and expect the plant to be okay. When the drug is removed, the remodeling process has to take place in reverse. SO--it's not a matter of just getting the drug out of your system and moving on. If it were that simple, none of us would be here. It's a matter of, as I describe it, having to grow a new brain. I believe this growing-a-new-brain happens throughout the taper process if the taper is slow enough. (If it's too fast, then there's not a lot of time for actually rebalancing things, and basically the brain is just pedaling fast trying to keep us alive.) It also continues to happen, probably for longer than the symptoms actually last, throughout the time of recovery after we are completely off the drug, which is why recovery takes so long.

 

AND

 

On 12/4/2015 at 2:41 AM, apace41 said:

Basically- you have a building where the MAJOR steel structures are trying to be rebuilt at different times - ALL while people are coming and going in the building and attempting to work.

It would be like if the World Trade Center Towers hadn't completely fallen - but had crumbled inside in different places.. Imagine if you were trying to rebuild the tower - WHILE people were coming and going and trying to work in the building!  You'd have to set up a temporary elevator - but when you needed to fix part of that area, you'd have to tear down that elevator and set up a temporary elevator somewhere else. And so on. You'd have to build, work around, then tear down, then build again, then work around, then build... ALL while people are coming and going, ALL while the furniture is being replaced, ALL while the walls are getting repainted... ALL while life is going on INSIDE the building. No doubt it would be chaotic. That is EXACTLY what is happening with windows and waves.  The windows are where the body has "got it right" for a day or so - but then the building shifts and the brain works on something else - and it's chaos again while another temporary pathway is set up to reroute function until repairs are made.  

 

[ChessieCat]

Before you see your doctor, I suggest you check out these topics.  You might find it helpful to write a script and rehearse what you are going to say.  Be calm, gentle but assertive.  You are the customer, it is your body.  Use words like I'd like to try this, or I'd prefer to do it this way.  If a suggestion is made that you don't want to follow, say I'd like to think about it before making a decision.

 

How do you talk to a doctor about tapering and withdrawal?

What should I expect from my doctor about withdrawal symptoms?

[Carmie]

Hi LilyBridget, 

 

I wanted to welcome you to SA as well. How are you doing? Did you go to the doctor yet? 

 

Please check out the links ChessieCat gave you. Most doctors want us to taper quicker than our brains can handle. They don’t have much experience in tapering. Please only taper by no more than 10% a month, otherwise you may end up in severe waves. 

 

Could you please  fill out your signature too, just press on the link ChessieCat gave you. Thank you. 

 

Wishing you all the best with your tapering💚

[LilyBridget]

Thanks for all the info. I have not contacted my doctor yet because I want to do a lot more research first. When he first put me on meds in 2005 he didn't follow up enough with me or explore any other options. (Overall I am happy with him as a doctor and it's also very difficult to find a doctor where I live.) I do think it is possible he will do the same again - not have all the info or not follow up enough. 

 

I kept my signature simple - I have always been on Effexor and it has almost always been the same dosage. I always like to keep things as simple as possible.