I was wandering if anyone else had any experience with this, as I am currently beginning to taper off of the drug and was looking for any experiences that my friends here at SCW have had. As I hear that for some it is an incredibly hellish experience. I hope that everyone out there is having a great night
Prozac is the way to go. Find a doctor who will switch you to Prozac first. I have gotten off of it without Prozac before but yes, IT IS HELLISH. Here's roughly how I did it.
Normal Effexor XR 150mg/day
Week 1 Effexor XR 112.5mg/day (75mg cap + 37.5mg cap, or use three 37.5mg caps)
Week 2 Effexor XR 75mg/day (if you only have 37.5mg caps, use two)
Week 3 Effexor XR 35mg/day + Prozac 10mg/day
Week 4 Prozac 10mg/day
Week 5 Prozac 5mg/day (must split 10mg TABLETS, so be sure your initial prescription is for TABLETS, not CAPSULES)
Week 6 NOTHING
Of course your doctor will give you a schedule to follow, but since most doctors are CLUELESS, I always find it helpful to kindly make SUGGESTIONS.
Where you may have problems is going from Week 3 to Week 4 and this can be eased by continuing the Effexor 35mg/day + Prozac 10mg/day for a longer period of time to let the Prozac build up in your bloodstream longer before you nix the Effexor.
More tips:
Antidepressant Withdrawal - Tips to Reduce Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms
