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Severe Anxiety Due to Effexor Withdrawal
I am hoping that someone can help me or give me some advice or reassurance. I am currently experiencing severe anxietly symptons for the past two days. I know why i am experienceing the anxiety but i really could use some help relieveing the symptoms. my MD advises taking 1mg of xanax 3 times a day until i can get the 75mg of effexor back into my system for a few days. I stopped taking the effexor about 2 weeks ago cold turkey and started taking 50mg of zoloft in its place. my doc at the time didnt think i would experience such a bad withdrawal reaction given that i was substituting with zoloft. i am so scared!! terrified actually!! the xanax really isnt working fo rme the way it has in the past. i still feel very nervous with it. i just need to know if there is anything else anyone can recommend to help with the anxiety and it anyone has had this experience how long will these symptoms last befoer i start feeling better on the effexor? will the xanax start working or should i ask for something stronger. it is so hard having to work when i can barely function. i am in a really bad state any any help would be so extremelly appreciate!!
DS1107
DS1107
Hello all, I am a 42 year old male taking 75mgs of effexor for about 4 years now. It use to work alot better, I must get use to it. I get ectopic beats etc...glad to see this forum.
thank you both so much for your responses and concern. It helps so much to know someone is out there listening and understanding what I am going through!!!!!
i was not able to get back on the computer yesterday. my mind was racing so much that I didnt explain everything properly and that is why you have so many questions.
First all of my meds have been prescribed by my regular MD and not a psychiatrist. That is problem number one which I was able to get an emergency appointment with a psychiatrist yesterday.
For about 5 years I have been on 75 mg of effexor once a day and only took either .25 mg or .5 mg of xanax when needed mostly for sleep and every once and a while during the day if I were really anxious about something, This worked fine for a long time. One xanax prescription would last me about 3 months so all was good.
Then I heard about Wellbutrin a few years ago and I wanted to try that and get off the effexor because i thought it was making me gain too much weight and I hear that the Wellbutrin could make you lose weight. So i slowly tried to get off the effexor on my own and increase the wellbutrin and this was a nightmare both the symptoms from the effexor withdrawal and the wellbutrin started to give me anxisety so i had to go back on the effexor 75mg a day at that time and continued to take wellbutrin 150mg a day. so then i was on 2 meds and xanax when needed mostly for sleep and i decide that its too much medication and i stopped taking both effexor and wellbutrin everyday and i cut it down to taking effexor one day and then wellbutrin the next and so on so in effect cutting my dosages in half. this was done without any doctor oversight. that was working for awhile on the anxiety side but I was still very depressed. then my insurance started charging me $50 a month for my effexor prescription so i went back to my regular MD who has been prescribing all of this and asking if there were a generic effexor that would work just as well and save me some money. she said no but why dont i try zoloft with the wellbutrin everyday and stop the effexor cold turkey because she felt the zoloft and the wellbutrin would take care of any of the withdrawal symptoms. well i didnt actually follow her directions because i wasnt used to taking the wellbutrin daily anymore and was afraid to start taking it daily thinking it would give me more anxiety!!! as you can see i am a mess!! so i was feeling ok for about two weeks on the zoloft and wellbutrin sporadically and xanax only when needed until sunday when i developed a migraine and decide to add Percocet and Zyrtec-D to the mix. Those two pushed me over the edge and I was in a state of severe panic for the past two days. I did go to the emergency room sunday because i had severe nausea, trembling etc, etc from the percocet and Zyrtec D which are not suppossed to be taken together allong with the sever anxiety. the ER fixed my migrain pain and nausea but I left there still in a paniced state. yesterday morning when I called my regular MD she recommended that i stop the zoloft, go back to the effexor which had been working and try to control the anxiety using increased dosages of the xanax temporarilly until the effexor could build back up into my system. well i was so off the hook with anxiety that the higher dosages of the xanax werent working.
Yesterday afternoon i was abe to see a phychiatrist, told her the whole story and she said yes go back to the effexor but take Klonopin 10mg 3x a day to control the anxiety and then wean myself down as I am feeling better and i will go back to her in 3 weeks. so far i took the klonopin last night and this morning and i am not 100% but I do feel more in control and it is relieving the anxiety alot better than the xanax.
I am at work today and am functioning that goodness but of course there is still that pit in my stomach every now and thedn thinking of how terrified i have been these past few days. i felt like i would lose my mind and have to be committed and never be normal again. i come from a family with mental health issues that are much more severe than mine so i am always worried that i will progress to that point. right now i am just trying to get through the day and luckily i am feeling a bit better than yesterday.
I sooo appreciate any advice any of you have and would love to hear if you ahve been through a similar situation especially if you were able to get it all back under control.
I should also mention that i have an appointment with a therapist on monday so i am hoping that we click and she will be able to monitor me and help me going forward.
thank you for your responses!!!!.
i was not able to get back on the computer yesterday. my mind was racing so much that I didnt explain everything properly and that is why you have so many questions.
First all of my meds have been prescribed by my regular MD and not a psychiatrist. That is problem number one which I was able to get an emergency appointment with a psychiatrist yesterday.
For about 5 years I have been on 75 mg of effexor once a day and only took either .25 mg or .5 mg of xanax when needed mostly for sleep and every once and a while during the day if I were really anxious about something, This worked fine for a long time. One xanax prescription would last me about 3 months so all was good.
Then I heard about Wellbutrin a few years ago and I wanted to try that and get off the effexor because i thought it was making me gain too much weight and I hear that the Wellbutrin could make you lose weight. So i slowly tried to get off the effexor on my own and increase the wellbutrin and this was a nightmare both the symptoms from the effexor withdrawal and the wellbutrin started to give me anxisety so i had to go back on the effexor 75mg a day at that time and continued to take wellbutrin 150mg a day. so then i was on 2 meds and xanax when needed mostly for sleep and i decide that its too much medication and i stopped taking both effexor and wellbutrin everyday and i cut it down to taking effexor one day and then wellbutrin the next and so on so in effect cutting my dosages in half. this was done without any doctor oversight. that was working for awhile on the anxiety side but I was still very depressed. then my insurance started charging me $50 a month for my effexor prescription so i went back to my regular MD who has been prescribing all of this and asking if there were a generic effexor that would work just as well and save me some money. she said no but why dont i try zoloft with the wellbutrin everyday and stop the effexor cold turkey because she felt the zoloft and the wellbutrin would take care of any of the withdrawal symptoms. well i didnt actually follow her directions because i wasnt used to taking the wellbutrin daily anymore and was afraid to start taking it daily thinking it would give me more anxiety!!! as you can see i am a mess!! so i was feeling ok for about two weeks on the zoloft and wellbutrin sporadically and xanax only when needed until sunday when i developed a migraine and decide to add Percocet and Zyrtec-D to the mix. Those two pushed me over the edge and I was in a state of severe panic for the past two days. I did go to the emergency room sunday because i had severe nausea, trembling etc, etc from the percocet and Zyrtec D which are not suppossed to be taken together allong with the sever anxiety. the ER fixed my migrain pain and nausea but I left there still in a paniced state. yesterday morning when I called my regular MD she recommended that i stop the zoloft, go back to the effexor which had been working and try to control the anxiety using increased dosages of the xanax temporarilly until the effexor could build back up into my system. well i was so off the hook with anxiety that the higher dosages of the xanax werent working.
Yesterday afternoon i was abe to see a phychiatrist, told her the whole story and she said yes go back to the effexor but take Klonopin 10mg 3x a day to control the anxiety and then wean myself down as I am feeling better and i will go back to her in 3 weeks. so far i took the klonopin last night and this morning and i am not 100% but I do feel more in control and it is relieving the anxiety alot better than the xanax.
I am at work today and am functioning that goodness but of course there is still that pit in my stomach every now and thedn thinking of how terrified i have been these past few days. i felt like i would lose my mind and have to be committed and never be normal again. i come from a family with mental health issues that are much more severe than mine so i am always worried that i will progress to that point. right now i am just trying to get through the day and luckily i am feeling a bit better than yesterday.
I sooo appreciate any advice any of you have and would love to hear if you ahve been through a similar situation especially if you were able to get it all back under control.
I should also mention that i have an appointment with a therapist on monday so i am hoping that we click and she will be able to monitor me and help me going forward.
thank you for your responses!!!!.
OK ds........I'm trying really hard to get the sequence of events straight in my head here. You had one doctor prescribe Effexor, which you took it upon yourself to discontinue two weeks ago. But you began to take Zoloft in it's place. Who prescribed THIS for you? Did your prescribing doc tell you to quit the Effexor cold turkey? And is this the same doc who put you on 3mg of Xanax until you got back up to your old dosage of 75mg of the Effexor? You said "my doctor AT THE TIME." Is there now another chef in your chemical kitchen? I'm sorry to seem befuddled by your post.........I must be overly tired.
If I have this right, you are now taking Zoloft 50mg and 3mg of Xanax, which you also state is not working for you "like it has in the past." How long and how much Xanax were you on before? Who prescribe that for you? Why did they prescribe it?
How long were you on the Effexor? (You should NOT quit Effexor cold turkey, but rather taper off slowly. Your doctor should know this!) Why did you decide to quit the Effexor? Zoloft can take about a week to reach a therapeutic effect, but you state you've been on it for two weeks now and are apparently not feeling better.........rather, you are actually feeling MORE anxiety. You state that that the doc wanted you on the Xanax "until you could get the EFFEXOR back in your system for a few days." But you said you were now on Zoloft......where does the return to Effexor come in?
The Xanax should have begun to relieve your anxiety almost immediately, especially at the dosage he put you on. 3mg qd is quite the dose for that particular anti-anxiety med.
And I'm still a bit unclear as to how many docs are prescribing things for you. Does the right hand know what the left is doing?
I realize that I have been of absolutely no help to you. In my humble opinion I think you are in a bit of a pickle here and need to get to back to your doctor(s), tell him/her/them EXACTLY what you are going through and get them to help you sort out what should go and what should stay. I understand the need to work, even when we are in a crisis state, but that is just adding more stress/anxiety to your already overloaded mind. Is there no way for you to take some sick and/or vacation time? Even just a few days until you can get this under a bit better control?
I can't recommend that you ask your doc for anything, and I certainly wouldn't ask him for anything stronger than Xanax. The options, and the reasons, for medication are vast and I am NOT a doctor, only you and your physcian can make that decision. Please make an appointment as soon as possible to begin working out a better plan to help with your situation. And while you're there, you might as for a referral to a good therapist while you're at it.
I hope lots of folks will respond with support for your current feelings........which I can relate to with great compassion. Try to get yourself calmed down and know that you ARE going to be fine once you get on the right meds and therapy. It may be a scary few days but I sense that you are a very strong, intelligent person, so put that to work for you now.
Keep writing to us as much as you want/need. And please let us know how you're doing, OK?
Just one other thing.........please DO NOT, under ANY circumstance, take it upon yourself to increase the dosage of Xanax! If your anxiety is so great that you think about taking much more than what has been prescribed, have someone drive you to the ER. They can and will help you there.
Peace
Greenlydia
If I have this right, you are now taking Zoloft 50mg and 3mg of Xanax, which you also state is not working for you "like it has in the past." How long and how much Xanax were you on before? Who prescribe that for you? Why did they prescribe it?
How long were you on the Effexor? (You should NOT quit Effexor cold turkey, but rather taper off slowly. Your doctor should know this!) Why did you decide to quit the Effexor? Zoloft can take about a week to reach a therapeutic effect, but you state you've been on it for two weeks now and are apparently not feeling better.........rather, you are actually feeling MORE anxiety. You state that that the doc wanted you on the Xanax "until you could get the EFFEXOR back in your system for a few days." But you said you were now on Zoloft......where does the return to Effexor come in?
The Xanax should have begun to relieve your anxiety almost immediately, especially at the dosage he put you on. 3mg qd is quite the dose for that particular anti-anxiety med.
And I'm still a bit unclear as to how many docs are prescribing things for you. Does the right hand know what the left is doing?
I realize that I have been of absolutely no help to you. In my humble opinion I think you are in a bit of a pickle here and need to get to back to your doctor(s), tell him/her/them EXACTLY what you are going through and get them to help you sort out what should go and what should stay. I understand the need to work, even when we are in a crisis state, but that is just adding more stress/anxiety to your already overloaded mind. Is there no way for you to take some sick and/or vacation time? Even just a few days until you can get this under a bit better control?
I can't recommend that you ask your doc for anything, and I certainly wouldn't ask him for anything stronger than Xanax. The options, and the reasons, for medication are vast and I am NOT a doctor, only you and your physcian can make that decision. Please make an appointment as soon as possible to begin working out a better plan to help with your situation. And while you're there, you might as for a referral to a good therapist while you're at it.
I hope lots of folks will respond with support for your current feelings........which I can relate to with great compassion. Try to get yourself calmed down and know that you ARE going to be fine once you get on the right meds and therapy. It may be a scary few days but I sense that you are a very strong, intelligent person, so put that to work for you now.
Keep writing to us as much as you want/need. And please let us know how you're doing, OK?
Just one other thing.........please DO NOT, under ANY circumstance, take it upon yourself to increase the dosage of Xanax! If your anxiety is so great that you think about taking much more than what has been prescribed, have someone drive you to the ER. They can and will help you there.
Peace
Greenlydia
Hi,
I know exactly what you are going through, I was put on effexor after the birth of my 3rd child due to severe anxiety attacks. I tried to take myself off of it several times and it was HORRIBLE. You need to call your Doc and have prescribe the starter pack and wean from there. It's the only way and may still have some anxiety but Valium or Xanax should help. I'm completly off of effexor now but still have to deal with anxiety attacks several times a month. I've learned to just go with it and breath.
Good Luck
I know exactly what you are going through, I was put on effexor after the birth of my 3rd child due to severe anxiety attacks. I tried to take myself off of it several times and it was HORRIBLE. You need to call your Doc and have prescribe the starter pack and wean from there. It's the only way and may still have some anxiety but Valium or Xanax should help. I'm completly off of effexor now but still have to deal with anxiety attacks several times a month. I've learned to just go with it and breath.
Good Luck
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