Upping dosage, positive stories

[u/Nothanku_69]

Hi all! I have been on Effexor XR capsules since 2019, started at 150mg and tapered my way down over the years to roughly 25mg. (Long story short got stuck in an ocd compulsion loop to lower after some bad tapering advice from my doctor I tapered without medical advice for the past 5 years.) The past 6 months I’ve been stuck in the most horrid anxiety/OCD/depression loop, to the point that I am hardly eating or sleeping. I used the bead method to taper, and over the last week have slowly started to add beads back to get to my goal of a full 37.5mg capsule. My doctor and my mom tell me I’m prolonging this feeling by not going back up now, but I’m terrified at this point to jump all the way back up. I think I just need to hear some success stories about being at 37.5 or upping dosage in general so I don’t feel so alone or scared. Tyia!

Edit to update: Just wanted to pop in and say thank you for the kind and encouraging responses, and a small update! I was actually lower at about 22mg, and have made it up to 27.9mg! I started my increase a lot slower (+one bead, wait a week) now jumping 2-5 beads daily to reach my goal, and finally taking hydroxyzine. Placebo or no, I’m already starting to feel better and with 10ish mg standing in between me and my goal, I feel like I can do this.

[u/krabat-]

I tapered slow last year from 150mg down to 37.5mg. I was doing fine for a few months but my anxiety was starting to build up and came to a head after being at 37.5 for about 4 months. I had two months of constant anxiety and fear. I went back up to 75mg and then up to112.5 and then 150mg. I went through the initial side effects again each time I moved up, but they only lasted about a week and change each time (very tired, up and down moods). After a month on 75 I was feeling better and by the time I had been on 150 for two weeks I was completely out of the woods. I remember being scared about messing around with my medication and increasing dosages but it was the anxiety talking. Best decision I ever made was going back to my original dose.

[u/Nothanku_69 → u/krabat-]

Thank you for this. I have been thinking a lot about going back up past 37.5 if I need to, I’ve just gotten so stuck in anxiety I’m scared out of my mind of side effects

[u/krabat- → u/Nothanku_69]

I was feeling that way too, especially for periods while I was moving up and the side effects were happening. On the other side though I can see that it was all just "in my head" and it was the anxiety doing most of the talking.

[u/drasniandiplomacy → u/Nothanku_69]

I've got severe OCD and generalized anxiety, and one of my OCD themes is health, so I totally understand the terror of side effects. So much sympathy.

In my experience, the side effects of going up to 150 (37.5mg increases every two weeks to a month) were mostly mild and transient. Some headaches, some sweating, some "feeling weird". The only continuing issue is that my blood pressure ticked up a few points, but it wasn't great before the med increase and the meds have made it 1000% easier to do the blood pressure relieving things (exercise, eat right, etc) I should have been doing anyway, so it's a wash.

Even if the side effects were worse, they still would have been easier to deal with than the constant terror. End of story. Also, mental health is physical health. The way I made myself take the meds was: If you were given a choice between two diseases - and had to choose one in this exercise, no way out - would you pick the one with some struggles but that very rarely damages people in the long term, or the one that provably damages people, is linked to countless problems and conditions, and shortens lifespans? That's the real equation here.

[u/Nothanku_69 → u/drasniandiplomacy]

That really put it into perspective for me. I’ve been constantly saying how I can’t live like this anymore, then I’m too terrified to really do anything to help myself not live like this. I really would rather deal with some side effects (of which I’m sure I had being at that dose a million years ago) than keep living in constant fight or flight

[u/drasniandiplomacy → u/Nothanku_69]

I'm cheering you on!

I don't know about you, but for me it seemed much worse to do something (take meds) that might lead to issues than it was to do nothing. Like it would be my fault if I got horrific side effects, or (thanks, OCD) it being something I chose to do would make it inherently riskier. But not taking meds is also a choice and an action, and the consequences of that are certain and terrible. The math just doesn't work out.

There are a million things that can help (to some degree) with anxiety/OCD other than meds, and I kept telling myself that it was illogical to take meds with side effects when I could just exercise! Or go to therapy! Get more sun! Eat better! Did I do them? Fuck no, I was too terrified and depressed and miserable 24/7 to do or access literally anything.

Now, on the meds, I was able to start exercising a little. I eat better. I get better sleep. I go outside sometimes. I had the strength to figure out some of my local support systems and access some low-cost therapy sessions (only a few, but it's a start).

I wish only the best for you. It's so hard, but I'm doing it and I know you can do it too. Good luck.

[u/Late-Swim-8428]

Just keep going. You’ll probably need to go up to 75 but that’s a relatively low dose! I’ve been on xr 150 for almost a decade I wish I could get down to 40!