[ABC1357]

I'm currently taking Effexor, and as it seems working, my doc want me to increase the dose. I'm glad something is finally working for me, but as I heard Effexor is hard to get off, I'm nervous to increase the dose. I don't want to keep taking med forever.

[with or without you]

Don't want to scare you, but yes, this drug is notoriously hard to taper off. It's not as bad if it's being replaced with something else concurrently. I had to come off 450, I think I did 25 or 50 mgs at a time. Lots of dizziness and brain zaps. The zaps continued for months after I completely stopped taking the drug. And I tapered even more slowly than my pdoc recommended, go figure.

[ofthevalley]

I didn't have any trouble coming off of Effexor other than a headache.

[still_crazy]

it varies. some people go thru hell tapering effexor. some people drop it, they're fine, that's it.

i did read that once the dose is low enough, some doctors will put people on prozac. the prozac has a very long half life, so once that's stable, one could possibly drop the prozac and it is supposed to do a sort of self-taper.

mad in america and a number of other websites have information on tapering psych drugs. some people find that supplements help during tapers, and you can find information on such 'alternative' approaches online. some websites have provider directories, if you want to try a doctor with a different approach.

[still_crazy]

oh...and...not to scare you, but there's some data that shows that high dose, long term use of antidepressants can make depression more chronic and severe over time...or at least, that's the theory some 'experts' are coming up with (I think its being called 'tardive dysphoria').

im not trying to scare you or anything, just...i think you're right to want to drop the drug(s) when and if you can, and there does seem to be some data that shows that such an approach might be better for your overall health, over the long haul.