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DiscussionTips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)
Depression & Anxiety | Last Active: 4 days ago | Replies (6363)Comment receiving replies
Replies to "I shouldn't push it so fast. I'm just so tired of this. Got to 75mgs and..."
@farmboy
I'm so sorry tonight is especially rough for you. I was there, too, AFTER I was completely off for 6.5 weeks.AND it was too late for me to go back onto any amount of Effexor for relief.
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Ask your doctor about a "Prozac bridge"--"The only way doctors know to soften the blow when withdrawing from short half-life drugs is to add fluoxetine (Prozac). You can add 20mg of Prozac to any other antidepressant and then get off the [original drug]. Once the [original drug] is gone, you can taper off the Prozac. This works because fluoxetine (Prozac) has a long half-life making it much easier to get off of than drugs like [Effexor].--https://natashatracy.com/treatment-issues/withdrawal/antidepressants-effexorpristiq-venlafaxinedesvenlafaxine/
Here's what another person did to get off Effexor with Prozac--
"Usually, when you cross-titrate between two antidepressants, as you go down on the antidepressant you want to quit, you go up on the antidepressant you are titrating to—so as you go down on Effexor, you should be going up on Prozac. Then if you want to quit Prozac, you can and it would be easier to than quitting Effexor because Prozac has such a long half-life it kind of creates its own tapering effect.
So if you started on 300 mg Effexor + 20 mg Prozac, your titration should look like the following:
300 mg Effexor + 20 mg Prozac
225 mg Effexor + 40 mg Prozac
150 mg Effexor + 60 mg Prozac
75 mg Effexor + 80 mg Prozac
Discontinue Effexor + 80 mg Prozac (or 100 mg Prozac if your pdoc is willing to go above the max dose, which is common to do)
Or if you down-titrate by 37.5 mg:
300 mg Effexor + 20 mg Prozac
262.5 mg Effexor + 30 mg Prozac
225 mg Effexor + 40 mg Prozac
187.5 mg Effexor + 50 mg Prozac
150 mg Effexor + 60 mg Prozac
112.5 mg Effexor + 70 mg Prozac
75 mg Effexor + 80 mg Prozac
37.5 mg Effexor + 80 mg Prozac (90 mg)
Discontinue Effexor + 80 mg Prozac (100 mg)
If you have issues with anxiety/irritability/etc., then you can take a benzo temporarily, like Xanax, Ativan (short-acting), Klonopin, Valium (long-acting), etc."--https://www.depressionforums.org/forums/topic/107532-coming-off-of-effexor-with-prozac-bridge/
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I went back to my older box of supplements; some worked, some didn't. It took me some trial and error to find the ones that really worked for me. I picked these up at Vitamin Sh*ppe--Anxie-T by Life Seasons and Theanine Serene w/Relora by Source Naturals. Anxie-T has less of the effective ingredients (20mg magnesium, 200mg L-Theanine, 100mg ashwagandha, 100mg GABA and 100mg Kava Kava (I used to take this quite often in the afternoons as a separate supplement; kava extracts that contain 70% kavalactones can lower anxiety and might work as well as some prescription anti-anxiety medications). Theanine Serene has 300mg magnesium, 500mg GABA, 200mg L-Theanine and 150mg Relora (proprietary blend to treat anxiety). Anxie-T was more helpful--I think because of the Kava Kava--I found it more beneficial to take the ashwagandha, GABA and Kava Kava as separate supplements rather than in a blend.