Effexor and liver enzymes

[MM08]

This is my first post, I apologize for the length!I am (55f) and was prescribed 25 mg effexor twice a day 18 years ago to help with migraines. The bonus is...

[linuxusr]

Hello MM08: My best guess is that you need to evaluate this question with a physican, internal medicine and, possibly, an endocrinologist. And a LFT (Liver Function Test) may be in order but take this with a grain of salt as I am not a professional. Only a qualified physician can determine that.

[MM08 in reply to linuxusr]

Thanks for the advice. I have already done all of thos, which is how I know the liver enzymes are high. I am working with my GP and a psych Nurse Practitioner. They have similar suggestions. One tells me to reduce the dose by 37.5 every week, the other says to do it every three days. They both scare me, considering how I seem to react quite severely and get bad withdrawals.

[linuxusr in reply to MM08]

Ah, now I see the problem! Thanks for explaining. The problem appears to be that given your justified fear regarding the severity of withdrawals, that you are being given contradictory advice. Therefore, it is not possible to know how to proceed. Further, if you don't know which is the correct advice, this is opening yourself up to the very situation that you want to avoid. I think that a second opinion--in this case, a third opinion--is in order, perhaps with a specialist, an endocrinologist.

[MM08 in reply to linuxusr]

I started to reduce by 37.5 three days ago I plan to hold here through Christmas, and hopefully will feel strong enough to reduce again.

[linuxusr in reply to MM08]

Sounds good. Keep me posted. Merry Christmas and enjoy Boxing Day as well.

[MM08]

To update, I was able to enjoy Christmas for the most part, as the reduction in effexor by 25% was better than 33%. The next reduction was again 33%, down to 75 mg, per my doctor's direction. It has been very difficult, and I have held there for two weeks.There was encouraging news with my liver enzymes, as they dropped by 50%. They are still high, but at least i felt like all the suffering wasn't for nothing.

Today, I received more test results that show the liver enzymes have plateaud. Very discouraging. Could this be because I have slowed my taper? Could something else be happening?

It's hard not to worry and go down the Google rabbit hole. I sent a message to my GI doc, and am waiting to hear back.

This is so stressful.