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What to bridge when tapering off effexor
Depression & Anxiety | Last Active: 4 hours ago | Replies (3)Comment receiving replies
@julishka
I'd be curious why the doctor wants to add medication when your trying to get off it unless he's trying to stop your effexor to quickly. I'm wondering if your doctor is not taking into account the length of time you've been on this medication. This isn’t a medication you should expect to get off of quickly. Although bridging may be necessary for some people personally I would never do it since I've always gone off medications extremely slowly. It's been my experience that doctors often try to reduce your medication at two quickly thereby causing withdrawal effects. I stopped some powerful medications and all without any withdrawals and and I credit doing it slowly. as the reason.
Take care,
Jake
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@julishka and @jakeduck1 I assumed a long taper. @jakeduck1 you are right about what doctors tend to suggest: "Cut in half for a week and stop.'!
Even when on an SSRI for a much shorter time, my family member needed to taper down over months, using small dose reductions and then, when at the lowest amount (I think the lowest was using liquid) doing longer time intervals between doses.
I have read that switching from a short acting SSRI to a longer acting one like Prozac can help with this but I do not remember at one point that is suggested.
@ julishka I may be misunderstanding your use of the term "bridge." I am using it as a term for concurrent meds at one point, with Prozac intersecting with the med being withdrawn, and then the Prozac being tapered. Prozac is easier to taper due to its long half life. Just wanted to be clear.
Doctors use a "bridge" blood thinner while going off and on Coumadin for surgery. I used Pepcid as a "bridge" for getting off omeprazole. In the latter case, I slowly replaced omeprazole with Pepcid and then tapered the Pepcid because it is shorter acting.