New member

Posted March 10, 2005 · March 10, 2005

Dear Kim,

You said:

<<My name is Kim and I'm a brand new addition to the group and very

very scared of the Effexor withdrawl that I'm going through..I have

been on many different anti-depressants throughout the last 11

years..I really didn't have many problems with any of the other ones

except that after awhile they didn't seem to help anymore, so my

doctor would put me on a different one..I had heard that you could

lose weight by taking Effexor, so that sounded like the perfect drug

for me since I am very desperate to lose weight..I did lose a few

pounds the first couple of months, but after that, nothing..I have

been on Effexor 3 years at 150mg..I was told it was non-habit

forming..I was greatly mislead..I tried to go off of it abrutly about

7 days ago..The lightheadedness, severe dizziness, muscle pain,

severe nausea, diarrhea, headaches and chills got the best of me and

I called the hospital hoping there was something they could do..I was

instructed to take 75mg of the Effexor immediately then start

lowering my doses each week from 112mg a day..I'm really scared that

this will not work..I feel as soon as I lower the dose, I will be

deathly sick again..Is there any hope????>>

** This is a much too aggressive reduction schedule. Try a

decrease to 100 mg (this is about a 10% decrease, the highest we

recommend under the circumstances you report. Don't count on

decresing every week. Only take the next step after you're feeling

stable again. You may find you need to try 5% reductions. By doing

it this slowly you will indeed succeed in discontinuing the drug.

In the meantime, have you read our Basic Healing Protocol? You got

it when you joined. If not, you can find it in our files "

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Withdrawal_and_Recovery/files/

Welcome to the group! Thousands of people have succeeded in

discontinuing this drug. You will, too.

Regards,

(moderator & list owner)

Posted March 21, 2005 · March 21, 2005

> Hi-Im an new member of this group. I have been off xanax since

Dec. 2004-after being on it for 2 1/2 years, 1mg at night. My doctor

used valium to taper me, but it was done too fast. I was on 10 mg.

twice a day for 2 weeks, then once a day for 3 weeks. Im still

battling the protracted withdrawls. Im taking, vitamins, minerals,

to help myself achieve optimal health while going through this. Its

been a long hard road, and I wonder how long will I feel depressed,

how long wil all this last? I just want my life back. Im so tired

of all of this.>>

** You came off too quickly. There is no way to tell you how

long this will last because each person is different, but I can say

that it does take everyone who comes off so quickly longer than it

takes if you were to reduce more gradually. You also run the risk of

not fully recovering doing it the way you did.

There's something odd about all this, though.

What are you taking for vitamins and minerals?

You state you are " battling the protracted withdrawls " . What

exactly are you experiencing?

Regards,

(moderator, listowner)

Posted March 21, 2005 · March 21, 2005