ChrysalisMoon: EffexorXR & Zeldox for Depression & Schizotypal Personality Disorder

[ChrysalisMoon]

~*Hello All,

My name is Chrysalis and I stumbled upon this website when I was researching how to come off my medications. I am currently taking EffexorXR (300mg daily) and Zeldox (180mg daily, down from 240). My diagnoses are Depression and Schizotypal Personality Disorder.

 

I'm also a cancer survivor, having been diagnosed with endometrial cancer this past February and having been "cured" by a hysterectomy (with biliateral salpingo oopherectomy and lymph node sampling) just 8 weeks ago. I started working with an energy healer (who was also my reiki teacher), doing both energy work and EFT (emotional freedom technique, where you tap on certain acupressure points, while verbalizing about what troubles you, followed by a positive affirmation), which I have found to be very effective.

 

I'm currently attending a Psychiatric Day Hospital program, where the treating psychiatrist feels that I ought wait until I've moved and am set up with a new PDOC before I begin tapering off my meds (I am moving across country in 2 weeks time, from Montreal to British Columbia and will be 3 months without any medical care before I can see my GP and ask for a referral to see a PDOC). My regular psychiatrist feels that I don't need the medications and that I will be fine without them. I do not want to wait many more months until I taper off of my meds, but am possibly willing to compomize by coming off of the anti-depressant slowly once I've been in my new home for a month and maybe even staying on a lower dose of Zeldox until I have a support system in place.

 

I almost forgot -I also take 100mg of Seroquel to knock myself out at night because otherwise I don't sleep for days at a time. Nothing else seems to work and I am very upset by this as I don't want to be on this medication.  I no longer want to be identified as a mental patient, I am fed up with that whole paradigm.

Chrysalis~*

Edited June 25, 2013 by Karma
added paragraph breaks for readability

[Jemima]

I think you'd be wise to hold off on tapering until after your move.  You've already been through a lot with cancer surgery.  As for your regular psychiatrist, he's apparently clueless about withdrawal as are many doctors, psychiatrists or not.  Do not quit your drugs cold turkey.  Doing this is asking for months of severe illness and even disability.  Be sure that you have enough of your drugs to tide you over that three month gap until you can see another doctor.

 

When you have a chance, please put your drug history in the signature area of your profile, like so:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/893-please-put-your-withdrawal-history-in-your-signature/

 

And here's a general topic on tapering off of psychiatric drugs that you might want to study in advance:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1024-why-taper-by-10-of-my-dosage/

 

If I were you, I'd taper off the Zeldox first.  Atypical antipsychotics are very strong drugs with lots of nasty side effects, and I think it would be wise to taper off that one while you still have the antidepressant support and effective sleep medication.  Just my opinion, but I hope you'll think about it.

 

Welcome to the forum.  When you aren't too busy packing, please take a look around.  You'll find lots of solid information and friendly support here.

[Narcissus]

 

 

I no longer want to be identified as a mental patient, I am fed up with that whole paradigm.

 

Here, here!

 

It sounds like you intend to taper, which is great, provided that you go at the right pace.  I second your doctor's opinion that you should wait until the move is over (perhaps even a little later  or until things feel "settled") before beginning your taper.  I had to move in the middle of terrible withdrawal from Effexor and it was a huge disaster.  

 

And yes, I agree with Jemima that you should taper off of the Seroquel before starting the Effexor.  Check out this thread here:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/2207-taking-multiple-psych-drugs-taper-the-antidepressant-first/

 

 

Welcome to the forum!

[ChrysalisMoon]

TY for the welcome and the advice. I already began tapering the Zeldox a couple of weeks ago, its down 60mg from 240mg. I plan on taking it down another 60mg in two weeks time, then leaving it at 120mg while I taper off the Effexor. I'm not really worried about tapering off my AD because I did it without much difficulty this past January. I just dropped it weekly by 75mg's until the final week at 37.5mg. I only went back on it because I got depressed and overwhelmed dealing with the cancer diagnosis. I now feel like it was a gift -it forced me to deal with things that I had done my best to ignore for nearly 40 years and helped me find my courage. It was a real wake-up call! Anyways, I wont begin tapering for another month, so that I have a chance to settle into my new home. My avatar is a picture of my puppy Shilo, who is waiting for me in B.C. He will be my therapy dog I plan on waiting until I've tapered off of the AD to resume tapering the AP, and I will go much slower with the last 120mg. I will try tapering 20mg per week. I don't know if I'll be able to get off of the Seroquel -which is the medication that I most worry about and get side effects from. Its the only thing that knocks me out when my insomnia gets really bad. I can go days without sleep and usually by day 3 I'm hallucinating. Once I have medical coverage, I might be able to switch back over to Immovane for sleeping. I'm having wonderful success with EFT since I started using it, but it doesn't work for my sleep disorder.

[ChrysalisMoon]

I just finished tapering off of Effexor. I took an entire month, going weekly from 300mg to 225mg, then 150mg, 75mg, then a final week at 37.5mg. I feel like my emotions are very close to the surface and that I'm easily triggered. I burst into tears easily and snap at people. I'm still having a bit of the diziness and brain zaps, but that's not too bad now. What's absolutely driving me up the wall is that I didn't realize how much Effexor was helping me with the symptoms of surgically induced menopause (I had a total hysterectomy due to cancer four mths ago). I was only experiencing a few minor hot flashes while still on Effexor. Now I'm having major hot flashes and even having night sweats *ugh* I went to a naturopathic doctor and she told me to up my evening primrose oil dosage from 1000mg to 2000mg daily  and to add Maca powder (2 tsp daily). Its beeen a couple of weeks and it hasn't changed anything. I was just wondering if any other women here had experienced anything similar coming off of Effexor and if so, what they did about it?

Thanks, Heather

[GiaK]

taking a month to come off Effexor at 300 mg is WAY TOO FAST for most people. We often take many months or even a year or more to come off that amount.

 

You don't say how long it's been but since it sounds like it was relatively recently, I would highly recommend reinstating at least 50% of your dose and maybe more and then start doing a much safer (very slow) taper.

 

There are directions on this site that get explicit and I'm sure someone will come along soon and give them to you. 

 

If you do reinstate and stabilize your nervous system you will be more likely to avoid long term issues. 

 

I do have a few articles on this blog that might help until others come and help you out within the context of this site...this article is written by Alto, the owner of the SurvivingAntidepressants.org site:  

 

Psychiatric drug withdrawal: Why taper by 10% of your dosage? http://beyondmeds.com/2012/02/13/taper10percent/

 

take care of yourself.

[Nikki]

Hi...I actuall have a friend whose doctor gave her Effexor for her menopausal symptoms.  She said it helped and then had no issues getting off of it.  Her doctor could have really hurt her.

 

Effexor is not something to get on and off of quickly.  I had a hsyterectomy in 1999.  I take bio-identical hormones and they are ver helpful for me.

 

Recently the doctor cold turkeyed me off of them, because it is his contention that surgical menopause only requires estrogen.

I went thru hell until I was able to get a prescription for estrogen/progesterone.

 

That blunder on his part catipulted me into having WD symptoms from a Celexa taper.  I was okay until this happened.

 

My point is that menopause and it's symptoms need to be treated with HRT.  Depression and anxiety is what Effexor is for.

You probably tapered too fast from Effexor and you do not have any hormones at all.

 

See a physician who treats women with HRT. As far as Effexor goes you may want to read thru the site and talk to people who are getting off effexor.

 

Hope this helps.....Nikki

[mammaP]

I am getting off effexor and have been tapering for over a year. Hot flushes and night sweats have been a problem at times

and seem to be common in withdrawal. They were really bad in the hot weather. I agree with the others that slow is the way

to go and you can minimise the discomfort by going back on, stabilising then tapering slowly, a month is very fast. 

Whatever you decide I hope that you can get some relief, it isn't very comfortable dealing with menopause AND withdrawal.

[Indygrl68]

I'm also tapering off Effexor after 11 years. Started it due to surgical menopause. I'm on HRT also. Was initially on 150 my daily. Just finished 2 weeks of tapering Dow to 37.5mg three times daily. Had no brain zaps, tingling lips, or floaty dizziness but I did have headaches and diahrrea. Now into day 3 of further tapering down to 37.5mg twice daily for 2 weeks, and I'm on an emotional roller coaster. Crying and blubbering. Edgy and snippy. Out of sorts. I hate this medication. I wish I'd never started takin it but I will say that 11 years ago it definitely helped me get through menopause from hell

[ChrysalisMoon]

Thanks for the suggestions and support. Unfortunately, I'm in a bind. I cannot take HRT due to the fact that I had endometrial cancer. Also, I just moved cross-country from Montreal to British Columbia, so I wont have any health coverage for another month yet. That precludes my going back on Effexor for now. I guess I'm just going to have to tough it out...

[Claudius]

I did not use Effexor but the equally addictive drug Paxil. And I can assure you that this is not about "toughing it out". If you belong to the unlucky few (like me) , recovering from cold turkey withdrawal can be a years-long torture.

I would consider going back to the drug, even you have to pay for it yourself, and tapering safely off.

I would do anything if I could turn the clock back to the moment when safely tapering was still an option for me.

[GiaK]

yes...toughing it out is not what this is about...you risk continued nervous system damage. Please find a source of effexor..the sooner the better. Paying out of pocket for one month of effexor would be a very wise investment in your future and your wellbeing. Please seriously consider it.

 

Some of us are gravely disabled because we did not have information to protect us. We are giving you such information.