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Weening of anti-depressants - doctor won't let me

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Posted 9/22/2010 12:47 PM (GMT 0)
I've been on Effexor RX for about a month and asked my PCP to ween off..but she wants to keep me on them for 6 months! I've only been on them for about a month and have used it in the past to help me adjust and get through some tough situations.  I've never been on them more than 1 month.  I even asked my PCP to be put on it to get use to my diagnoses and the other sitations occuring at the same time.  I completed my counseling and been told I'm going in the right direction. My PCP hasn't given me any basis for her reasoning to keep me on it for so long.

What's wrong with getting off anti-depressants so I can start depending on myself again?  Won't it be harder to ween off if you are one them longer?  Maybe I should ween off on them on my own?  I've done it before.  yYu just start increasing the skips between taking it.

What do you think?

Posted 9/22/2010 1:13 PM (GMT 0)
Against my internist's advice I weaned off of Celexa and spiraled into depression. Your doctor must believe that you are not ready to be taken off the medication. My internist told me that you had to add up the amount of time you were depressed and double that and stay on the meds for that period of time in order for them to truly be effective. Six months is not a long time. I ended up staying on Celexa for 4 years and I am better for that.

ADs are not addictive so no, it's not harder to wean off of them later. The taper will be the same whether it's a month or 5 years. It's really not about "depending upon yourself" it's about restoring the seratonin levels in your body and you have no control over that. I recommend you follow your doctor's advice.

Sue
Posted 9/22/2010 2:07 PM (GMT 0)
I have a slightly different opinion than suebear (no offense) but I was on effexor XR and it was HELL getting off them. I know it takes up to 2 or 3 months to reach full effect so I do believe it has to build up in yourr system therefore the longer you are on it, the harder it will be to try and stop. My quitting Effexor was worse than the depression I was trying to deal with... I was so angry that I was stuck on a medication I didn't want to take anymore and tried 3 times to get off it. The first two times were unsuccessful as I got so sick I gave in and started taking them again because I was so miserable..

The 3rd attempt, I started taking Welllbutrin in addition to the Effexor and was finally able to wean off the Effexor without hardly ANY side effects and I was able to do it more quickly..... After 2 months, I stopped the Wellbutrin and was fine until menopause set in... lol...

So about 2 months ago I started taking Wellbutrin and it has helped me quite a bit and is way easier to get off of... Maybe you should ask your doctor about that? Plus, Wellbutrin has a way of making you lose a little weight instead of gaining like Effexor does.

I believe that AD's ARE addicting, just not in the way you'd think ike with drugs or alcohol... you don't have the desire to take them, but when you try and quit, the withdrawls are AWFUL and your body does become dependent on them....

Hope this helps :D
Posted 9/22/2010 2:45 PM (GMT 0)
Anti-depressants are probably technically OT and besides they are irrelevant to me because I never tried them. But I really appreciate this thread because it illustrates everything that is good about participating in a forum. One posting gave a sincere positive opinion of AD based on HER EXPERIENCE. Another gave an equally sincere but differing evaluation based on HER OWN EXPERIENCE with AD. Multiply this by others contributing their different flavors and experiences and this is an excellent source of information to form our own individual opinions. I am learning more about AD here than I could by Wikipedia or reading the sales literature found in a doctor’s office.

Contrast this with the tendency of a very few who have all the answers and ignore and invalidate the experiences of others. They are not helpful and are eventually ignored no matter how often they post.

Post Edited (BabeintheWoods) : 9/22/2010 8:49:13 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 9/22/2010 7:54 PM (GMT 0)
My doctor told me I would probably need to take Lexapro for a year but I am having some issues with my UC that I am starting to think are related to Lexapro so I might have to go off of it before then. I am trying to get completely off prednisone, then off lunesta. Anyhoo, back to you! I'm a little surprised you have done such short courses of anti-depressants. I thought it took 4-6 weeks for them to start working! What does your counselor think about you going off of them?
Posted 9/22/2010 7:59 PM (GMT 0)
So here's my experience with anti-depressants.

I've taken a few different ones (Lexapro, Wellbutrin, Zoloft) over the years, and it turns out that for me it's better most of the time to go on them for only about 6 - 12 months and then go off them for several years.

However, it has never been my experience that they kicked in quickly. Three weeks at a minimum, and then I need to stay on them long enough to find the ground from which to deal with the issues that seemed unbearable while in the midst of depression. I have never found them to be a panacea that prevented me from working through real issues. For example, the first time I went on anti-depressants, I left a bad marriage and filed for divorce. That was the sanest and healthiest thing I had done in months, if not years. So I'm a big believer in letting the anti depressants take care of the background noise that paralyzes me so I can take care of changing the life circumstances that are creating or exacerbating the depression.

Each time I've gone off the drugs, I've had a different experience, but it's never been particularly easy. It's true that they don't create an emotional dependence the way that recreational drugs do, because they don't have any discernable effect on your moment to moment experience, but they do create changes in the body and juking the dosage without appropriate supervision can lead to lots of problems, including a worsening of the depression itself as a boomerang effect. The first time I went off Zoloft without my doctor's approval, and I thought I might have a stroke. I had tunnel vision and buzzing in my ears and a lot of anxiety and so forth. It was pretty awful.

I know from long experience that depression, like any other life form, will do whatever it takes to stay alive. And for me, a lot of the time that takes the form of creating thoughts about how the drugs aren't necessary or they're unhelpful or I don't like the side effects or whatever. But I've also learned not to listen to that voice. That's the depression talking, trying to convince me to do what's best for the depression, not what's best for me.
Posted 9/22/2010 8:55 PM (GMT 0)
I took Effexor XR for a year. Started taking it b/c pred sent me into a depression, along with anxiety. I loved what it did for me. Took me out of my depression in a week. I stayed on it b/c it helped so much with mild anxiety I have dealt with all my life. I took myself off of it b/c I didn't like that I was tired and hungry ALL the time (hello weight gain!). I SLOWLY (over months)weaned myself and had zero withdrawal.
Posted 9/22/2010 11:52 PM (GMT 0)
Doctors are not gods. Be in tuned with yourself and your body, and you will know what to do.

And do as much research as possible so that you know what you are doing.
Posted 9/23/2010 12:05 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks everyone!

I emailed my doc back and explained to her that the last 2 times i was on Effexor I was only on it for a month until the situation was resolved or I felt adjusted.  I also told her that I'm activity participatin gin the CCFA support group, forum, and mediation.  Meditation is great as you get to train your mind NOT to go down that spirling path of depression.

I had mor eissues with Anxiety after being diagnosed, was also finishing up my CPA exam....what I FINALLY PASSED!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!   yeah

Also the problems with getting a good GI doc and the multiple side effects from Asacol put me over the edge....so I asked to be put on the anti-depressant.  Now most of these complications are resolved/ended and I'm leaning how to adjust to UC.  It was more a safty net for me.  I felt the results in about a day after my first dose...maybe I could have just taken a placebo.

Well it worked. She switched me to 25 mg and gave me a tapering schedule.  It good to have at least one doc who let you have some input into your care :)

Posted 9/24/2010 2:38 PM (GMT 0)
I've had to switch from one AD to another for years now.  How depressing is that in itself?  Yes, getting off these meds is no easy task, however, I find with myself that I feel great for about a month after being completely off them and then I get soooo depressed it's unreal.  Meds only seem to work for me for about 2-3 months and then the drop out on me.  This is a tough topic and I'm sure you're getting a headache just reading all the different opinions and experiences.  Everyone is differnt so it's hard to give you a straight and true answer.  I would probably go for a second opinion and see if another Dr. agrees with the first.

Good luck

 

Posted 9/24/2010 3:13 PM (GMT 0)
First off, anti depressants are most definitely addictive.. Maybe not in the same way as alcohol is, but try stopping cold turkey and you'll see very quickly. They adjust levels in your brain, there are warnings not to stop them on all packaging, and there are 1000s of posts online supporting this..

I have tried a lot of anti depressants (prozac, paxil, effexor, cymbalta, lexapro). And when i decided to stop them for numerous reasons, they were very difficult to get off. It had me wondering if I was going through withdrawal or was depressed. Sometimes hard to tell the difference. Also nobody was clear how long it would take to taper off them, and for the seratonin levels to readjust in the brain.

In order for me to get off the cymbalta and effexor in the past (both SNRI with a very short shelf life), I weaned off very slowly and then used prozac at the end to help me get off entirely (prozac has a much longer shelf life and does not cause the same withdrawal effects). My pharmacist actually broke up the pills for me in smaller doses so I did not have to ramp down as quickly 40-20-0

I am all for getting off anti depressants if the time is right - is it ever 100% ?? No. But I know for me, there were some situations where I didn't feel I'd be able to handle the withdrawal from ramping off them (brain zaps, headaches, increased anxiety, very moody, etc). So you want to make sure that it's a "relatively" calm time for you.

I recently got off lexapro due to side effects - I was on a 10mg dose, then went to 5mg for 1 month, then stopped. I went through a couple of weeks of withdrawal, but am "ok" now. Well that's subjective lol, but ok meaning I am not suffering from the withdrawal anymore.

Hope that helps and best of luck
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