Effexor, Lexapro.....Help

[emeraldeyes1646]

I have been on Effexor XR for the past 2 years.  I was taking 300 mg a day with Lamictal 200mg/day and Seroquel 100mg to sleep.  The Effexor wasn't working so my psychiatrist wanted to drop the Effexor and replace it with Lexapro 10mg/day.  He told me to "just" drop my Effexor dose by one 75 mg pill a day and I would be "off" of the Effexor in 4 days.  Yeah, right!!!  
Having once before attempted to "stop" Effexor, I knew it wasn't going to be that easy.  A very close family member is a supervisor for the company that makes Effexor.  He gave me "advice" on how to "quit" by gradually decreasing the dose by 37.5mg over every 2 days.  The last week I should break open the 75 mg caps and take fewer and fewer granuales until I was "weaned".  I thought I had done everything to a T until yesterday when I had gone without my "fix" for 2 days and hurled all over my kitchen after staying in bed all day.  The only thing that made me feel better was taking a few granuales of Effexor.  I have almost a week off soon and plan on "detoxing" during my vacation.
I had been researching Lexapro to see the side effects and wonder if this drug is even worse that Effexor (which I would NEVER recommend to anyone)?  I read the testaments and have found several even going as far as saying they (or a loved one) were suicidal after taking Lexapro when they had never been before.  HELP...now what do I do.

[StupidMe]

You had been on a high dose of Effexor XR for 2 years and you should taper it off over 3 weeks time instead of 8 days and watch out for discontinuation symptoms even after the withdrawal. Anyway you are over with Effexor XR. Effexor is an SNRI while Lexapro is SSRI. But they are more or less the same with regards to classification, efficacy and side effects. Lexapro claims to be an improved formula of Celexa, which is another SSRI. The pharmaceutical companies that launches these products tends to include an exhaustive list of possible side effects from the established papers to safeguard themselves from possible litigation. Remember each paper reveals its own profile of untoward effects from its set of patients. If you look at that list, one will probably be scared and shy away from the drugs. By and large, SSRI are much saver than older antidepressants like tricyclics and tetracyclics. If you know how to use your drugs or take them according the advice of a psychiatrist, these drugs work wonders. If you quit it in 8 days instead of 3 weeks it makes you hate it. And everyone has a idiosyncratic interaction with a certain drug which may not be in the literature. So, step up Lexapro slowly and taper off in 3 weeks time for stopping it. Or if you are scare of SSRI, you can try another class, e.g. Wellbutrin.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

What you described seems to be true of all the antidepressant medications, and especially those ssri's.  You have to wean carefully once you have been taking them as long as you have, and at the dose you have.  And you have to make sure your underlying depression is resolved, not just dampened down, so that does not reappear.  Its best to be in therapy and take mediations, and gradually diminsih your medications.  Lexapro is a little less likely but you will stay have to wean yourself carefully.