Effexor XR withdrawal

I am trying to come off effexor... is/has anyone else? If you are/did you will understand the horror of it. The vertigo, the nausea, the aches and pains, the dizziness...etc. I need some support through these next few months, I hear it will get worse and worse.

Hi,

I am on Effexor XR have been for 3 years. Currently taking 375mg in the morning. I did not know there are withdrawls from it. Now I am paranoid of ever stopping taking it. I am sorry to hear of the withdrawls, of going off of it. Scares me as I am on a huge dose and was never warned of withdrawls of it.

I know of the withdrawls of trying to get off valium, and it didn't work at all, so I guess I had better stay on the Effexor XR. I am also interested in what happens when you go off of Effexor XR.

Sorry not much help just wanted to say HI! and welcome. Now seems I've got another med to have the noids of withdrawl.

EffexorXR withdrawal needs to be handled very, very carefully. First, I tapered off of it. Gradually cut my dosage, even counted the little "balls" in the capsules. That's how careful I was. I still have headaches, the electrical zaps and a few headaches. I was taking 75mg daily. If you're trying to "cold turkey" it, please don't. You didn't say how you're going about this but TAPERING is the only way to go. Does your doctor know you're going off of it? Some say that Prozac helps you get off. I just tapered and tapered and tapered til I was off of it. It took months. Come back and check in with us. Good luck, Pat

I HAD headaches and nausea. Not now. I'm on Prozac now and am doing great. Sorry, I was listening to the television and mis-typed. Good luck!!

It's very important to taper the dose. Some people can tolerate rather fast tapers, 1/2 of the current dose each week. Some can only tolerate cuts of 20% per week. If you seem to hit a dose that is extremely difficult to drop below (i.e. withdrawal symptoms too intense, despite tapering), then you might want to temporarily switch to Prozac. It has such a long half-life that withdrawals are much more easily managed. Moreover, it is available as a pediatric liquid. That permits very slow tapering, as drug dose is exactly proportional to the volume taken. You can get pediatric measuring spoons at a pharmacy, and cut the dose by 1 ml at a time, if you want to.

Lar

Hi, well I have attempted this 3 or 4 times in the past and just couldn't handle it. This time I am sticking to it. I want to get off this med. because the dose I am on (262.5mg) is giving me withdrawal by missing a dose by only an hour of the scheduled time to take it. My doctor never told me about the withdrawal when he first put me on it, but kept uping the dose to avoid the withdrawal. He says i shouldn't go off it, then i saw another doctor and he said that dose is very high, and my doctor should not be uping the dose just to avoid the withdrawal. So I no longer see the original doctor, and am staying with the other one. Unfortunately the new doc. only sees me on a walkin basis. He cannot take me as a new patient. So really I am doing this on my own. I have done lots of research on effexor and the withdrawal. I am going down by half a pill (37.5mg) every 4 days. Right now I am on 5 1/2 pills instead of the original 7 pills. I am okay so far. I would rather go down this way and get the withdrawal over faster than the way i was before, going down 1 pill per month. The depression is aweful, the vertigo is horrible...etc

If you're depressed at that dose, you run a pretty serious risk of becoming more depressed during withdrawal. Have you discussed with your doctor switching to another med? If you plan appropriately, you can start titrating upwards in dose on the new med while titrating down on the Effexor. I've heard that some people feel reduced withdrawal symptoms from Effexor if they use Benadryl (diphenhydramine). It's really cheap as the generic at Walmart (in the allergy section). Just one warning, it can make you drowsy. Really drowsy.

I have tried a few different times and its tough! Im on 375mg right now and I dont feel like im getting any benefit. One missed dose and depression slams me, and after a few days I was throwing up and felt like machines were churning in my head. Its crazy how bad it gets. I dont have any advice since im stuck on it myself but just wanted to mention im in the same boat. Good Luck to us all!

Hi.

I'm on a low 37.5 Effexor right now.
Of course, my T suggested that I gradually increase the dosage, but luckily she listens to me a lot and I listen to my body a lot. I tried to increase the dosage as she asked me, but it made me more anxious and I already have trouble getting over anxiety; trying to kick of benzodiazepines and trading them for zolpidem (imidazopiridines? lol) and all.

Sometimes I'm very weary; what all these meds are really doing... I do feel great and under control but I also pray everyday that Effexor and all the other pills are "teaching" my brain cells to behave properly and someday I won't be needing them anymore... Sweet illuson, maybe...

Anyway, designer drugs are easy to trick me into feeling good and I personally could never start or quit them without serious medical supervision.

I hope you're feeling better and trying to find alternatives and getting to see a doctor who'll guide through your process so you won't suffer.

Be well.

Oh man! Just yesterday, my doctor prescribed Effexor for generalized anxiety disorder and panic. I have been doing a lot of surfing on Effexor withdrawals (just finishing up a s-l-o-w taper from Zoloft) and the withdrawals appear to be horrific.

Perhaps sticking to a Xanax as needed may be in my best interest.

Angela

You will pry my Effexor XR out of my cold, dead hands. It is the ONLY antidepressant that worked on my depression. Early this year I had a bit of "poop-out" (been on 375 mg for 5.5 years) and had to augment it with a TCA (that's how you know you're REALLY screwed up, have to add 40-yr-old meds! . The combination has done wonders for me.

If you can tolerate Prozac and it works, by all means do it -- that and Celexa and Lexapro are all things that people I know with considerably milder depression than mine are on. But Effexor was my "court of last resort," and thank god it worked.

And, the usual caveat -- everyone reacts to every med differently. Just my 2 cents, and we all know what 2 cents is worth these days.

Candy