efexoe xl and efexor xr

Treatment and medication
1

i am on150mg of xl and feel low at times dont want to go up to 225mg is it possible for dr to prescribr   150 mg  xl

                         and                37.5 mg  xr

thanks in advance

2

Hi Tony

yes you are right, the doctor can do this. It's better to go up in small increments as it may be the extra 37.5 will be a perfect dosage for you. I jumped from 75 to 150 and wished I had opted for the smaller increase as now battling nausea! Hope the extra 37.5 does the trick for you ♥♥

God bless ♥

3

Of course it is! If you are taking a tablet, cut it in half, quarters, eighths ... If youare taking a capsule, open it up. 8 of the little white beads = two mgs, so figure out how much you want to take.

4

How long have you been on?  

5

Only about six months on EFX, but have been on just about every AD known to man over the past 20 years. I am going to try not to take any more of the damn things -- terrible side effects.

6

Chronic use of ADs leads to treatment resistant depression; the drugs cause the very opposite of what they are supposed to be doing.  The fact that you have been through so many suggests this is the case for you.  But in a way, this should be good news, because it means it is not your original depression becoming chronic but an iatrogenic condiion - caused by the drug.  

The other good news is that with a very slow taper, you can actually feel better as you come off and recover to where you feel so much better than you have in years!

The bad news is that the taper should be 10% per month of the previous month's dosage, and depending on how high you are in dosage, this could take some time.  The alternative is unsustainable, staying on the meds for life when they aren't even working and are likely CREATING the mood problems!

Just do a web search for treatment resistant depression for more information.  For information on the 10% taper, see that topic in this link:

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/depression-resources-298570

7

Thanks Betsy. I am going off ADs forever, I hope, as of now!

8

What is difference between xl and xr? I thought they were the same. I take Venlalic extended release tablets which are like hard dosing balls, and impossible to break - i've tried!

9

I think they mean the same thing, though for Venlalic XL it says "prolonged release."  I would ask your doctor for generic venlafaxine extended release, because it sounds like the V will be impossible to taper.  Extended release Ven should have little balls inside the capsule such that you can count how many are in the capsule (count a few and take the average number to base calculations) and remove balls.

The other option is to go to immediate release and make a liquid from the tablets, but you would need to take a divided dose twice a day; otherwise you will get interdose withdrawal with that one.

10

1 year been on efexor xl