concerned about DH (SSRI discontinuation syndrome)

[umami_mommy]

DH started effexor about 3 weeks ago. he missed a dose yesterday and around midnight he kinda tripped out... tremors and severe agitation. he took his meds and then i recommended his antianxiety drug, which calmed him down. but he didn't sleep until 5:30 this morning.

i looked this up and it's apparently not too uncommon for this to happen with a missed dose. today he is pretty much shot like he was out drinking all night. i sent him back to bed, but obviously the day is gone for him. not to mention it was really scary for both of us.

anyone had a good experience with this drug? so far all he's had are side effects and last night.

[Ornery]

My DH took Effexor for awhile. It really helped him with his social anxiety and his irritability. He had a lot of side effects and nasty stuff that happened if he didn't take his pill.

After about 8 months, he decided he didn't want to take pills anymore and slowly titrated off. The withdrawal was brutal. This was about a year ago. Tempermentally, he is back to how he was before he took them and I sure wish he had stayed on them!

[umami_mommy]

hmmm... reading about the actually pharmecology of this drug, it seems it could be really helpful to my DH, but the side effects are not nice at all.

[KatWrangler]

If my husband misses his med (he takes it in the morning) he is in big trouble. I am pretty good at reminding him. But last week I didn't get his meds out in the morning. I was tired and stayed upstairs. When I got downstairs, I realized I forgot to remind him. Unfortunately I had no way of getting his meds to him. He took them as soon as he got home, but he had a terrible headache and had to go to bed early.

My husband is in Lamcital, Invega and Celexa.

[bjorker]

Most of my experience is with Celexa, and I can say that the one time I missed my dose was highly unpleasant. That is definitely a strong down-side of medication, but IMO still totally worth it (for me). I do get a little panicky before I leave for trips or even overnight anywhere. I have to quadruple-check that I have my meds. I figure if I ever go anywhere and forget them, I'll have to go to the ER and see if they can give me my dose.

Side effects should diminish soon. If they don't seem better in another three weeks or so, then he might want to talk to his prescribing doctor about trying a different SSRI. One type that works great for one person may not work for another, when there is very likely another one that does. But he has to stay on it a little while longer before he can be sure because it takes awhile to take full effect, as well as for the side effects to go away. It's very normal for it to get worse before it gets better.

Hugs for you both.

[mom0810]

The half life of Effexor is really short, so discontinuation symptoms like this are not uncommon with a missed dose. He needs to make sure he's taking it at the SAME time every day. Every. Day.

[umami_mommy]

well, now he says he's going off of it. he doesn't want to take it anymore.

every time i think we have found something that might help, something happens.

[mom0810]

IF he's going off of it, he is going to need to do so painfully slowly. Effexor is one of the HARDEST ones to wean off of, and he is going to suffer greatly if he does not go very very VERY slowly.

Sorry that you are going through this.

[umami_mommy]

i have repeatedly asked him to call the doctor, but he still hasn't.

there isn't much else i can do for him. he's pretty... ummmm... hard to convince.

he'll have to decide for himself what he's going to do, i've pretty much given up on things being different.

[Ornery]

I'm sorry.

Please reiterate to your DH to take it slowly. Stopping Effexor suddenly can cause a lot of really really bad things. If he responds well to printed material, I would print off a lot of information about titrating slowly down.

[umami_mommy]

so tonight i find out why he has been so horrible this weekend. he decided to cut back his dosage by himself. he cut it in half. from what i have read this is too fast and is causing his agitation and dark mood.



i give up.