Lexy: tapering off Effexor

[Altostrata]

Effexor XR is intended to be taken once a day. A dose split over morning and evening should not be a problem.

 

But -- Lexy, you're doing this your own way, and I don't feel there's anything more I can add.

[Lexy]

I will be taking the full dose in Xr.

 

My little brother just contracted the flu. He was taken to urgent care where he was prescribed cough medicine and antibiotic?

 

Can one take these medications while on effexor withdrawal?

Am I able to get a flu vaccine?

[mammaP]

Everyone is different Lexy, some people can tolerate medications and some can't. 

Antibiotics are ineffective against flu as it is a virus, maybe your brother has a chest infection too.

Hopefully you wont catch it. I'm not sure about the flu shots, I don't have them but many do. 

I hope your brother is better very soon. 

[Lexy]

Thanks MammaP

 

I should probably just get a good hand sanitizer. I am concerned because here in California there have been many people who have gotten the H1N1 flu.

 

Hope you are well.

[flong]

The flu-shot shouldn't be a problem.

However, be REALLY careful with cough medicine. Anything with anti-histamines can cause serotonin syndrome, or "serotonin poisoning". I had it once, and it may have been the worst experience of my entire life. It causes mental AND physical trauma. You should look up people's experiences dealing with it, just so you know about it. It COULD be fine if you use small quantities of these medicines, but if you accidentally take too much, you'll know it.

[Altostrata]

If you haven't gotten a flu shot, try to get one.

 

Avoid antibiotics unless you have a bacterial infection.

 

If you're hypersensitive, don't take cough syrups or over-the-counter cough remedies. They may not cause serotonin syndrome, but they can cause paradoxical reactions and other unpleasant destabilizing effects.

[Lexy]

Got it thanks

[Lexy]

Update:

 

Dose

44.50mg Effexor

Half on brand XR

half immediate release 3/daily

 

 

Symptoms

Body aches- feels like I've been ran  over by a semi - 8.0

Dizziness has lessened - 7

 

No more vertigo

Constant headaches are gone, however yesterday i had a migraine which disappeared overnight.

 

Brain fog, mood swings, irritability come and go quickly.

The eye thing - blurry, seeing double has gone.

 

 

Supplements

Fish oil and Magnesium

 

Will not taper until i incorporate brand Effexor XR to full dose of 44mg.

[Narcissus]

Hi, Lexy.  Just stopping by to say hello.  I'm sorry that things are difficult, being run over by a semi doesn't sound fun at all.  You've been very kind to me in my thread, and I will be thinking of you as you taper.  It looks like you've been keeping a good pace so far.  

[Lexy]

Thanks Narcissus

 

  I just read  your post on Alex's thread…I wish you well.  Hope you are better today.

[Lexy]

Just talked to a compounding pharmacist who agreed that  I could purchase the Effexor brand XR through a regular pharmacy with my discount card for 75mg once daily.  He would need another scrip from the Doctor to say re-incapsulate inventory to 20mg twice daily.  I need a dose of 22mg twice daily since I am at 44.15mg.  I guess I can take the 4mg in generic immediate release since 4mg would be a 10% drop which would send me to bed 24/7.  

 

I believe the brand has helped with vertigo and headaches but I I will not know until I take the full dose on brand only. 

 

My doctor said he spoke to the pharmacist for a half hour trying to to see what could be done with the compounding.  Im giving him credit in trying to help and going along with what I need to do get off this crap that he put me on.  

[Altostrata]

The compounding pharmacy can make capsules of 22mg. They can make capsules of any number of milligrams.

[Lexy]

Thanks I thought so too. I need to be more assertive.

[Lexy]

I picked up the Effexor 75mg brand and dropped it off at the compounding pharmacy.  

The compounding pharmacy said they will have it ready in a couple days.

 

Next week is when I am planning to switch to the full dose of 44mg on  brand name XR.  I've been adding increments of the brand XR and decreasing on the immediate to make a slow transition as to not cause anymore Wds. I am at 22mg on the brand XR and 22mgs on the generic immediate release.   Next week I have my midterms to study for and didn't want any surprises.  I will be taking 22mgs twice a day.

  A few people have mentioned that taking the XR in two doses cause less side effects as i understand it.

Does anyone else take their extended release twice a day?

I know there will be some side effects from this change as there was on the initial switch to the brand (vision problems are gone but the dizziness comes and goes).  

 

Today I will switch my last generic IR dose to the brand XR.  I will be taking 27mg in XR and 17mg  in generic IR. I hope all goes well tomorrow.  

[Petunia]

Hi Lexy,

you have been struggling with your effexor taper for such a long time, I do hope this change works for you, sending positive thoughts for tomorrow

 

Petu.

[Lexy]

Thanks Petu, you are so kind. I hope you are doing well.

 

 

I switched my nightly dose to the brand XR two nights ago.

 

Dizziness-4.5

Headaches- sporadic as opposed to constant 7.5

Fatigue - 8

Body aches 8

 

I'm not sure if I can attribute a small decrease of Wds to the change to brand XR. It might just be that I've been holding for a while now. I do feel that the disappearance of vertigo is due to the brand.

[Lexy]

Four days ago I switched my night time dose to brand XR. After the second night I awoke very nauseous and vomited. I don't know if it was due to the change from immediate to XR or if was due to daylight savings times as all my doses were an hour late or so.

 

My body aches and fatigue are extremely high. I had a very down swing that lasted more than usual. I'm getting headaches but seem to last about half an hour. Dizziness is gone.

 

I picked up my 20mg effexor brand XR from the compounding pharmacy that re incapsulated the effexor. I'll be taking twice daily. I was weighing the beads my self at 22mg and taking the rest in immediate. I have read elasewhere that the brand is stronger than the generic and that some people took more of the generic to compensate. If that's the case I wonder if I can get away in taking less of the brand?

just pray my switch will work for me and hope there are not too many surprises.

[Lexy]

As I make the switch to brand XR, I'll be taking it twice a day. As of now I take one cap XR at

 

8:00am - 22mg Brand XR

10:00am- 5.5mg generic IR

1:00 pm 5.5mg generic IR

5:30 pm- 5.5 gen IR

8:00pm - 5.5mg brand XR

 

I have spring break coming next week when I'd like to make the switch. However i dont know how to proceed....should I drop the generic and take the XR, if so what time should I take my second XR cap? I don't think I can hold up till 8:00pm. Or should I start at

4pm and prolong 1/2 hour every other day till I am able to take it at 7 or 8pm?

Please any suggestion are welcomed.

[Lexy]

Today I will start my switch from immediate generic to brand XR.

I will be taking the effexor in two doses. I've started the morning 20mg dose 3 weeks ago, (vertigo disappeared) not sure what time I should take the second dose.

 

My schedule had been:

8:00- 20mg XR

9:30 - 6mg Immd release (IR)

1:30 - 6mg IR

5:30 - 6mg IR

9:00 - 6mg XR

 

I will be taking two 20mg in the XR plus 4mg in IR. I decided not to convert the 4mg IR in case I need to convert to liquid down the road.

The concern is that I won't be able to wait til the evening to take the second 20mg XR dose even though i have 4mg in IR to use in between.

Today I will wait until I feel I need it to take the IR.

 

Can anyone suggest what time I should take the second dose of 20mg XR?

[Altostrata]

Lexy, please put your updates here in your Intro topic rather than the Effexor tapering topic, which is for general information about tapering Effexor.

[Lexy]

I will...

 

I made the switch today. I took the

20mg car at 8:00am

4mg Immediate release 1:30pm

20mg 6:00pm

 

I expect some side effects from the switch, hopefully I will get better before spring break ends.

 

As of now feeling queasy, mild headache, body aches, chest pains.

[flong]

If you start feeling weird in the morning, you could try moving your last dose later in the evening. I had to do that at one point, and it worked well for me.

[Lexy]

I took  the brand XR at 6pm yesterday.  In the morning I awoke with body aches and fatigue same as always…subsequently about 10:30 am I started having a wave of depression that hasn't let up.  

At 1:30pm I took the 4mg in generic immediate release.  

 

Ive experienced mood swings before but has not lasted this long.  Im very afraid this will last.

I need help…should I go back on the generic immediate release?  

I noticed when I first started taking the morning dose of brand XR that I was getting longer mood swings. However they had  started to lessen in amount of time after two weeks after switching.  

 Also the dizziness went ways after a week on the brand.

 

 Should I have gone slower in incorporating the brand XR?  

I really need help to figure out what to do now.

 

The brand has only helped with the vertigo and headaches, but this really sucks to no end.

 

Could it be that the compounding pharmacy is not exact?  I was weighing the beads 20mg  myself from the 37.5mg capsule and taking them straight (not in a gel cap).

The compounding pharmacy requested a 75mg capsules in order to make enough 20mg for the month taken twice a day.

 

Please help

[Altostrata]

I don't know what compounding pharmacy you used. Most likely, the measurements are exact, but you'll have to discuss it with them.

 

I don't have any suggestions for reducing your symptoms. Your dosing pattern is not one I would have advised. Your guess is as good as any.

[Lexy]

This is bad. I had hoped it would get better on switching from generic immediate release to the brand XR. I've had this depression all day that came out of nowhere. I feel lost.

[flong]

With every bone in our body, when something is wrong we want to change things to fix it, and fast. But I think you've switched around dosing enough and switched delivery methods of Effexor enough in the last little while. If the actual dose is the same over the course of the day, I hope you can be strong and just wait out the bad stuff. You know it wont last forever. This is why you decided to try this during spring break right? You were smart and anticipated this might happen. But it's temporary ok? Wait it out. It's going to be okay. I can't tell you the number of times I've been in your shoes. I'm just coming out of one right now...went down too fast over the last month and I'm feeling it. This drug is horrible and tricky, but you'll beat it. You will. Stay the course. Your plan is as good as anybody else's, and it will settle. Patience.

[Lexy]

Thanks Flong for always being there!

Today was a lot better than yesterday, albeit, a lot of brain fog  , extreme exhaustion, headaches etc.  BUT depression wave is gone.

I had only had mood swings that lasted up to 1-3 hours before however yesterday it was all day which was very frightening.  

I pray for everyone here who is suffering.

 

I will keep taking the brand XR.  

Flong,  I took the capsule yesterday an hour later…maybe that's what helped.  I will try to take it at 8pm tonight.

THANKS!!!

[Lexy]

Yesterday and today I'm feeling very down. This starts at 10:30am.

Not sure if I should go back to where I was at before taking the nighttime dose in brand XR.

 

Seems like I traded the vertigo, headaches, dizziness for depression. This is worse.

I've heard on other sites that the brand xr is stronger than the generic.

Should I go lower on the XR?

Or go back to the half generic/ half brand?

I was only having body aches and random headaches, extreme fatigue and sporadic mood swings that didn't last very long.

[Lexy]

Yesterday and today feeling very gloomy and sad. This starts at about 10:30am 2 1/2 hors after taking the brand 20mg XR.

 

Did I trade in the vertigo, headaches, dizziness, for depression in switching the immediate to brand XR?

 

Should I go back to where I was at before this depression hit? I started on this wave the day after I converted the nighttime dose from immediate to XR.

or

Should i lower the brand XR? I've heard on other sites that people noticed that they had to go higher in mg to equal the effect of the XR brand. They had to change due to their insurance co who changed them to generic. They felt better at a higher dose. So I would need to do the opposite and lower it.

 

Any suggestions?

 

I understand switching back and forth is NOT good but if I wait longer won't it be harder to switch back?

[Lexy]

oops the first time is did not post

[Altostrata]

In your case, I do not believe brand vs generic is what's causing your problems.

 

What is your dosing pattern now? It could be your dosing pattern has been so variable, it's caused some symptoms.

[Lexy]

8:00am 20mg XR

1:00pm 4mg immediate

8:00 pm 20mg XR

 

I noticed after making the morning switch I was getting mood swings again after they had disappeared for 3 weeks. Mood swings would last 10-15 min 3/week.

I should have kept a journal.

[Altostrata]

You need to keep notes on paper to see if you have a pattern over time. A pattern over one day does not show much.

[Lexy]

FOr the past three mornings i wake up with only fatigue and body aches.  Suddenly about 10:30am i start getting down and depressed, i realize its chemical.  This is happening about 2 hours after I take the 20mg of Effexor brand XR.

 

This depression came about the very next day i made the nighty dose to brand XR.  I just wanted to feel better but this is so much worse. 

[Altostrata]

What happens after you take the 4mg later?

[Lexy]

I take the 4mg at 1:00pm- I feel a little less body aches, doesn't take away the depression.

 

Today has not been as bad as the last 2 days, but had a flurry of anxiety that I had not felt for a long time.  Not sure if it was due to the tightness of chest and heart racing that was producing the anxiety. But did not escalate.