Effexor withdrawal

Between being flat out of cash right before payday and patronizing a small-town independent pharmacy with limited hours, I have been without my Effexor since....Saturday or Sunday, I think??? I got paid Wed. and picked up refills today.

I mentioned this to T this morning as we were talking about my extraordinarily violent and very, very vivid dreams lately, and she flipped.

I have had brain zaps from the abrupt discontinuation of Effexor before, but T seems to think the horrible dreams -- which, when I wake up, take me 5 minutes, seriously, to determine exactly where I am, who I am, and what the heck's going on, and a solid 4 hours or so to dispel the extreme grogginess and fogginess and begin to be somewhat functional -- are a result of Effexor withdrawal. She scolded me for it and told me never to mess with it again and to call if I need samples to be able to continue it uninterrupted until I can afford it.

Is this a problem anybody else has ever had with Effexor? I have been on it so long I don't even remember -- 8, 9 years I think? and I have never had this happen before.

Just wondering. Thanks.

Candy

Absolutely. Horrible horrible withdrawal, and I did it over MONTHS.

These ssris and ssnris are really keyed into the brain succinctly, and not taking them is really messing with the brain and it's chemicals.

You'll square back away now that you have it again.

I just can't caution people enough about these "newer" medicines... and I'm no medical doctor, but it is SO important to stay on them and wean off them with doctor's help.

I'm glad you mentioned it to her, I'm a bit surprised she didn't know you were without meds

Hope you feel fine soon.

Hi CandyBear,

Sky_ gave you some solid advice. I was on Effexor for a few months and went through hell went I had to discontinue use. UGH. Effexor is probably the hardest ssri to discontinue due to the withdrawal, even when tapering off slowly. Some people have not been able to come off completely but this is not the norm. My husband had a much harder time than I. He fought the withdrawl for a few weeks and felt like he had the flu.

Both of us experienced much the same as you described. Neither of us ever wish to be on this med again, I think because we are now afraid of it. But, it can be a very beneficial med to so many that it would be horrendous to not be given the opportunity to try the med.

I am happy that you did tell your therapist about having ran out. I am also thankful that you can receive samples if you are lacking money when runnning out.

Thanks for posting. I think you brought up some great information that is benefical in helping others.

Be Blessed,
Peacemaker (Sherri)

I had a horrible time on effexor. It worked at first, but a couple months in I started having severe anxiety even though I hadn't stopped it. I ended up having to go into the hospital, and once there they immediately took me off of it, and I had severe stomach issues, shakiness and horrible sleep. I personally wouldn't wish how I felt during withdrawl on my worst enemy, but I suppose it is helpful for some.

It makes me so mad (and sad) to hear about how much people are suffering when withdrawing from Effexor. If it's done correctly, there is no need to go through such h*ll. You need to decrease slowly and then substitute a low dose of an SSRI at or near the end of your withdrawal.

One of the main reasons for the discontinuation effects is because of Effexor's short half-life. If you substitute a longer acting serotonergic medication, you eliminate or minimize this problem. Prozac works the best as it has a very long half-life.

I tried getting off of Effexor VERY slowly but without any substitution and had a horrible couple of days (after I went off of it completely). I then read about this substitution solution and tried it. It worked so well. I just wish more doctors knew about this or made sure that their patients had this option available to them.

Clipper

Candybear,

I'm really glad I popped in here. I recently switched from Effexor to another type of antidepressant. It's a long story, but the doctor was not really paying attention when I told her that I was still taking the Effexor and wanted to switch because of the side effects.

So I switched medications without weening off the Effexor first. I attributed the nightmares to the new medication and then the stop of them to my body getting used of the new medication. I did not realize that it was because I had abruptly stopped taking the Effexor.

Thank you so much for the information and I will make sure that the doctor I am seeing now fully understands the medications I am currently taking so that this does not happen again.

Hi, I am new here and this thread is helpful.
My doc is taking me off 300mg of effexor. Over the next two weeks I will take lower doesages as I can manage until I am done.
I've been on effexor xr for 5 years almost six. I have been at 300mg for about a year.
My question is, how am I really going to feel. Today was my first cutback at 225mg, and so far I feel ok. A bit of energy but I always had that. Slight dizziness, and I do mean slight.
The dr. told me to becareful because it could be much worse than I am thinking it is going to be.
Has anyone come off of this high a dose?

I got cold-turkeyed off 450 mg as they were trying to determine what caused an acute life-threatening illness. Brain zaps to the max, and some interesting hallucinations, but I was so physically sick that it might or might not have been the Effexor.

Nevertheless, since you're coming off it slowly, you should be OK. Keep us posted.

Candy

Holy cow. Doc just put me on effexor today and these posts really frighten me. I have been on lexapro in the past which gave me such horrible anxiety attacks. 3 times while driving, the third time I had to call hubby to come and pick me up. That landed me in the dr's office with 4 days off from work because I just could not function. My new doc said that I can take my xanax with the effexor if needed. I know I need to try this but now am realy torn!

I'm sorry if I frightened you -- Effexor truly has been a godsend for me. I only had problems the first little bit I was on it, with being hyper, and then when I was forced to quit cold-turkey. In the intervening 8 years or whatever it's been, I credit it with saving my life, seriously.

Well I took the first dose today. I guess i won't know what it can do for me unless I try it. Meds scare me in general because I don't tolerate anything well. Will keep posting as to how it goes.

I love effexor - it's saved my life. I've also had periods where I've missed taking it, up to 5 days, without any adverse effects (maybe I'm just lucky). I'm on a high dose 350 mg and do worry about tapering off of it eventually, but since my doc says I have to be completely symptom free for 2 years before discontinuing, it won't be any time soon.

--splitimage

Hey everyone,

So It is day 5 of my cut backs of the effexor xr. I was on 300mg Monday and I am now at 75 today.

This is the first day I have noticed any real "sickness/dizziness" side effects.

I was able to work all week but I am in no shape or mood to do anything now. I took a gravol and it seemed to help the spinning and I will hopefully nap the rest of today.
I am hoping it is not going to be like this for long.

I wish the doctors had of really explained how this drug was going to be when you are going off of it-Before I went on it.
Oh well, my own fault I guess.

Anyone know how long this will last once I am done taking any meds?

You REALLY don't have to suffer that much from Effexor withdrawal!!! I should have added in my original post earlier on in this thread, that the info I provided was not something I just made up. I got the information from PyschoBabble's medication tips where the very respected psychiatrist, Dr. Ivan Goldberg, talks about using Prozac to ease the withdrawal from other SSRIs as well as SNRIs. Here's the link:

http://www.dr-bob.org/tips/split/Ant...scontinua.html

This concept did work for me when I stopped Effexor! I restarted Effexor at a later date with no fear of the withdrawal I'd be facing in the future.

Also, other doctors have mentioned taking Benadryl. That has helped a lot of other people who have posted on other boards. It has limitations though as it usually causes fatigue. I didn't personally try it because I don't have a good reaction to Benadryl. But if you do handle Benadryl well and it isn't contraindicated with any of your other medications, you may want to try it.

Please look into either of these suggestions. I hate to see people suffering unnecessarily.