Coming off Effexor (BZZT!)

I've been taking Effexor for my winter depression (SAD) and since it's April already (where does the time go?), prolly time to get off it, eh?

I spoke to my pharmacist, because I wondered if I could go from two capsules to one and a half. She said not to split up the capsules, because there's no way to ensure the dose is equal. She said to switch daily from 2 to 1 to 2 to 1 for a while, then eventually go down to one a day.

The first day I went down to 1, I felt absolutely fine. No brain buzzes, nothing. I was in a great mood. So the next day I decided, what the heck, this effexor stuff isn't so bad! I only took one capsule. I had a couple of brain buzzes, but again, no mood change.

This is day 3, I've only *bzzt* taken one *bzzt* capsule today and holy *bzzt* crap, I'm having constant brain buzzes, or shivers, whatever you call them. *BZZT* *BzZT*

I guess it takes a while for the lack of effexor to kick in? I suppose I should take two tomorrow? Or should I tough it out? Your experiences and opinions would be most appreciated.

As I said, other than the *bzzt* *bzzt* feeling, I feel fine.

I got that when i came of paroxetine. It was awful and lasted nearly 3 weeks!

Hope your end soon

it is really hard to come off of effexor. i tapered very, very slowly and even ended up counting the little "balls" with my pharmacist. it took me about three months to get off of it. i had the brain zaps, nausea, headaches, etc.....i'd talk to my doc if i were you because sometimes they will prescribe prozac to help you with the side effects. good luck, pat

Thanks for responding.

Three months eh? Oh boy, and I thought I'd be okay after a week or so.

I've made an appointment with my doctor to really go over this thoroughly with her. I appreciate your comment.

i doubt that it will take you three months. i had been on it for over a year when i quit taking effexor.

The good news is they are totally harmless.

LOL kewl... what are they anyway?

I would take 2 tomorrow...and wean slowly... yeah it took months but was ok once I went slowly.

I'm kinda getting used to the brain zaps. Keep turning my head quickly to see if I can make it happen on purpose.

Today I had to make a presentation to a big group of people, every once in a while I'd get that weird buzz and I just ignored it. Was laughing to myself, and thinking "if they only knew.."

Thanks to everyone. So far, so good. I see the doc tomorrow, and I'll ask her what she thinks.

They can be kinda fun the first couple of days. I had to change from efexor to luvox but ended up changing back. Anyhow I had to go cold turkey and the zappy blurryness was kinda cool... really odd!!!

OMG! I was on effexsor for over 6 years 300 mg a day. When I decided to come off for a specific reason I had only 2 weeks to come off. So, I tapered off for 2 weeks, as best I could. Lets just say that I will never in my entire life EVER take effexsor again!!!! MY BRAIN WAS VIBRATING AGAINST MY SKULL!! And you know, once i got through it, i felt the same as I did when I was on it, so It wasn't working anyway!!!

MY BRAIN WAS VIBRATING AGAINST MY SKULL!!

That's a perfect way of describing it!

Now, I've only been on it for 7 or 8 months, and 150 mg / day, so the withdrawal's not as serious as yours. But I can see why people hate that feeling.

My doc suggested that I should think about staying on it, going back up to 150. I'm going through some issues with my partner right now, and she thought it would help with any anxiety I might potentially have. But I'm with you, 18yearsdead. First, the brain zaps are getting better, so why would I go back up and have to go through all that again, and 2nd, my mood hasn't changed a bit. So sayonara, effexor!

*sticks tongue out at effexor*

hey, i felt like i had rocks rolling around inside my skull! and could even "hear" noises from it........i wouldn't touch that stuff with a ten foot, no, thirty, pole!!!!

zapot7 - There is another method for weaning off of Effexor XR™ (venlafaxine), or weaning from any SSRI, that you could talk to your doctor about. After weaning the Effexor XR™ dose down to 37.5mg, add 10mg of Prozac™ (fluoxetine) once daily and take both (or one in the morning and one at night, it doesn't really matter) for about a week. After that week stop the Effexor XR™ and continue to take the Prozac™ for another week. Then take one Prozac™ 10mg every other day for about a week, then stop.

Prozac™ has a long half-life, so it keeps the concentration of serotonin at a constant level. The "brain zaps" that you are experiencing can be due to the therapeutic effects of Effexor XR™ wearing off before you take your next dose. In other words, the concentration of Effexor XR™ in your bloodstream drops below the minimum effective concentration that your brain requires in order to maintain the amount of serotonin that your brain is used to.

When weaning off of an antidepressant you are trying to train your brain to produce sufficient serotonin without the help of the antidepressant. By using the Prozac™ for a couple or three weeks the conversion of your brain to a non-drug state is accomplished much more smoothly.

I hope that this is of some help. - Cam

cool, Cam. i wish i had known you "then"............xoxox pat

cam, you talk about using prozac to help, but what other alternatives are there? (I reacted badly to prozac)...

irishsj - Traditionally, Prozac™ (fluoxetine) is the SSRI used in weaning because of it's long half-life (100 hours, including active metabolites). Nothing else comes close to this. The only other method I have any extensive experience using is the slow withdrawl from Effexor XR™ (venlafaxine). You decrease the dose to the point of the withdrawl side effects, then increase the dose to the last dose with which you had no trouble and stay at that dose for 2 to 4 weeks. Then decrease the dose every second day (eg. 75mg one day, 37.5mg the next). Continue this for 2 to 4 weeks, then decrease to the lower dose every day. Do this for 2 to 4 weeks.

Continue the above until you do reach the lowest dose of Effexor XR that is available (ie. 37.5mg) and take that for 2 to 4 weeks, then take the 37.5mg every other day for a couple of weeks, then stop. If at any point the "zaps" emerge, return to the previous step for a couple more weeks and try to lower the dose to the next lower dosage.

As you can see this withdrawl could take a while, but it is the least painful alternative method to the Prozac™ weaning.

Other people actually count out balls from the capsules and decrease the number of balls gradually. I have always found this incredibly finicky and have never used or suggested this method clinically. Theoretically this method should work, but I wouldn't have the patience to do it.

I have heard of a few other methods, but I really don't suggest using them, so I won't even bother mentioning them; the one's that I am thinking of just don't work (either theoretically or practically).

Sorry that I can't be any more help than this. Perhaps someone out there has another method I haven't thought of (or have forgot). Good luck. - Cam

i pretty much used your system til we got to the very end and we were counting out the balls........i've never suffered such a horrid weaning of anything. the rolling rocks in the skull were my low point. the zaps were minor weirdness.

Wow, Cam, super helpful. Thank you. I'm monitoring myself to see if my moods are shifting, but honestly, there's no change so far. But I'm still getting 75 mg per day. I'll be seeing my doc in a couple of weeks and will ask her about the prozac.

Fayerody - rocks - lol! Sometimes I think my head's full of them anyway, so that makes sense.

Cam, thanks for all the great info. I'm a long way from coming off effexor yet (unfortunately!), but have gone from 375mg to 300mg recently with no probs. I have suffered terribly when I have missed even 1 dose tho (all the typical 'withdrawl' symptoms; worse than that when I had to go off for a couple of weeks), so am not looking forward to coming off it. I just hope by then that there is something else similar to Prozac out there that will help...I DO NOT have the patience for counting out the balls lol!

you should have seen the stares that the pharmacist and i got! thank good for having a good pharmacist friend IRL. it was her idea that my dosage was too large. i had lost 38 lbs and wore a size 0 pant......