[Cetkat]

I'm having an issue with my combo that I hope someone can help me figure out.

I was taking:

At night:
150mg Effexor XR
1.0mg Risperdal
900mg Lithium

Morning:
150mg Effexor XR

Now I'm taking (to combine the dose and hopefully help my sleep):

Night:
1.0mg Risperdal
900mg Lithium

Morning:
300mg Effexor XR


However, for some reason when I fully wake up, I feel upbeat and better than usual (thou still suicidally depressed). I pretty much stay that way until early evening when I crash, becoming tired and moody in a very bad way. This has occurred in both of the above dosing schedules. I've heard about getting a temporary fake high from Effexor, and thought that could be what it was... but why then would I crash at the same time when taking more in the morning? I'd think that if 150mg didn't stay with you for more than 12hrs 300mg would - or should with it being XR. Does some half-life end at that point?

Tonight/tomorrow I'm going to try splitting the Risperdal into night and afternoon on the off chance that's the problem. But I really don't think it is.

I would appreciate any insight you could give.

[tiffi24]

Cetkat, on Aug 17 2007, 01:51 AM, said:

This has occurred in both of the above dosing schedules. I've heard about getting a temporary fake high from Effexor, and thought that could be what it was... but why then would I crash at the same time when taking more in the morning? I'd think that if 150mg didn't stay with you for more than 12hrs 300mg would - or should with it being XR. Does some half-life end at that point?

Tonight/tomorrow I'm going to try splitting the Risperdal into night and afternoon on the off chance that's the problem. But I really don't think it is.

I would appreciate any insight you could give.

well, I can say that I think effexor builds up in your system to a degree, the half life on the XR version is different, per each seperate action(ie-norepinephrine and seratonin)
I will see if I can find a detailed breakdown of what wears off when w/ E XR...
I am just now getting the side effects from dropping to 150 and it has been 24 full hours since I took my 1st 150 dose...so I firmly believe that it builds up in your system to a degree and I think it may take a while for it to do so..I have been on it 4 yrs...
let me see if I can find that half life breakdown for you

[OreoKitty]

From the Effexor XR site:

"EFFEXOR XR should be taken as a single dose with food at about the same time every day, either in the morning or evening."

My pdoc has always prescribed the entire effexor xr dose in the am and not the pm since it can be activating. The XR part I guess is a 24 hour time release. So I don't know if the split dose affects you anyways. I know our body chemistries are unique to our selves.

Oreo

[tiffi24]

this is from crazymeds
Effexor's Half-Life & Average Time to Clear Out of Your System: Effexor (venlafaxine hydrochloride) does the double metabolism trick, so its half-lives are 3-7 hours and 9-13 hours. That means the combined half-life is anywhere from 12-20 hours, so it takes anywhere from two to five days to clear out of your system. This is a huge part of why Effexor's discontinuation syndrome is so harsh. No popular SSRI does the double metabolism, and the half-lives of each metabolism is so bloody short. So while you clean out of one metabolite, you still have another one in your system. Your body is completely confused! Wyeth states in the pharmacokinetics section that there's only one active metabolite worth mentioning. Who the hell knows about other metabolites and what part they play in Effexor's discontinuation syndrome, or how long you should take in stepping down your dosage!

[Cetkat]

Thanks for your replies. I think I've found the issue.. and it probably has to do with that 3/7 half-life you mentioned.

Turns out, my good friend who has taken Effexor before remembers having this same problem.. even wrote it in her mood journal. She'd take her meds in the morning, feel good for awhile, the get very depressed by night.

I think the fact that I took any Effexor in the morning means that the "let down" effect got pushed back, because the chemicals were still there.. even when the ones from the night stopped.

And because I've been taking it at about the same time each morning, its been occurring at about the same time each night - 7 hours later.

She says this effect went away after a month or so.. but it's really not one I need.

So my solution would be to take the last 75mg of it later on, around 5 or 6. That way it will keep the high going while I'm up, go away in time for me to sleep, and keep my depression from getting any worse while I'm awake.

What do you all think?

[tiffi24]

I think if it works for you to get over that hump, go for it! everyone's body reacts differently...so if you need to take it that way, I say give it a shot..