[PleaseHelp]

I have been on Effexor XR for almost 3 months. I lost my insurance and cannot afford to continue to take my Effexor. I'm currently on 225mg. Wondering how I should tapper and if anyone has had to do this before.

hi. i did a ton of research before going off effexor xr. while i didn't do this i think the easiest way is to get a prescription for prozac for a couple of weeks and it makes withdrawing quite painless. then you can easily go off the prozac without withdrawal problems. i chronicled my withdrawal on a thread here. it was not fun! one thing i've heard absolutely not to do is to take it one day and then skip a day and then take it the next day (i.e. taking it every other day). that is supposed to make the withdrawal symptoms much worse. it's better to just take it every day but at a lowered dose. also, taking benedryl (an antihistimine) during the withdrawal lessens the effects. i take benedryl to help me sleep anyway and the days i missed it i definitely saw a difference. good luck and let us know how it goes. some folks here have withdrawn from it and not had too hard a time. since you've been on it for a short while hopefully that will be the case for you as well.

oh, before you go off you might want to contact your pharmacy and/or the drug manufacturer for financial assistance as some do provide it. also, it's best to withdraw the med with your doc's help if you can.

[PleaseHelp]

Thanks Bloom. I can't afford to see my pdoc either. This no insurance thing bites. I can't take prozac, it will cause me to go into Seritonin Syndrome (too much seritonin in your system). I have 150mg and 75mg capsules. So I guess I go down by 75mg. I just don't how long I'm supposed to tapper. I take my Effexor in the mornings. I am also on clonopin.

try crazy meds. they have a section on the left on 'how to stop taking crazy meds safely'. i don't think the serotonin syndrome happens when people go off the meds and take prozac instead but i'm not positive. i think it would be worth it to look into it more as it really does help people get off this dang drug a lot easier. if i had to do it all over again--God forbid!--i'd definitely take the prozac to ease the transition. good luck to you!

[PleaseHelp]

I will look into crazy meds. I have tried prozac to taper off of another drug and did get seritonin syndrome from it. So I can't do prozac. thanks for your help.

[lizlemon]

I have been on Effexor for over 7 years. I am trying to wean myself off of it with my doctors help. I am now down to 20mg from 225mg. It has been a real struggle. I literally now have to open up the capsules and count out 20 little white dots and then I mix them into applesauce or I just down them with water. This whole process has taken me so far almost 7 months. I tried going a bit faster but I has so many side effects that I couldn't. I feel pretty good and have minor side effects, but for me the whole sucess of this is going really slowly and lowering the amount very gradually.

[Christina86]

Hello,

Is there any way you can get samples from your doctors office (the prescribing doctor for your prescriptions)? To be honest, coming off Effexor was not that much fun for me. I went down from 187.5mg to nada myself, but mine was a supervised withdrawal.

I went from
187.5 -> 150 -> 75 -> 37.5mg and then off it. I went probably a lot quicker than most, did it all in a month.

I came off effexor fairly easily. I did have brain zaps, but they passed. Just be sure your doc takes a slow progression off of it.

[PleaseHelp]

I don't have the option of seeing a doctor. I have no insurance. I am at 150 right now. Down from 225. I plan on staying here for a bit. A whole bunch of other stuff just blew up in my face. So I need to deal with that. Problem is I only have about 3 weeks of 150's left and 15 days of 75's.

Thanks for the support and thoughts.

[PleaseHelp]

Well I'm back up to 225mg b/c I was NOT handling things well. I still have the problem of how do I pay for this, but will have to figure that out. I'm looking at jobs that have medical insurance b/c I know I can't get it on my own

[krzyk101]

I would really try and find a clinic that goes on a sliding scale or income based , even some sort of indigent programs are available. I really would advise you not to try and go off Effexor XR, now is a good time to seek professional advise as you have some medication remaining.

By the way, if this helps any, my pharmacist said that Effexor XR is going generic, so perhaps a church or another organization for low income persons could help to fill a script of a lower dose than 75, and go off that way. I hope you find success and an alternative before you run out of medication. It is best not to wait until you are down to a few capsules to figure something out, to start calling around for resources is the best to start now. Dont give up there are still good people out there.

[PleaseHelp]

I do have an appointment with the Human Service Center here in town. However, I can't meet with the doc until end of August and they won't help me with meds until I see the doc. I have been calling around to all of the community resource centers around town and they can't help with the meds.

Effexor XR has gone generic, it is a whole $10 cheaper than regular Effexor XR!

ph, have you tried the manufacturer's website? i think it's wyeth. many of the drug companies these days offer drugs greatly discounted because they know people are having hard times financially. i looked it up and here is the link for their patient assistance program. also, the larger chain pharmacies (& stores like target, walmart, etc.) have a similar program.

[lynnie2183]

Walmart's $4 program does not include Venlafaxine at all, or seemingly any SNRI's , but it or Sam's or Costco may still be the cheapest place to buy the generic XR regardless of the program

What about buying from a Canadian or online pharmacy? Buying in larger dose pills and splitting them can reduce your per dosage cost. Some online pharmacies list prices from countries all over the world, but I have never used something like that so I have no idea how safe and accurate that would be

Try the website needymeds dot com which lists all of the ways you can get meds when you are poor/broke/uninsured

RXHope dot com, they manage the patient assistance programs for many pharmaceuticals, you just have to get your doctor to fill it out

I apparently don't have enough posts to be able to write the actual web address into my helpful post, so just type in the web addresses normally!

[garden gal]

Be really careful if you try to taper yourself off Effexor. I had a horrible withdrawal reaction when my psychiatrist tried to taper me off of it a few years ago... dizziness, several near-fainting episodes, racing pulse, "electric shock" sensations, very high anxiety, mood swings, dramatically increased SI. When I increased my dose again, I was fine. I ended up having to taper off very slowly over a few months. Not everyone has as much difficulty going off Effexor as I did, but some people do.

Is there a low cost community mental health clinic near you that might be a possiblity? Some health care systems also have free care programs, where if you can document that your income is low enough, they'll cover your medical expenses.... I'm enrolled in such a program myself. Good luck if you do decide to do the taper.

peace,
garden gal

[dreamweaver]

I have to agree with everyone else about checking into any financial aid or resources that may be available to you. You'd be surprised what's out there. I took Effexor XR for 8 years and I was weaned off with the help of my family doctor. You also mentioned that you are taking clonopin. I also took 6-8mg. of clonopin for 6 years, not realizing how hard it would be to stop taking the medication. And again, with the aid of my family doctor(my psychiatrist prescribed both medications,but ignored my concerns that I was becoming physically addicted to clonopin)I was able to stop taking the medication. But the withdrawal from clonopin is very bad...please do not try to stop taking that drug on your on. It could be very dangerous. I am still going through what is called a protracted withdrawal and I've been off clonopin for 2 years now. Just please be careful. I will keep you in my thoughts. Good Luck!

[PleaseHelp]

Thanks for all the information. I couldn't find anyone help me to pay for some meds until I get to my Aug. 26th appointment. After that I should qualify for free medications. Thanks for info on Clonopin. I know that it can be addicting. I'm on 1 mg 2x day. I don't plan on going up any higher than that. I've been that for 4 years. I was up to 3 mg, coming down wasn't that rough b/c I hadn't been up to 3 for that long.

[mrsbloom42]

I have been taking Effexor for around 5 weeks. I thought they were helping at first but now I've decided I want to stop them asap. I'm well aware it's one of the worst drugs for withdrawal. I was taking 75mg and have gone down to 37.5mg. I did have to go without them altogether a few weeks ago as I had a vomiting bug and couldn't keep them down, I got an indication from that what the w/d effects may be. I had the 'brain zaps' and terrible aching back and legs, I couldn't sit still.
I really want to stop them now as I hate how I feel with them, I seem to have lost interest in life, I can't think straight, I was really artistic and that has gone. My sex drive has gone, I feel sick when I take them, I can't sleep yet feel tired during the day.
My doctor is on holiday at present so I can't see him for a while.
Surely I'd be okay to stop the 37.5mg now, I'd rather a bit of discomfort than these damned tablets.
I can't take SSRI's, I don't know what to try but would prefer nothing, or possible a herbal supplement or amino acid such as l-tryptophan or GABA.
Any advice please.

[PleaseHelp]

I got into see a pnurse at the human service center here in my town. I am now on Pristiq instead of Effexor XR b/c they don't have Effexor XR in samples. Not sure about the switch. She also added the Zyprexa discs (dissolving type) - even the 2.5 mg kick my butt (make me sleepy).