Effexor XR and Serotonin Syndrome

[jmg72]

This is the first time I

[notgivingup]

Hi everyone.  I was on Celexa for 3 years for depression after third child.  After seeing a psychiatrist, am now on 75 mg of effexor xr for "mood disorder."  He wanted me to be on 150mg and I tried but needed to sleep for 4 hours a day and that is impossible with 3 kids.  I have the sweats, gas and weight gain that everyone talks about.  What happens when you go off the stuff?  Will I be "normal" after the withdrawal symptoms?  I hear you're only supposed to be on this med. for 6-8 months.  Does that mean I'll be better after and able to go back to work without worrying about flying off the handle at someone?  I work with kids and I can't go back until I feel my behaviour will be appropriately patient.

[shbrehm]

I was recently diagnosed with serotonin syndrome due to a Dr. perscribing 200mg of EFFEXOR XR. How do I get help with the long terms side effets.  If anyone can help, please let me know.

[jima]

Hi again,

Just wanted to clarify my earlier comment - in the first sentence, I meant to say that I found that Prozac was NOT working.

[jima]

Hi everyone,

I took 30 mg of prozac for about 10 years, then found that it was working with my depression and OCD.  In retrospect, I think that I needed some talk therapy to get me through a rough year, but I insisted that my psychiatrist try me on something else.  We started effexor and gradually weaned off the prozac.  The transition had its problems, but I was able to work and maintain a fairly normal life.  I eventually worked up to 150 mg.  My depression was better, but I wasn't back to where I wanted to be.  So, up I went to 225 mg, and now the side effect are a big pain.  I'm on a three week vacation, and my doctor and I worked out a schedule for reducing to 150 mg.  Basically, I'm going to go down by 37.5 the first week, same the second.  Then we're going to pause at 150 mg to see if the side effects are more tolerable.

My doctor has given me an Rx for 10 mg of Prozac and said that I can add that daily to help with the serotonin problem.  Problem is, after all of the problems with side effects and withdrawal, I'm afraid that the Prozac might trigger something weird like a manic reaction.  I'm wondering whether anyone else has tried Prozac to help even out the serotonin withdrawal.  Could I hear from you if you have?

I'm pretty sensitive to drugs, and today I dropped from 225 to 177.5 - and I can feel the difference!  Fuzzy head, hot and cold, headache, some brain zaps, etc.  I'm drinking a lot of water, taking it easy, loading up on vitamins, and watching my diet.  Does anyone have any other suggestions on how to take care of yourself during this period?  

Thanks to all of you who have posted - every one of you have helped me understand that I'm not crazy and that I'm not alone in this.  Peace.

[anxietyking]

I was on effexor xr 150 mg for 2 years.  It was the only drug I found that worked for my chronic anxiety, which began 8 years ago.  I took myself off of the effexor because I was feeling good and the night sweating side effects became such an annoyance, that I took myself off.  Since then my anxiety has returned and my doc has tried a new cocktail of zoloft and buspar, which is not working.  I have used clonopin, xanex, and alprazolam as tranquilizers to help when it gets bad.  I am considering going back to effexor b/c I'm experiencing hair loss/thining that I know is associated with the stress of the anxiety, which is always present.  I have heard about lexapro as a better effexor.  I'm wondering if anyone has had success in using a different medication to combat the night sweat side effects?   Other than that one effect, I experienced no other problems and it was great for my anxiety.  I have tried everything in the book before finding effexor....paxil, prozac, wellbutrin, zoloft, and many others.  I've heard taking effexor in the non controlled realease form (not xr) can help combat the night sweats.  I had one of my primary care docs put me on hytrin, a blood pressure medication to try and counter the effects of the effexor that were causing my night sweats.  

any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[heatherme]

Hi everyone-

I was on Effexor about 5 years ago for a year 150 (i think) milligrams and did manage to taper off.  It wasn't easy, but can be done.  Don't go too fast...Dont let anyone, including your Doctor, rush you...Im not sure what the smallest dosage pills are, I do seem to remember they were capsules so that does make it harder to divide doses and I dont remember if it comes in a liquid form to help you go down in smaller increments.  But do take as much time as you need.  Other things that can help are to meditate, exercise if you can to help increase your serotonin..Silly as this may sound, go to some arts and crafts store and pick up a silly very easy project to take your mind off things.  When you feel very down it helps to have something else to focus on.  Even if it is as simple as coloring or something like that as I know it can be hard to sleep at night and even noise can be bothersome.
I am tapering off paxil now...not fun either...
feel free to email me any time
***@****