Effexor withdrawl and symptoms, please help _{Page 101 of 140}

Hi! Em. No, I don't live in the UK, I live in Florida not far from Orlando. I was put on Effexor for hot flashes etc about 3 years ago or less because I had a hysterectomy about 10 years ago and I didn't want to take Premarin. I'm 52 now and will look for another way to battle the hot flashes etc. I intend to let my body tell me how and when I'm ready for the next drop. I'm going to take it slow and am glad that at least I don't have to worry about coming off a much higher dose. Even the couple of times or so that I've forgotten to take my pill, I can feel the effects until I take the next one of being dizzy and light headed, but never got to the point of being nauseated before I took my pill. Will let you know next week how it's going. Hang in there!
Pam

Hey Pam, cool Florida. ive never been there. ive been to NYC, Boston and San Fran.

hopefully you can find a better drug for the hot flashes. have you found the effexor have made you sweat buckets at night?! sometimes i wake up and i feel like i just stepped out of a shower. i have to change all my bed clothes otherwise i lay there shivering! its gross!

ive been a bit up and down this weekend - have felt ok - mainly its from about 4pm i get lightheaded and yucky just before the next tiny dose. and i also think its coz im usually hungry then too and that makes me feel nauseas if i get too hungry. i ended up having a full blown panic attack last night after i ate. purely coz i was worried i would start being sick. i worry though that what if its the effexor and what if the withdrawal makes me sick. i hate it so much. and then i think - oh maybe i really need the effexor, maybe they did calm my phobia down. but i know they didnt coz i was having really bad panic attacks all the time on them anyway!

grrr - right im gonna go have a nice shower and do some body brushing!
Ems x

Hey! Em, I've not had a problem with sweating a lot at night from the Effexor. It was really a problem before I started taking it. I started Friday night with reduction. I took 3/4 of a pill that night, then I took 1/2 last night about 9:30. I took another 1/2 this morning about 10:15 and I'm going to take another 1/2 tonight around 10:00. So far so good which I'm very relieved about. So sorry to hear that you're still having panic attacks,etc. I hope and pray you get through all of this. I will definitely watch for your posts and try to cheer you on!

Hey Pam
ok great that you have started the reduction now. yes try to keep 12 hours between doses to minimise the withdrawal. and if you do start to feel anything then keep at the level you are at i.e 1/2 am and 1/2 pm just to stabalise first before another drop. ive been on 1/8 which is about 4.6mg AM and PM for 4 days now. i was relatively panic free last night and so far so good today at work too. its so hard to know exactly the amount im taking though - trying to split the pill into eights is crazy so i try to make up a batch of similar sized bits to carry me through a few days. im tempted to just stop them and see but last time i did this the withdrawal was awful and i ended up having huge panic attacks everyday and at work. so i need to be patient and end of this week i will try a next drop to about 1/16 which i guess is about 2.3mg.

thanks for the support Pam - its relaly great to know im not alone! I pop on here everyday at the mo so im here for you too if you need support. fingers crossed that your tapering will go well!

Ems x

Hey! Em. Based on the huge amount of replies on this site over the past few years, I think that none of us are alone in this. I don't know if I will try to get down smaller than 1/4 dose. The pills shatter so easily as it is now. But my husband is going to try cutting them smaller with a razor blade. But if I can do alright with taking 1/4 doses, I might just try to stop after a few days of that depending on how I'm feeling. So far the two days of 1/2 pill twice a day has gone well. Of course I know that we all react different and I'm hoping I'll be able to handle this alright. It makes me nervous because I know how I've felt if I forgot to take the whole pill and more than the 24 hrs in between got away from me, dizzy and light headed-majorly! But I'm going to keep a positive attitude about this whole thing because I know it's what's best for me and my body knowing what a dangerous drug this seems to be. I'll be pulling for you! :-)
Pam

Hey Pam, yes a positive attitude is soooo important. Like you say, we are all different so you might find you can stop the 1/4 without too many probs. i had a bad day yesterday afternoon - not really withdrawal i dont think but my IBS playing up and then setting of panic attacks about being sick -my emetophobia. once i got home tho i felt much better. todays been ok though and just about to go and get some dinner!

Ems xx

Just an update.

I'm off Effexor.


I was on it starting late June 2007. I started at 37.5mg and worked up to 150mg (was at that dose for about 2 months). I started taking it after a fall on my tailbone started anxiety.

Actually, I think Effexor most helped me get off Lorazapam (Ativan).....I started on that without knowing the addictive qualities of it.

Anyway, I went in to talk to a psychiatrist in October of 2007 and he swore to me that he's had hundreds of patients who got off Effexor no problem.

He told me that when I decide to get off of it, to drop by 37.5mg every 2 weeks. So, I did that starting early January. Never had a problem with each drop.

I've now been off it for 5 days, and feel OK. I seem maybe a tad dizzy at times, but hard to say.

I threw away the sample packs I had leftover and, hopefully, will never need a reason to feel like I need to go on AD's ever again.

Hey funkytown,

Good to hear you're free of Effexor. Congrats! I'm shocked that you didn't have problems dropping 37.5mg every 2 weeks...but then, everyone's body responds differently I guess.

Here's hoping you'll never have to go back on Effexor again.

SW

Hey! Funkytown, congrats for getting off Effexor and hope you never have to use it again. I'm almost there. I start 1/4 doses tomorrow for 3 days or so. Then I hope to taper those to every other day and then to nothing!
Pam

Hey! Em, sorry to hear about your bad day but glad that you felt better after you got home. If you saw my post to Funkytown, you saw that I start my 1/4 doses tomorrow. The 1/2 twice a day has gone well so I'm optimistic about the next step down. Can't wait to see how that goes and get this show over with for good! Keep me posted and stay positive. Think about all the good things in your life and how good things can be when you get the Effexor monkey off your back forever!
Pam

Yeah, I was a bit nervous, but the doctor explained that the body needs the jolt of dropping 37.5 at a time. In most cases, one's brain reacts fairly quickly. He explained that seratonin receptors in your brain get reduced when on an AD like Effexor. He says if you drop TOO slowly, your brain doesn't react to the fact there's less seratonin....it takes awhile to pick up the fact. And he thinks 2 weeks is a good time inbetween. Your brain readjusts, and once it does, you jolt it again.

But I was only on it for about 7 months. I'm thiniing that the longer one is on it, the longer and/or more difficult the tapering process can be.

I feel a tiny bit dizzy in the head...but just barely....and it's just every so often. And my sleep seems a little different still...mainly really bizarre dreams. But 'anxiety' or 'depression' aren't 2 words I'd use to describe any part of how I feel.

Hang in there everyone. We are all different and need to listen to our body.

But I truly believe that many on AD's don't NEED to be on them. I think they can work for unexpected events in life, but when and if the event goes away or gets better, I don't think they're healthy to rely on. Just my 2 cents.

Good luck all.

Funkytown makes a good point about tapering too slowly. I didn't realize that the brain needs a jolt to get the seratonin receptors working again. I tapered really slowly from 150mgs to 75mgs and then I found this site and mikemo's way of spike tapering. I'm hoping that with his way I'll be able to jolt my brain into producing enough seratonin.....I just hope I'm not too late!

Is there anyone out there who tapered really slowly with success? When I dropped from 150mgs to 75mgs I pretty much just dropped 1 mg per day.

Snow White, you should be fine.

I'm no doctor and don't really know what happens inside your brain...but it DOES make sense that you may need to wake the brain up when dropping.

Your brain will figure it out eventually....probably already has. I understand that some of the receptors go in hibernation when on a good size does of Effexor. The receptors will get back to normal when dropping. But it makes sense to me that a noticeable drop will make sure your brain gets what's going on.

I still feel good, but I swear my sleep patterns are a tad off. I don't zonk out quickly like I used to. And my dreams are vivid and weird.

But so far so good.

Good luck.

Ok I've read almost everything and I've gone through every one of the steps and all the brain zaps etc. It's been 2 weeks with out the crap. When do I get to sleep again. When does the being upset and angry stop. My poor dog scratches himself and I feel like I'm going to lose it. I can't even think at the moment to save my life. All the physical stuff is over. I just need help getting through the sleeping and the hating everything part. Thank you everyone I wish I had found this site at the beginning of this quest

David,

there are a number of things you can try. Don't worry.

First, tell us what, if any, herbal suppliments, over the counter sleep aids, vitamins, etc. that you are taking, or have taken within the last year, and how did they effect you. (besides the effexor)

Some immediate results can be had with melatonin. Another solution is 5-htp with passion flower. There are several herbal combos at your local healthfood store that have that combination. They usually are called something like 'Sleep Rite' or something silly like that. The important thing right now is your seritonin, though. It sounds like your body is through the withdrawl stage, yet just plain and simple isn't producing enough seritonin.

That's why I think you should give the 5-htp a try. It will take a few nights to start having a real effect, so don't judge it on night 1.

If you've already tried any of this, please list your experiences.

MY DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor. Any advice that I give is based on my own personal experiences. Your experiences may be quite different from mine, and I cannot be held resposible for any outcomes resulting in action or inaction of the advice given.

I'm scared to death I'm gonna get hauled off to jail for practicing medicine. I'm not practicing medicine. I'm just a guy giving 'over the counter' advice.

Thanks went out and purchased the 5-htp, will let you know how it works for me. I know everyone is trying to help, as we all say I'm not a Dr., but here is what worked for me. I was on the Effexor xr. I actually took all the pills apart and would measure out what I needed to make the head shocks and other withdrawel symptoms stop. It worked extremely well for me since I had more control over the amount and could push forward each week. It's a bit time consuming but worked well for me.

Have not posted since mid December but come back to this site and read every day. After lowering to 37.5 in December I was advised to go back to 75 mg and stable off before starting to lower again (this is such a rough road to get through). Well it has now been 8 weeks and I feel more or less better so last week I dropped 10mg (down to 65mg) and yes, after 7 days I started feeling the withdrawals again... I am tempted to go down 1mg a day and see what happens. Now, how do I figure out that 1 mg. I have counted 240 of these little balls and I figure that about 3 little bouncing balls should equal to 1mg. Anyone who has tried this I would welcome their output... I find that going down 10mg is very hard. I congrat all of you who have succeeded in your quest to get off this medicine, I feel like I will never be able to accomplish this, I don't feel good on it and even worse when I try to get off it...

Hi There,
Thought I would check in. I have been reading posts daily. I took my last dose of 2.5mg two days ago. I have had some moodiness and crying. Lingering brain zaps are getting worse but it feels good to be free of having to take this stuff every day. Would 5 HTP help? I just don't want to start something else that I won't be able to stop.
Adker

I felt I needed to reply to your post -since I too suffered from severe insomnia for a very long time. Effexor only made it worse.

I am down to 24 mg from 300 in November. I have learned to sleep, NOT WITH THE HELP OF ANY PILLS. I practice Bikram Yoga every single day. I have not slept or felt this good in a very very long time. Its hard work, and not for everyone, but I slept 12 hours last night.

Its worth a try and gives you a natural seratonin boost.

Hello, everyone! I have been reading these posts for awhile now, and I have been taking Effexor XR 75 mg for about 4 years. I think I am ready to start tapering off now, and am getting ready to try the method that mikemo has recommended. I tried to wean myself off about a year ago and it was completely horrible! So consequently I have been afraid that I will be on this hideous drug for longer than I need to be. But finding this site is a Godsend! I think this method will work. I talked to my Dr. the other day about coming off, and she gave me some 37.5 samples to take for a week, then said I should be fine. I told her about my previous reactions, and she indicated that some people have a harder time than others. I mentioned that I had found this site with a tapering-off method, and she encouraged me to try. So starting tomorrow morning, I'll be well on my way to freedom! I'll keep on posting here to track my progress. Wish me luck!

I too am tapering off, but thankfully I have only been on 37.5 tabs for about 3 years for hormonal problems due to a hysterectomy. I started tapering down a week ago and I last took 1/4 tab yesterday morning. I really don't feel too bad right now except maybe a little spaciness, so will see how the rest of the day goes and whether I need to take another 1/4 tab to continue the tapering process. Good luck to all of you who are trying to get off this drug!

Pam - how is it going? have you needed to take another 1/4?

i have been taking 1/8 twice a day for the last week and i have been feeling the withdrawals quite bad last week. IBS playing up tons and pretty much haddiarrhea every day - stopped sunday - also bad pain all through my abdomen - does anyone else have this type of withdrawal? im not sure if it is directly linked to the effexor or the stress and my panic attackes to do with the vomit phobia trigger the ibs - oh its just one big mess lol!

and the headaches have been really bad - saturday they were there all day and i took 2 ibuprofen but they didnt help at all.

i know they say not to drink when on effexor and def not during the withdrawal but i have found a glass of white wine on the evening relaxes me soooo much, pretty much stops any feelings of panic and gets me to sleep asap. i dont have any sleep probs at all which is good.

im really tempted to stop at 1/8 but i have a busy 2 weeks - just tons on so think ill continue on that and slowly reduce to 1/16 (about 2mg) then stop when i have a quiter week.

Hi! Em. I got through a little more than 48 hours without a pill, but this morning when I got up, I took another 1/4 tab because I the brain zaps were a little worse today than yesterday. I didn't have any headache, but just felt out of sorts most of last night until I went to bed, but I did sleep pretty good. I have something I have to do today and tonight and I need to be able to function. I have Imitrex to take for a headache if I need it. I have it for migraines,but so far haven't needed any of those. I'm holding my breath that I can get through this final phase. I think I will do the every other day thing for 3 days or so and then try to make it at least 3 days if not forever without a pill. I will see what my body tells me. Sorry to hear that you're still struggling, but hang in there and look forward to the big picture that will be coming down the road, Effexor free!
Pam

Well, day 2 of the withdrawal. I'm going down from 75 mg, so yesterday I was at 55 and had a terrible headache. Today I'm at 70 and still slightly headachey. Tomorrow and the next few days will be 65; hopefully once my body gets used to the new schedule it will get a little easier. But the end result is what I'm looking for - Effexor free!

235 thousand replies!!! Has a class action suit been filed yet??? I am furious over what this drug put me through. Here's my story.

I have a history of 12 years on Prozac, which I went off in 2000 after divorcing one of the main causes (slight humor there for a very serious matter, sorry).

In 2004, at 44 years of age, I started to notice a lot of agitation that was difficult to control. After discussing it with my doctor, we agreed it was perimenopause related and he suggested Effexor. I was prescribed 75mg. After about three months I went back to tell him I was having headaches. He said the dosage needed to be increased, so he put me on 150 mg XR. There I stayed until February 8th of this year.

Two things make my story unique from what I've read so far. One is that I had horrible 'brain zaps,' dizziness, intolerance to sound, and the feeling like my eyes and brain were moving in different directions DURING the course of taking the drug. It occurred every month right before my cycle, so must have been hormone induced.

I have a family history of migraines so thought I was experiencing a migraine although I could not find any accounts of a migraine describing the brain zaps. In any event, the good doc. prescribed Relpac, a migraine that met the description of mine. He continued to prescribe it even though there are documented risks of Serotonion Syndrome, a potentially toxic side effect of mixing an SRRI with a migraine drug. Each time I filled the Relpac RX my pharmacist would warn me and I would assure him/er that I only took one or two per month. If I caught it early enough, the Relpac helped, but not always. These events were so distressful and I so worried I would get one when I had a big meeting, presentation, or other, that I couldn't risk not having the migraine medication with me at all times.

The other element that makes my story unique is my withdrawal experience. The migraines (so I thought) were getting worse and were really scaring me. I thought I was losing my mind and would cry for two days because of the disorientation and general sense of feeling like I couldn't get out of bed. I thought I had a brain tumor or other neurologic disorder. At my yearly exam my GYN gave me a referral to a neurologist. Hmmm ... are ALL these doctors looking the other way????

Due to several health issues, including the migraines, severe osteoarthritis that was impacting the qualify of my life, and a mad itchy rash that had progressed to welts, which I had for two months. The good doc had prescribed cortisone cream. I decided IT WAS TIME TO TAKE CONTROL OF MY HEALTH and I went to a nautropath.

She diagnosed me with yeast syndrome and put me on a very restrictive diet; no sugar, no caffeine, no dairy, no flour, no processed foods, no alcohol -- eat organic, whole foods, drink 1/2 your body weight in water every day, de-tox the liver, and take probiotics.

Here is where I did something crazy. I decided to go off all prescription drugs. This included Effexor and Diclofenac (anti-inflammatory). My ND was very much against this given her knowledge of issues with Effexor withdrawal. I couldn't imagine it being any worse than what I was dealing with every month, so went full steam ahead.

My withdrawal story is a good one. I had three days of what I would consider mild withdrawal --- mild given what I had been through every month the year prior. The brain zaps were -- thank goodness -- mild. That was what I was most frightened of. I was mad thirsty all the time, and the crazy bitch episodes are still ongoing. I mean out of the clear blue I feel like I need a straight jacket in lieu of wringing someone's neck. I'm on day 11 free of Effexor and I couldn't be more thankful to be free of that drug.

Now, I'm seeing lots of discussion here about helping your body to get through the withdrawal using natural means. I can only surmise that given I'm in the midst of a de-tox and anti-inflammatory diet, my withdrawal was eased. Here's what I was doing . Take it for what it's worth. Everyone is different, but something made my situation tolerable.

1. No alcohol; no sugar; no dairy; no coffee (God, giving up Starbucks was tough).
2. Daily baths with 4C epsom salt and 4C baking soda. THis pulls the toxins out through the skin.
3. Castor oil packs (search Internet for instructions). Put flannel soaked in castor oil on body over location of liver, cover with plastic, put heating pad on top of plastic and rest for 45 minutes. I did this for about a week, which was as much as I could stand. Castor oil has a well-earned reputation. ;-) ALso pulls toxins out through the skin.
4. 15 min. a day in a sauna sweating like there's no tomorrow.
5. A liver cleansing product of your choosing.
6. Drink 1/2 hour body weight in oz. of water per day. Add fresh squeezed lemon for additional benefit.
7. Exercise lightly. De-tox is hard on your body, but if you're used to regular exercise, continue it in a modified fashion to maintain your fitness and help clear your mind.
8. Applaud yourself every morning when you wake up that you are one day closer to having it over.

Like I mentioned, it's been 11 days for me and I'm still the crazy bitch at times, but the dizziness, nausea, dry mouth, and brain zaps are gone. Remember, everyone is different.

OK, back to my original question. Is there a class action suit yet?