Application

[razgoddess]

_Name;Pandora (real life nickname)
_Age; 27
_Sex; F
_Location; Puerto Rico
_What form(s) of SI do you use?; cutting, hitting, hair pulling, scratching skin (esp face)
_How long have you been SIing?; cutting: 5 years; hitting and other: 16 years
_Why do you feel you do this?; anxiety, depression
_Are you on any medication(s)? yes
_If yes, what for

Comments

Re: A Question ... and YES

[razgoddess]

Hi! My doctor first lowered the Effexor dose from 75 to 37.5, and combined it with Wellbutrin 150mg (I believe this is the lowest). It didn't take long for my body to adjust, and side effects from taking less Effexor were minimal. The worst I got when I forgot to take the 75mg dose was vertigo (sometimes I couldn't even move my head while lying down). When starting with the new combination, the vertigo lasted 4 or 5 days wile I adjusted and it wasn't even 1/4 as bad as usual.

A few weeks ago, I was taken off Effexor, and I'm taking Wellbutrin 150mg twice a day. Normally, it would be 300mg at once, but, because I once had a bad reaction to 300mg, my doctor made the adjustment.

Stopping Effexor hasn't been easy, but it hasn't been terrible. I get vertigo every day, but I have another medication for that; it doesn't stop the vertigo completely, but at least I'm not afraid of falling down the stairs or something. I'm having trouble sleeping, and I'm anxious a lot, but that's probably the new dosage and not a withdrawal symptom.

Effexor helped me a lot. I'm even afraid of what will happen now that I'm not taking it, but, like you, I was tired of some side effects (drowsiness and trouble concentrating, especially).

I hope this helps ^_^

Re: A Question ... and YES

[ash_gatherer]

Effexor has been a god-sent for me and pulled me out of an extremely deep depression. But it kills my sex drive, makes my ADD and axiety worse and I just hate feeling like I'm dependent on something.

I was on 300mg of effexor for a few years and 6 months ago I went down to 225. When I tried to drop from 300 to 75 or 150, I became an emotional wreck though only slight shakes and things as far as physical withdrawl symptoms.

Basically I'm just really hoping that if I switch over to wellbutrin at the same time I'm dropping down the effexor I won't be such an emotional roller coaster. The doctor I had who put me on effexor I don't think really knew as much as she should about it, because I'm on a very high dose and I think I should have been dropped down to a lower dose after my depression was under control.

I've never had the "brain zaps" or anything like that if I forget a dose of effexor or anything, so I'm hoping if I switch I won't have to deal with anything like that.

Anyways, welcome!

Re: A Question ... and YES

[razgoddess]

My doctor combined Effexor and Xanax when I first started taking medication, a killer combination because it made me so tired, I couldn't function at all. I think he was always trying not to give me higher doses of Effexor, for which I'm grateful since I've heard about people going through the same thing you are when trying to stop. I decided to trust his judgement--he's the doctor, right? Oh, and since I have asthma and allergies, I take other medication, so maybe he's trying not to kill my stomach.

I hope you find a way to stop Effexor without too many complications.