If you are planning to taper off Effexor XR or if you are
currently trying to withdrawal off Effexor XR, you and your physician need
to have a plan in place. Ideally, you have found The Road Back before
reducing the Effexor XR the first time.
Effexor XR is only available in dosages of 150 mg, 75
mg, and 37.5 mg, therefore the reduction of this medication can only be accomplished
with large reductions. A different approach needs to be used with tapering
off Effexor XR.
If you have been opening the capsule and trying to sort
and count the balls to reduce the Effexor XR please take special note. The
people that have tried this approach seem to do ok until the second or third
reduction and thereafter have a very difficult time with withdrawal. Knowing
which balls contain what is impossible. We strongly urge you to avoid this
approach.
The right side of each page within this site will
have links on the right side of the page. These links are the chapters of
the book How to Get Off Psychiatric Drugs Safely 2010 Edition. Read
through the chapters or contact us at The Road Back.
The Road Back program agrees with the suggestions offered
by the pharmaceutical Wyeth, for the discontinuance of Effexor XR.
However, if you have tried to taper off Effexor XR you
very well know a slow and successful taper is not always possible to do
without withdrawal side effects and some of those side effects may be
extreme.
The Road Back program is a patent pending program
developed to help eliminate Effexor XR side effects that often cause a
person to not be able to taper off the Effexor XR.
The most common Effexor XR side effects reported to The
Road Back are; nausea, anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, electrical "brain zaps"
and aches and pains in the joints.
The "brain zaps" are usually the Effexor XR side effect
that stops most people from being able to discontinue the Effexor XR.
The Road Back does offer a solution for all side effects
caused by Effexor XR discontinuance.
The term used for reducing Effexor XR is called "taper."
The Road Back uses the word taper, as well as a word we coined almost 10
years ago, pre-taper. The pre-taper is the time spent before reducing the
medication.
Having your body set up correctly before tapering Effexor
XR is vitally important and this is accomplished during the pre-taper.
Using our Effexor XR pre-taper a person should be at a
point where they do not feel Effexor XR side effects or if they do, the side
effects are extremely low and manageable.
This allows the patient and physician to know The Road
Back Program is going to work for the patient and have the patient feel good
before a reduction is ever started. All that is left to accomplish is to reduce or
taper the Effexor XR in a structured manner.