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What to bridge when tapering off effexor

Depression & Anxiety | Last Active: 1 hour ago | Replies (8)

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@windyshores

@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 I am using it as a term for concurrent meds at one point, with Prozac intersecting with the med being withdrawn, and then the Prozac being tapered.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.

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Replies to "@julishka and @jakeduck1 I assumed a long taper. @jakeduck1 you are right about what doctors tend..."

Yes the bridge being when I get down to the lower dose (by reducing by 10% by counting beads) having something that will overlap and then tapering off that.