jen84: Effexor withdrawal

[jen84]

Signature updated, thanks for the reminder ChessieCat

 

During the past few weeks, I did miss a dose or two at night (by accident). When I missed those doses, I did not feel any kind of withdrawal symptom... no brain zaps, nothing. That's why I am wondering if I can do the next decrease by skipping my evening dose? 

 

I have read through the liquid taper page, super confusing. It will definitely take me some time to wrap my head around it.

[ChessieCat]

Thank you for updating your sig.

 

I've added drug tags to your topic.  If you click on them it will bring up other members with the same tag.

 

I'll draw the other mods' attention to your query.  Please don't change anything until we get their thoughts.

[jen84]

Thanks Chessie

[Altostrata]

jen, in what form are you taking Wellbutrin now?

[jen84]

Pill form. I'm splitting a 100mg tablet into quarters and taking 25mg at night and 25mg in the morning

[jen84]

Pill form. I'm splitting a 100mg tablet into quarters and taking 25mg at night and 25mg in the morning

[Altostrata]

Update: I did 2 weeks of splitting 100mg in half, took 50mg in the morning and 50mg at night.No issues.

 

3 days ago I dropped from 100mg to 50mg, so I'm taking 25mg in the morning and 25 at night. Haven't noticed any changes.

 

It'll be 3 weeks of 50mg soon. I'm feeling ready to make another decrease in a week or so. Should I stop taking the 25mg at night and just take 25mg in the morning? I don't think I can split the 25mg, its pretty small.

 

It's good that you're doing okay so far with rather large decreases.

 

It's up to you. You could take a quarter-tablet 25mg in the morning and a smaller dose, such as 15mg, via liquid in the evening.

 

Or, if you dropped the night-time dose, you could take a crumb of a quarter-tablet 25mg if you got withdrawal symptoms in the evening.

 

Immediate-release Wellbutrin, which is what you've got from a cut-up tablet, is usually dosed 2 or 3 times a day.

[jen84]

Dropping the nighttime dose was a bad idea. I had withdrawal symptoms within a few days. So I'm still taking 25 in the morning and 25 at night. Looks like the liquid route is my only option. Ill try to get the supplies this week, and hopefylly start next weekend. Can I decrease the dose right away?

[jen84]

I've been doing a little more reading on the liquid taper. I want to drop from 25mg 2x daily (50mg), down to say 30 or 40 mg daily (15-20mg 2x daily). I would put one quarter of my tablet, 25mg into 25ml of water, and take 15-20ml of the solution?

[jen84]

I bought a 10ml oral dispenser... I'm ready to switch to liquid. I crush 25mg into 25ml of water, and take 15ml of that, twice a day, for a total of 30mg daily? What do I do with the 10ml of liquid at each dose that I don't use? Or can I mix up bigger doses and store it in the fridge?

[jen84]

Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

[brassmonkey]

Save it in the fridge and you'll get a "free" dose every three days.

[jen84]

Thanks brassmonkey, so I can mix up say 50mg at a time? Can I do more? Like 100mg, which is a full pill?

[brassmonkey]

Mixing up 100mg would be at the long end of the spectrum.  If you added 20mg from the next batch to the left over 10mg of the first batch you should be able to roll things over in a safe manner.  Make sure to keep everything very clean when you're working with it so things don't get contaminated.  Personally I wouldn't keep a mixture more than four days, so like I said you're right at the long end of it.

[jen84]

Perfect, thanks brassmonkey. I will switch over on Monday.

[jen84]

Been feeling pretty good with the liquid doses, so I dropped to 10mg (2×daily) today. 

[jen84]

I wonder if I dropped too much too fast. My anxiety has been pretty high lately, and its showing on my face. I think I'm getting stressed induced exzema. After I've had a bout of anxiety, my face will get really itchy and swollen, then it gets super dry and sometimes flakes chunks of skin. It feels awful, and I don't know how to relieve it, other than not getting anxiety. My anxiety is triggered by the silliest things, sometimes I don't even know what has triggered it. I get really antsy and even a bit snappy towards my coworkers. 

 

Should I up my dose again? Or wait this out? I'm willing to wait it out at this dose if there's light at the end of the tunnel.

[KarenB]

What dose had you dropped from?  Was it the 25mg twice daily, as in your sig?  Has anything improved at all since the last drop?  Keeping skin cool will help with the swelling. 

 

My husband gets similar skin issues (but all over his body).  He has found that using a fatty emulsion helps somewhat.  It's available from the chemist. 

[jen84]

Karen, I've updated my signature. I dropped from 50mg (25mg 2x daily) to 30mg (15mg 2x daily) around April 30. I dropped from 30 to 20mg (10mg 2x daily) on June 6. 

 

Has anything improved? When I'm not having anxiety, I do feel really good. But then the anxiety hits, and down I go.

 

Ill Google fatty emulsions, I've never heard of it. I can't imagine having it all over my body... I can barely handle my face 

[KarenB]

What I'm seeing is four fairly big dose reductions since the end of last year.  Waiting it out might take a long time - but it's very hard to know.  Up-dosing a small amount, say to half way between your last dose and this one (25mg) might be an idea.  I'm sorry I can't offer anything more concrete than that.  

 

If you do up-dose, I'd recommend a long hold after that to let things really stabilise, and from then onwards to make only 10% or less reductions.   

[jen84]

I was on 30mg, then dropped to 20. Should i updose to 26mg (13mg 2x daily)?

[KarenB]

Yes, 26 would be fine.  It's close enough to half way. 

[jen84]

Ok thanks Karen. Will updose tonight.

[jen84]

Coming up to 4 weeks at 13mg, and I'm feeling much better! My anxiety has, for the most part, subsided. I'm assuming I should give it more time before decreasing?

[brassmonkey]

Hi Jen-- it's great to hear that you're doing better. There is no need to rush things, better to allow it the time to resolve now than trying to fix things if the go wrong later.  I would suggest waiting a couple of months before trying any sort of taper.  There are a lot of things going on in the background that we don't feel that need to settle out before any more changes can be made.

[jen84]

Its been two months since updosing, and I don't want to rush this, just wanted to get some feedback on a decrease. I was thinking from 13mg 2x daily to 11mg 2x daily? That's just over the recommended 10%.

[ChessieCat]

Please update your signature so that is shows your last reduction.  Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

Many members find that the lower their dose gets the slower they need to go.  Why taper paper: dose-occupancy curves

 

If it were me I'd seriously consider holding for a total of 3 months because you have made some very large decreases.  If you do decide to reduce you could try reducing to 12.5mg 2x or 12mg 2x.  I definitely wouldn't be trying to go to 11mg 2x even if you hold for an extra month.  It's better to hold for long and/or reduce <10% of the previous dose than ending up going too quickly and having to updose.

[jen84]

Thanks Chessie. Signature is now updated. That sounds good, ill hold off for another month, then drop to 12mg. 

[jen84]

My anxiety has been pretty high the past two weeks and I'm having a tough time. 

 

I work a physical job outdoors, and the past two weeks I feel like it takes all I have to even get to work, nevermind actually working. I  feel like my boss doesn't like me anymore, just from the way he is acting towards me lately. He used to be very jokey and easy going, but I feel tension now, and it sucks. It makes me really upset that he may be annoyed or frustrated with me. Some days, it takes everything I have to not have a breakdown at work. I feel like I'm drowning.

 

My bf and I are moving in together in a weeks time, and I couldn't be more thrilled. I don't think my anxiety is coming from that, but I'm sure its a contributing factor. He is my rock and ths only thing that is keeping me sane right now.

 

My body and mind are tired, and this feeling just isn't going away. I was feeling really good up to a few weeks ago, so I'm wondering if it could be from a mix of being physically tired and mentally tired? Is it normal for me to be very sensitive to anxiety right now?

[jen84]

It seems as though I was going through a bit of a wave the last time I posted. I am finding that I am very sensitive to other people's moods lately.  Like if a coworker is having a bad day,  instead of brushing it off,  I take it personal. Something I need to work on.

 

On a brighter note, I'm feeling better. I dropped to 12mg two days ago and so far so good. 

[ChessieCat]

18 minutes ago, jen84 said:

I am finding that I am very sensitive to other people's moods lately.  Like if a coworker is having a bad day,  instead of brushing it off,  I take it personal. Something I need to work on.

 

It's good that you have recognised this.

[divegrl]

Hi!!

 

Thank you for continuing to post on SA about your Wellbutrin taper.  I too am tapering Wellbutrin and experiencing some of the same side effects.  Especially anxiety, and extreme sensitivity to unhealthy relationships.  

 

Glad to hear you are feeling better!!! Hope you have a great day!

[jen84]

I'm feeling not too bad after the decrease. My anxiety is lingering around a bit, but it seems to be the norm and it is getting better every day.

 

I have a question about anxiety, and I'm hoping someone out there is going through something similar and can offer some insight. It seems like my anxiety needs something to anchor itself onto. Like, if something isn't going right at work, ill have anxiety over work. But as soon as work gets back to normal, my anxiety will latch onto something else... And that something else seems to be my relationship with my partner. I start thinking that were not a good match and that I don't love him, but in fact I am very much in love. We've recently moved in together, and the thought of being on my own again if things Dont work out is terrifying. Hes very supportive of what I'm going through and I comunicate all of this to him. I'm just wondering if this is normal to have anxiety that latches on to the nearest insecurity or hiccup. Of course once I start thinking about one thing, it just snowballs and I end up having mini panic attacks. When I'm not havinf anxiety, I know that I want to be in this relationship, its just tough to weed out the anxious thoughts and doubts.

 

I would like to start reading about cbt (cognitive behavioural therapy), I do have experience with it but that was many years ago. Does anyone have a book they'd recommend to get me started?

[jen84]

I made a decrease from 12 to 11, about a week ago.  I had a few really rough days,  but seem to be on the mend.  

 

Im still having relationship anxiety,  and I really don't know why it's happening, and  I don't know where it's coming from,  and it sucks.  I don't know anymore if the relationship anxiety is triggered by the `hellbutrin',  or something else? 

[jen84]

Its been about 2.5 months since my last decrease. The anxiety has subsided somewhat, but its still hanging around in the wave/window pattern. With wellbutrin being a stimulant, could this be the cause of my anxiety? I would like to make another drop in a few weeks, but I am really nervous about the possibility of increasing my anxiety. Also, how does wellbutrin affect sleep? For quite a while now I've been experiencing unpleasant vivid dreams/nightmares.

[Gridley]

jen84,

 

Good to hear from you.

 

Could you update your signature?  Here's the link:   Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

 

Based on the signature I have, I am concerned you are tapering too fast.  

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

What is Withdrawal Syndrome?

 

According to this link, Wellbutrin tends to be energizing and can cause anxiety and insomnia.

Tips for tapering off Wellbutrin, IR, SR, XR, XL (bupropion) - Tapering ...

If you've been tapering more than 10%, you might want to hold for a bit longer before your next drop to let things settle down and allow your brain to catch up with the changes.

 

Best,

Gridley