It's kind of long post but I need some info!

[Gibby]

Okay here's the problem.
I have a very good family friend who is on seroquil 200mg., effexor 75mg & a new one she just got put on is lyrca. I'm not sure of the spelling of any of them and I'm not sure about the dose on the lyrca.

Anyway, she has taken several others in the past 5 or 6 years besides these she is on now. She was put on them for depression after she lost a very close companion who died in her arms while her son watched. So at the time we all thought it was the right thing to do because she just wasn't coping well at all.

Now 6 years later, she wants off of this stuff. She has had ankle surgery in the past 4 months. The doctor tells her she has PSD which I'm not familiar with. She lost a tendon in her ankle and is unable to work at this time, but she thinks now is the time to try to come off the meds.

She told her Dr. she wanted off, so her Dr. told her to do the skipping days thing with the effexor and then she will up the dose of the seroquil. I know this is all wrong but, I'm trying to convince her to come to this site but you all know how that can be. She says she's already down to 37.5 of the effexor and this is just within a two week period.

What she wants to know is how does she go about counting those little beads in the effexor capsules. How many are there? How many does it take to make a mg.? Those sorts of questions. Any answers would be greatly appreciated.

I think I am getting close to getting her to come to this site, she sounds so familiar to so many of you that have been through this and I think you all could help her a great deal.

She is also taking Vitamin C everyday, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Thanks
Gibby
If you need more info about her, I can maybe answer it to help you help me out.

[LCrawford67]

Gibby, I'm not all that familiar with Effexor, but there are threads by people who have been through this. Do a search and you'll come up with plenty.

Vitamin C is fine for her to take. Hopefully, she'll come here and learn as much as she can.

Effexor is much worse than Paxil, to come off of, so it's important she do this the right way.

[TryingtoGetWell]

I'm not knowledgeable enough to offer advice on how she can best get off these meds, so I'll leave that to others more capable.

But please urge her NOT to skip days! From what I've read, that really compounds problems enormously. Although I didn't do that as a taper method, as some people have, I did skip some paxil doses at the end of my (too fast) taper, not for tapering purposes but to avoid paxil side effects those days, and I think that may have worsened my w/d by throwing my nervous system into even more chaos. Now I read doctors are advising skipping days as a taper method and it sounds like people who do that have some of the worst problems. Please tell her not to take that doctor's advice!

[Gibby]

What I guess I really need to know for her is, how do you calculate the little pellets in the capsules. I'm trying to talk her into a very slow taper but she can only get her effexor in the capsules. I just want to know after she counts them, then how does she determine how many is how much? Am I confusing everyone?
Sorry

[Charlie]

I have never done it but I would think if you have a 37.5 mg capsule and there are 100 beads (just a random number) 1 mg would be about but not exactlly 3 beads 100 / 37.5

Was she put on Lyrica for her ankle?

[rubbyducky]

I get what you're saying.

As a past effexor user, I did a bit of pellet counting myself. VERY DIFFICULT AND FRUSTRATING. It is not an accurate method but its better than nothing. I guessed what half of 37.5 was and then later, guessed what half of that was, and then quit from there.

In other words, I guesstimated. If you don't have an accurate scale, its the only thing you can really do, because even the balls are different sizes.

Please tell your friend NOT to skip days, though. This will make brain zaps worse.

[TryingtoGetWell]

Originally Posted by Gibby

What I guess I really need to know for her is, how do you calculate the little pellets in the capsules. I'm trying to talk her into a very slow taper but she can only get her effexor in the capsules. I just want to know after she counts them, then how does she determine how many is how much? Am I confusing everyone?
Sorry

I can't remember whether this is one of those capsules that hasn't different kinds of pellets in them or not. But I know people have figured out ways to get off this stuff. You'll probably hear from them soon. If not, try using the search function (or google and enter paxilprogress as one of the search terms - works very well for me doing this), or let me know and I'll try to remember who has tapered off this stuff.

Please make sure she isn't skipping days.

[Gibby]

Thanks for the replies.
I am really trying to get her to not do the skipping of the days, but you know some people have so much faith in their Dr.'s it's amazing. Anyway that is where I'm at now, trying to get her to do a slow taper with the effexor first. It's just that she needed to know how to count the pellets. I think I may understand a little better now. I just really want to go back to her with some knowledge on this because she looks up to me on things of this nature. She also knows that I'm helping my husband get off of paxil.

Charlie,
I guess they put her on lyrica because of the ankle I'm not sure. What is lyrica anyway?

[TryingtoGetWell]

Gibby, read post #16 on this thread to see what I was talking about in my previous post: http://www.paxilprogress.org/forums/...fexor+tapering

Some people have done it with separating and counting pellets, and I think some people have had a compounding pharmacist turn the meds into liquid and compound progressively smaller doses (I'm not sure - I'm getting confused with all these SSRIs they're coming up with - but I know it can be done and has).

I hope you're successful in getting her to stay steady on her dose until she gets good solid information on how to proceed. You might want to print out some posts from this site about problems switching days has caused for people - there's been a lot written about that. Doctors think this eases the way for the body to do without these drugs, but although that method works for some other kinds of drugs, apparently, it's disastrous with SSRIs (and SNRIs).

He may also be suggesting it because capsules can't be broken into pieces for tapering, but he may not be aware of the alternatives I've mentioned that people have used successfully.

[Gibby]

Thank you so much, I will go to that thread and I will print some stuff out for her. I was with her through her loss of her friend and me along with her family got her to go to the Dr. to get help with the grieving. I knew better but I was desperate for her. Grieving takes time.
Thanks for all the info.

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by Gibby

Charlie,
I guess they put her on lyrica because of the ankle I'm not sure. What is lyrica anyway?

I think it's a pain medication but I'm not exactly sure. I just know they gave it to my BIL for pain.

[Gibby]

yeah, I just googled it. It is for nerve pain but is also given to treat epileptic seizures. It said shouldn't be taken with anti-depressants. Go figure!!

[LCrawford67]

Here are some threads by a member who's been through hell and back with Effexor.

http://www.paxilprogress.org/forums/...earchid=383907

[leo79]

I would rather lose a limb than have to try and withdraw from Effexor by skipping doses.

[TryingtoGetWell]

Originally Posted by LCrawford67

Here are some threads by a member who's been through hell and back with Effexor.

http://www.paxilprogress.org/forums/...earchid=383907

Laurie, this link won't open. Please tell me it's not my once-again repaired computer!!!!!!

[Gibby]

Is it like paxil as far as, she'll be okay for a little while and then it will hit her or will the symptoms start showing up soon. I just hate this for her, I'm really trying hard to get her to come here. I am searching and trying to find things to print out but it's just not the same as being here. Thanks again for all the input.

Also is the seroquil (spelling) as bad as the effexor & paxil?? What's it going to be like for her getting off of it and should she be getting off of it first or the effexor first?

[scotty]

Gibby, I think I would work on the Seroquel first. That one has some nasty side effects. Effexor is a tough one, since it's so hard to wean in tiny doses. Counting spheres is pretty much the only way to go. You won't have a specific dosage decrease, but will have to gauge it on number of spheres.

[Gibby]

Will her seroquel be tablet or capsule? Does she taper the 10% way on it also or is there a different tapering method for it?
I kind of had the feeling she should get off of it first but wasn't sure.
Thanks

[scotty]

Seroquel, from what we've seen here, is a bit easier to get off of. The 10% rule would be almost impossible due to the tablet form, but there are alot of different strengths that will make it easier.
Here is how it comes:

SEROQUEL is supplied for oral administration as 25 mg (round, peach), 50 mg (round, white), 100 mg (round, yellow), 200 mg (round, white), 300 mg (capsule-shaped, white), and 400 mg (capsule-shaped, yellow) tablets.

[Dawn B.]

Gibby, I once took Cymbalta for a short time, and it's little beads in a capsule too. I took about half a dozen capsule and counted the little beads, and it was EXACTLY the same in every capsule. (I really don't know how the maker manages that!) So she would need to count them all then get a calculator and figure the percentage from there. At least you can count them, and in that I actually thought it was easier to get an exact dose than cutting and weighing Paxil.
I think the amount she has reduced in only two weeks might bite her in the behind! Caution her she's going too fast.
<><

[Gibby]

I am so dumb about these things, sorry.
Right now she said she is taking 100mg in the morning and 100mg in the evening, so to start tapering what would you suggest she start doing?

[TryingtoGetWell]

Originally Posted by scotty

Gibby, I think I would work on the Seroquel first. That one has some nasty side effects. Effexor is a tough one, since it's so hard to wean in tiny doses. Counting spheres is pretty much the only way to go. You won't have a specific dosage decrease, but will have to gauge it on number of spheres.

Laurie, I'm concerned that the original post says her friend went from 75 mg of effexor to 37.5 in the last two weeks, if I understand it correctly.

When I went off paxil, I felt great for two or three weeks (don't remember exactly), then it hit me like a cement wall.

Should Gibby's friend wait a bit to see how she does after this fast drop in effexor, before going down any more on effexor or starting a seroquel taper?

Gibby, I'd suggest keeping a close eye on how your friend is doing over the next week or two at least, before any further changes. I hope she's one of those fortunate people who has little or no problems going off these drugs, but if it were me I'd err on the side of caution and wait a bit before proceeding further. (And by the way, she's very fortunate to have such a caring friend!)

[LCrawford67]

Originally Posted by TryingtoGetWell

Laurie, this link won't open. Please tell me it's not my once-again repaired computer!!!!!!

It's not you! I posted it wrong.

Just so you know, it was a link to threads started by a member, named Rocksinger. So, you can go to the members list and look up his threads that way.