Howdy all!! New here!!

[5150loveeddie]

Hello,

New here, very happy to find a board on Antidepressants help, etc.

I'm on Effexor since 2001, reasons was some events at my job/familly. I was an airline pilot and had to completely stop flighing because of «legal» raisons FAA/MOT (in Canada). I've tried so many times to withdraw the meds but with no success. Now there is a door opening from Ministry of transports here in Canada as well as in the USA for pilots using those drugs, under certain conditions a pilot could go back flighing using certain type of AD. There are Celexa, Prozac, Millburin, Luvox and EScitalopram, Effexor is not on that list..

I would have the choice to switch meds or better find a way to stop them completely!! I've tried Celexa for 2-3 weeks and lowering the Effexor but it is getting difficult so I decided to stop that and resume with Effexor, that AD works very well with me (no symptoms) but I can't technicaly go back flighing my airplanes.

I think I will try to fight this with MOT as my Dr, pharmacist thinks it is not a good thing to change something that works for an other but at the end I would so much like to stop the meds completly.

cheers
JF

[Sheila]

Welcome, JF!

I’m so sorry you have not been able to fly. That is a big loss.

It would be ideal for your health to stop the antidepressants completely. Eventually, Effexor will not be so good for your health. And, it is very probable that the other antidepressants eventually will be deemed unsafe for pilots.

One possibility is to try tapering very slowly off the Effexor without adding any new medication. This procedure is what we have found to be most effective. It is best to taper ultra-slowly. That allows your body time to adjust to the removal of the medication.

It generally does not work well to lower one antidepressant quickly while adding another one.

If you decide to taper off the Effexor, we can make more suggestions about how to do it.

[5150loveeddie]

Hi Sheila, thx for the welcome..

It is relatively resent that the FAA/MOT is opening the doors to pilots, the major raison is that in the general population as well as the pilot population FAA found that the same proportion and even a little higher for pilots those folks could get sick, not sure about hte percentage but I think it is around 15% or more. In the USA along they are about 60,000 airline pilots we can easely see it is a lot of people who can potentiely get sick, pilots are affraid to loose there licence so many of them will not admit they are on AD drugs, I understand them but in the other side if there are not supervised by FAA it could be dangerous, safety is rule one in aviation, so that is why FAA and here in Canada decided to open the door and give amnisty to those who did hide there condition in the pass. Of course those pilots must have no symptoms to resume there carreer it is not automatic, lots of them won't go back anyhow, Process is difficult...etc...you can imagine..

My story is long as I when I got sick back 1997 I didn't even go see a Dr for help, affraid of loosing my own licence, it took me 3 years to get better (80%), I got the complete book of symptoms similar to those here (I've read on there withdrawing) without being on the meds at all then went back down again due to normal live stress that wasn't avoidable, then I decide to go see a Dr. I couldn't see myseft leaving Hell again...I'm on AD since.

Of course I lost my job, tried to withdrawn many times without success, nutrition, exercise helps but I need a real plan.

Please bare with me as I'm a French speaking person from Quebec, my English is OK but could be improved...!!

I will go read here now, lots of good info for sure

Cheers
JF

[stan]

hello JF,

welcome here,

you have been on effexor 11 years, effexor is recognized to be difficult to taper, so you will have to taper very slowly each maybe 3 weeks, often at the end it is more hard; add a new AD, with his complications is another problem that you will decide; i would add nothing more as many;
the switching can work, there are examples, but for me it is not a good idea for the future because we cannot be for life on these meds, there is the tolerance (or poop-out) and other things

[5150loveeddie]

Hi Stan,

I tried to taper but maybe didn't do it properly, during summer I'm good with 75mg in winter I might need 112,5mg once in a while unless I play outside, sun light (lux) does good to me, I have a light box (10,000lux) for winter periods, it helps me a lot.

So you would try to reduce 37.5mg each 3 weeks? someting like that?

I didn't find any nutrition threads (I din't read every yet...), anyone of you had this topic in mind to help, since I'm using Udo's oil (omega 3-6....) I was able to reduce my Effexor from 225mg a year ago to below 150mg (summer 75mg is OK winter 112,5mg sometimes I will pop a 150mg then go back down again)

Essentiall fatty acids are one element for proper brain fonction, also Effexor made my bood pressure hight, below 150mg I was able to reduce it 5-10 mm/mercury.

I'm studying the natural elements/nutritional stuff that could be good for all of us, there is many things we can use to help but we need the real good stuff, not the cheap crap outhere...

[Luc]

Hey, JF! So good you've joined us. And it's good you sound very focused and determined to taper Effexor. It indeed can be done, but, above all, we need to stay patient. Below is the example of how the tapering should be done (this chart is a typical dose of Paxil/Celexa, etc., so what you simply need to do is to use the similar ratio in case of Effexor). Every drop is done each 3-6 weeks, depending on how you feel.

20mg--18--16,2--14,5--13,1--11,8--10,6--9,5--8,6--7,7--6,9
--6,2--5,6--5--4,5--4,1--3,7--3,3--3--2,7--2,4--2,2--1,9--1,7
--1,6--1,4--1,3--1,1--1--0,9--0,8--0,7--0,6--0,5--

I'v never been too good at maths, so I hope that Stan, or one of the folks who read this thread these days, will correct me if I was wrong. :)

Omega oils seem to be fine. Though in general, it's always better to be cautious re supplements. The best way for the body is to let it heal itself w/o too much of an external intervention. All in moderation, so to say. Take care!

[5150loveeddie]

Hi Luc, cheers for the info, I will check this out. I suppose this would be done in months to years even correct? I know I need to be patient, I've fix all my stuff that made me go into a spiral back in 1997 so there is no need to be on AD except that we are stuck with them and all the problem they do.

About supplements your are 110% right use them with moderation but I beleive a little can't hurt if you know how to use them, they can give a little push positively but can do the opposite as well, I have studied some and will post them on an other thread for those interested!

One book I beleive is one good start on the oil subject is «Fat that heals Fat that kills» by Udo Erasmus a PhD in Nutrition and BioChimist, Canadian, he doesn't talk about depression specificaly in his book but the general health benefits good oils can do to ya, etc.. It is the foundation of good heath.

Anyone saw Lorenzo's oil movie?

[Cosette123]

Welcome among us,5150loveeddie!
I am happy you joined us.You have find the best place !

[Sheila]

Bonjour, JF --

Your English is very good!

If I understand correctly –

You were on Effexor, then you withdrew from Effexor in 1997, then you had bad withdrawal symptoms for three years.

Then, you had some life stress, and you went back to the Effexor in 2000, and you have been on it since then. You have tried to withdraw from it several times since then.

You have gone up and down on the dosage several times seasonally.

It’s really good you have a light box! And that’s great that you were able to decrease the Effexor when you added Omega-3!

Our experience is that people are more successful at getting off Effexor if they taper very, very slowly. The general rule is 10% *of current dose* every few weeks. But, sometimes, people need to go even slower. It’s the only way for some people to get off these medications, but it will work.

As you have already done, it is a really good idea to strengthen your system as much as possible with good nutrition, good quality supplements, exercise, relaxation techniques, psychotherapy, rest, etc.

I haven’t seen Lorenzo’s Oil, but it looks good. I have read of someone in coma with severe brain damage being healed by intravenous Omega-3.

[Luc]

Yes, it my take some time indeed, but it definitely can be done. Please, keep us updated about your progress, JF.