Effexor withdrawl and symptoms, please help _{Page 115 of 140}

hello all,
dont now if any of you are around who helped me back in Jan/feb this year - Pam, Twisi, EFP and any others?! How are you all doing? it will be 80 E free days for me next week - times flown!

i have been up and down emotionally lately and my self confidence has somewhat declined. dont know if thats E related at all or just me! im also really anxious about the wedding (which is fast approaching - july 25th!) and little things seem to really stress me out and i worry quite alot about everything and do a lot of what iffing! so dont know if thats coz im off E or not really. i was very close to going back to docs and asking for some diazapam or stgh but some of the addiction and withdrawal stories make me think absolutely not. i refuse to take anymore drugs no matter how crap i feel.

anyhoo, im sure things will pick up - i think its just wedding/money stress (weddings cost tons!) so just going to focus on the honeymoon and having a great time! my aim was to be E free before wedding and ive already accomplished that now!

hope you are all doing well...
ems xx

I just recently stop taking effexor and now I can not sleep. When I was taking effexor I had no problem sleeping. I dont know what to do so I can sleep. Please help me I havent slept in a week

Luvmunch-

Take Benedryl, it sounds crazy but it helped myself & many others immensely!!

J-Dubs

Is Mikemo still around?

I've been taking Effexor for about a year now. I've been at my mom's house for 5 days and forgot my medication at home. I haven't been able to sleep for about 3 days. The last 2 nights I've been waking up because I feel I've stopped breathing, I awake sweating. I researched to see if it was because I had stopped the medication suddenly and came across this forum. It's 5:30 am and I still do not feel sleepy. As I read some of the posts I realized that I have been feeling dizzy and have had pressure in my head. Before this there was no thought of leaving Effexor, but now I really want to. What do you suggest? Cold turkey or weaning off? I kinda want to cold turkey but am scared because of the side effects. As it is I started this med because of anxiety and panic attacks. I also wanted to ask, did anyone ever feel like they were dreaming and couldn't wake up,I had to shake my self to wake up. I m scared.

Scaredandalone:
How much effexor were you on?? If it was 37.5, that's one thing, but if it was higher than that, I'd suggest you call your prescribing MD and see what s/he can do to get some meds to hold you over. You're gonna experience withdrawal that could include sleep disturbance, weird dreams, as well as the dizzyness and sweating, brain fog, zappy feelings in your head and such. If you read thru the posts, you'll see most of us came off this med slowly to avoid the shock that comes with cold turkey withdrawal. It's not fun!!!! Call your doctor!

Accordionlady

I was diagnosed with post natal depression when my daughter was 7 months old. After trying several different antidepressants I was prescribed effexor, iv been taking this for 18 months. When i first started taking effexor i thought it was the new wonder drug i had been waiting for. It made me feel 'normal' again. My doctor told me there were no side effects going on or coming off the drug and i shouldnt need to be on it for more than 6 months. Have been on it ever sinse and tryed to ween myself off it 3 times. Im now trying yet again to ween off this drug without losing my job. My withdrawls are much like what i have read here; brain zaps, dizziness, abdominal pain, aching muscles, fatigue, heart palpitations, confusion, forgetfulness, no sex drive, intense headaches, breathlessness, vomiting, very bad mood swings just to name a few. i am on the 75mg slow release capsules. first i tryed taking out 35 granules and started getting withdrawls after 3 days, so now im taking out 30 granules. vomiting has stopped, although the feeling that im going to vomit dusnt go away, brain zaps are not completely gone but happen less often. i feel like im here but not really here.... if that makes sense. Im looking for some suggestions about weening off, i want to be as close to withdrawl free as possible. My doctor dusnt know anything about this stuff, she first told me to go cold turkey !! has anyone done 'the road back' programme with effexor?

My gynocologist prescribed effexor for me, and also told me that I could stop it cold turkey. He was clearly misinformed!!!I'm a clinical social worker, and my opinion carried weight with him when I told him he was full of s - - t. He's since begun taking a different approach to patients for whom he's prescribing this drug.

First of all, who prescribed the effexor for you, and what are you doing with regard to the postpartum depression???? Hopefully you have been seeing a psychotherapist for talk therapy. If so, that person should be able to refer you to a psychiatrist, who is an MD who specializes in prescribing psychotropic medications like effexor. If you have not been seeing a talking therapist, you really should do so, if only to get an assessment of where you are in reference to the postpartum depression. A reputable psychiatrist can also do this assessment, and give you a regimen for discontinuing the drug. If you are not in talking psychotherapy and need a referral to a psychiatrist, call your insurance company, (the number for mental health and substance abuse should be on your medical card), explain your situation to a clinician there and let them refer you to an MD psychiatrist on your medical plan. All the symptoms you're experiencing are withdrawal symptoms from the effexor, and unless you wean slowly, you're going to FEEL THEM!! The final 37.5 dose is the hardest part of the withdrawal. At most, the stuff I've read suggests cutting the dose down by 10%, and staying on that dose for at least 2 weeks, or until the withdrawals you're experiencing subside. This means, you open the capsule, count the tiny beads, and reduce that number of beads by 10% only and take that daily. Do not stop cold turkey! I'd recommend you get the book by Joseph Glenmullen: The Antidepressant Solution. It goes into detail as to how to wean off psychotropic meds. But again, I'd strongly recommend you contact a reputable shrink, and make sure your depression is resolved! I have just begun The Road Back program, but I'd already been off effexor for 6 weeks, so I have no experience with it as I went thru withdrawal. I've started the program to help deal with the weight gain I experienced on the crap.

Best of luck to you! Hope all this blubbering on my part has helped!!!

Marilyn

Hello all,
I have been suffering from so many withdrawls for last 3 weeks. I took E for about 12 years. I weaned off of it for about 1.5 monts completely stopped it. That was about 3 weeks ago. I am still misrable as to having restless legs. I get agited easily, which I hate,having a young kid.
I feel so darn bloated and have gone from 23 day menstral sycle to now 37 days and still delayed. I am not planning to give up. I have been taking Benedryl for the dizziness and the nausea. It has been a couple days that I am feeling it less. But, boy when I have that along with restless legs, and agitation. I just want to come out of my skin. For 2 days I was having such a shortness of breath that I thought I may pass out any second and never wake up. I researched it and found out that it is an anxiety attck. I never thought I had anxiety. I was put on the med due to the doctor thinking I had depression when I had Hypothyroidism. But, he never took me off the E. And, no doctors after him ever questioned it. I was so affraid of feeling the way I did when I first got my depression that I never questioned it and went on taking it all these years, until it actually started being less efficent last year around July.
I would love to hear your advice to help me with all these withdrawls. I embarrassed of the 20 pounds I have put in the last year, I am embarrassed of looking so much older, since I have been going through all this brain strain. Oh, my concentration and memory were bad before, but it is now practically zero now.
I read one of the posts that said this could go on for about 6 months? Is that true. I don't know if me and my family could take it for that long.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated..

While I recognize that everyone's different, I think I can say with some degree of confidence that it's still very early in the game for you. All your present symptoms are very typical, and you'll find that they'll subside as the weeks pass. I've been off since March 13 or so, and I'm still feeling some effects, but not nearly as bad as 3 weeks off. I'm actually starting to feel like my old self....25 pounds heavier. But good news is that I've started to be able to control my appetite and lose weight, so take heart, dear, in the fact that you're conquering effexor!!! I'm proud of the fact that I'm off!!! And I was pretty darn miserable about a month or so ago. Tell your MD you've taken yourself off, and have that thyroid problem reevaluated. I'm awaiting test results to see if my thyroid's off, something I'm worried about since discontinuing effexor. I'm not nearly as sluggish as I was 2 months ago, but I'm still tired a lot of the time. And I know the slightest little imbalance in the thyroid can contribute to depression and anxiety symptoms. I wish our MD's would check into this drug before they prescribe it. It'd save a lot of us a lot of headache!!!

Marilyn

Marilyn,
Thank you for your reply. It is very encouraging to hear that may be in a few weeks I could feel somewhat normal again.
You are right about the doctors needing to be informed. If all of us who are affected by this poison tell our doctors about our experience and warn them about this drug, it may help some of them thinking twice before prescribing E. I am counting the days to be able to take control of my appetite and more importantly my life.
Please post from time to time about your progress.

Best wishes.

Weight gain........ thats something else i have noticed too. Iv noticed about 15 kilos of it in fact. tryed weight watchers and felt sick after the first week, cant live on an empty tummy when your taking E !! i was seeing a phsychologist for 13 weeks, i stopped working, stopped everything and just focused on getting well, things are back on track and we want to try for another baby this year but i cant get pregnant on effexor. apparantly there was a study done that showed babys born to mothers on effexor had increased risk of heart and lung defects. My doctor has been useless in helping me, i saw her 2 weeks ago and i explained to her that i have already tryed what she had advised me to do and it didnt work. She didnt seem to believe me, i printed out the whole book of 'the road back' and took it to her to have a look and she didnt even look at it, she tossed it aside and said 'you dont need supplements to help you go off antidepressants' ALL of what i now know about effexor has come from cruising the net and reading what others have to say, i was shocked to find theres so many people out there with the exact same things as me which in a weird way has been a great comfort...... it means its deffinately not me, its effexor. Right now i have the 75mg capsules and i take out 30 of those little balls. Iv been doing this for 2 weeks so ill give it another week or 2 then ill take out another 5. I know its not their fault but doctors really do need to be more informed about effexor before they go around giving it out like candy

Hooked:
When my prescribing physician tossed aside the book by Joseph Glenmullen (The Antidepressant Solution), I very directly told him that I was disappointed in his rigidity. That got him. I also challenged him insofar as his thinking that he knew more than a Cornell Psychiatrist, 2 other shrinks I'd consulted with, as well as a neurologist, who all agreed that the withdrawal from effexor is nasty, and very, very real. That made him agree to look at the book while I was getting blood drawn to see if the symptoms I was calling withdrawal were not due to other things. He came into the lab where I was getting the blood drawn and sat down and said: 'You have all the symptoms of effexor withdrawal.' He's since changed his approach. I send my clients to him, and one of them is now trying to get off the effexor he'd prescribed. He's a lot more careful now. Get another doctor who's more informed, or at least a second opinion. You'll be much better off for having done it. And take heart. The weight will come off as soon as you give your body a chance to recover and recalibrate. That seems to be what's happening to me at least. The cravings for carbs is diminished, I'm able to sustain a Weight Watchers plan. I couldn't do that on effexor. NO WILLPOWER AT ALL!! Sluggish all the time, too. It's getting a lot better. Just hang in there. The threads about effexor weight gain seem to be one person after another crying about being fat, with no hope for fixing the problem. I don't know where they go once they lose the weight, but we all need hope. I'm HOPING TO GIVE YOU ALL SOME HOPE, that effexor won't get any more of me than it already has. Incidentally, a client of mine who'd hoped to conceive a child made sure she was off completely before getting pregnant. You may want to consider that.

Just wanted to get some feedback from anyone as I go on with my weaning... I am confused. I have been on 37.5 for 2 years. I have been following the capsule splitting method. Last week I stated to drop dosage. I did 10mgs sat, sun 30 , mon-fri 25.I felt very clear the first few days , and then today , wham huge energy zap , I think it's the actual side effect of the drug and no the withdrawal. I seem to function better with less in my system. on the Sat I dropped to 10 I felt a very clear but somewhat strange , very emotional. Came back up Sunday .. clear ... mon clear.. tues clear .... weds... really tired thurs.. clear... Fri(today really really tired) My next step is to drop to 5 , 20 , 15 for week. Should I continue?

Royalflush,
Wish I could offer you some advice, but I'm not familiar with the method you're using. I believe Mikemo has advised a number of folks on the method, and his posts are listed on previous pages of the thread. I used the method written up in the book by Joseph Glenmullen,(The Antidepressant Solution) and it's more simplistic. Just keep dropping the dose by 10% till the side effects you experience wear off, usually in about 2 weeks. I can tell you I didn't begin to feel completely 'normal' till about 6 weeks off the stuff, and I still believe I have residual effects from it. I read of a number of folks that used Mikemo's method very successfully, however. I don't think you're gonna get thru this without any withdrawal whatsoever, so I'm not surprised to read about the way you're feeling. Ya just gotta hope the effects don't interfere too much with your everyday life, something that does happen when ya try to stop cold turkey.

Marilyn

Accordingly, thank you for all your hopeful words. I have to say though that I gained a bunch of weight since I have been trying to get off of the E. The feeling of nausea, seems to get better everytim I put something in my mouth. Then after about .5 hours again, it would start and I would eat again.

I have been feeling much better since last Friday. This Wednesday will be about 4 weeks that I am off the meds.

I have been feeling much better since last Friday. This Wednesday will be about 4 weeks that I am off the meds.

I did lots of research on the web since I have been going throug this journey. It seems like no matter what you do and how you go through the process of getting off the Effexor, that you will have withdrawal when you totally stop the last 37.5 mg. It will just be less withdrawal affects if you do it gradually. As I mentioned in one of my prior posts, I have been on the Effexor for 12+ YEARS.
The doctor tried to switch my med to Wellbutrin with less side effects (not for me though). I had every side effect of it (Wellbutrin) you would think of. For the 5 weeks that I was put on Wellbutrin 150 xl while getting off of the Effexor 150 mg xr, this is the way I did it:

Started on (W) Wellbutrin Xl 150 mg. in the morning, and lowered (E) Effexor XR from 150 to 75 mg which I took in the afternoon, with no problems for the first few day. I was on that combo for about a 5 day period (did it faster than the GP advised me to do, which was 2 weeks). Since I was feeling well, I dropped down to the 37.5, and then started feeling crappy. The doctor wanted to increase my Wellbutrin to 300mg and I refused. I was waiting to see a psychologist in two weeks.
During those two weeks, I was on the 37.5 mg. of Effexor xr. I was feeling miserable at this point.
Side effects of the new med (W) and withdrawal of the (E) was unbearable. Finally I saw the Psychologist; she thought all my problems are from the E and not the W. And, told me to hang in there for at least a weeks after I am totally off of the E.

I started believing it was the Wellbutrin worsening my side effects. I was ready to get of this once and for all. So, I started taking 10-15 granules out of the capsule each day. The doctor was aware of all this. I did that for a few days. Then about an hour before I was due to take the E, I was starting to feel totally miserable. I felt like someone is pushing a pointy thing like an screw driver in my head. I did not give up. I started taking the lower dose a little earlier each day. Towards the last few days, I did 2 day of the same #of granules at a time. And, lowered it again on the 3rd day. Finally I stopped the Effexor.

I waited 4 days. After talking to my doctor (Psych.), I stopped the Wellbutrin all together.
After a few day of having a worsened feeling of nausea, and the dizziness/head spin (which felt more like my brain spinning in my head, rather than the room spinning around me), I found out about the Benedryl in one of the forums. I called the doctor and she agreed that it would help. She advised me to take the drowsy kind of the Benedryl. She said the non-drowsy may actually make me feel worse (??). I was so bad that I took 2 and fell right asleep. I was waking up with such anxiety. However, I realized if I take one every 3 hours rather than two every 6 hours, it will not make me sleepy. I also noticed if I take 2 when I go to bed at nights, I feel better when I get out of bed in the morning. This may work differently for everyone.
Because, it is so hard to feel so sick and sit long enough to try to research all this,
I am writing my experience, hoping to help someone out there to go through this process a little easier.

In addition, don’t forget, you need all the love, care and specially the patience of the people around you to make this an easier journey. It will make it easier on them and you. My husband finally realized that, which helped me tremendously.

i've been monitoring this message board ever since i started weaning off of effexor some months ago. i'd been on 150mg of effexor for major minor depression (dysthymia) for about 5 years, and decided to get off of it this year due to financial reasons and the fear of its effects when i missed a day.

i started halving my dosage for maybe a couple of weeks each until i felt comfortable with halving it again. so i went from 150 to 75mg to 37.5mg etc., but i switched to mikemo's method after dropping to 37.5 because it seemed sound. i'd been relatively okay w/ not having brain zaps or nausea that was too terrible, apart from a couple of days i tried to drop down by more than half -- at that time i felt awful w/ zaps, shivers, it was like how i'd imagine heroin withdrawal or something. so went back to mikemo's taper method. so far so good. feel a little woozy, but not the brain zaps. prone to headaches if i'm stressed.

i am however experiencing crying jags. i didn't have any until i dropped to maybe half of 37.5mg, but i feel more depressed and am not sure if that's the effect of withdrawal or if i just need to be on meds again, albeit not effexor.

do the crying jags taper off? and the depression? i've exercised somewhat but my moods are still pretty erratic. has anyone gone on different meds for depression after getting off effexor? i'd been on prozac prior to effexor, but it killed my libido. ideally i'd rather not be on any meds but my mother was bipolar so it may be necessary for me, unfortunately.

just wanted to add that i've been effexor-free about 5 days now. the crying and moodiness and depression, my indecision and inability to deal w/ stress has returned w/c used to occur in past depressions.

but for those weaning off of E, the taper method does work well for avoiding the headaches, nausea, etc.

I am withdrawling from effexor cold turkey by accident and am shocked at the number of symptoms I am experiencing. I am unable to breath, i am having anxiety attacks and I am so sick to my stomach any time I eat. How can this be from a medication that six months ago I felt gave me my life back.
johnnie

Johnnie,

What you are doing is supposed to be very dangerous. You may want to speak with your doctor.

Leonora,
I too was going through the crying jags for over 4 weeks of the withdrawal period. I am now passed my 5weeks, and am feeling better as far as the crying goes.
But, I still get that pressure feeling The feeling of coming out of skin and joint tightness, hits me from time to time (like every 2-3 days).

Best wishes.

Hi all, sorry I've been away. It seems as though many of you are doing well, and many new folks are struggling.

Johnnie, I'm curious as to how you quit cold turkey 'by accident'. Are you all out of pills with no money to buy more? If you have any pills available, you should use them. BUT don't just pop a pill so you can feel better. Having gone through a little withdrawl has put you in a GREAT position to start taking them again AT A LOWER DOSE. Don't throw away the hard work of the last day or two. (I'll bet it's been very hard...)

You need to open those things up and start a 'program' of teapering down. There are a lot of ways of doing it. The bottom line is, too fast is bad. Cold turrkey is bad. SOme folks like a slow taper. I prefer a 'spike drop day' the day before a regular step down. Whatever you do, though, don't go cold turkey. It ain't worth it man. If your prescription is out, go to the doctor and ask for a free sample. Seriously.

If you want my rundown on the IDEAS behind the spike drop read 2 pages of posts, starting here:

http://www.abchomeopathy.com/forum2.php/102450/

Thank you for the reply.
i did run out over the memorial day weekend and had no refills. I thought it would be ok to wait a couple of days to reach the doctor and had been feeling as though I wanted to stop anyway. I was shocked at the way I began to feel. It is not getting much better and the shortness of breath I experience appears ro be getting worse. I do not want to take one more of thesae awful pills. I had no idea that this could happen.
I have filled the prescription so pills are available to me but I really do not want to take anymore. The thought of that really feels lijke tit could start my crying again.

I know it sucks, but right now you actually NEED those pills. It's not an addiction that willpower can beat. Your SYSTEM needs them. What was your daily dose for the last month before going cold turkey? If you haven't had any today, and if you have a capsule available, you should open it up and split it into 5 equal portions of beads and swallow 4 of the portions right now. Throw the other portion out.

Plan on doing that every morning until you get leveled out. Then we can talk about a more robust system. You can use a creased peice of paper to keep the balls from rolling all over the place.

It's not forever we are talking about here. Just a little while. You don't want to ruin your summer. So start taking 4/5ths ASAP.

Just my opinion.

kat1999, thanks for the reply about crying jags easing up for you after 5 weeks. i guess i'll need about 2 or so more weeks before i start to feel better. the bad thing is that i just started a job and quit it the next day because i was so sad at it. granted i felt obligated to take it even tho it wasn't a job i was happy about. so maybe the crying jags helped me realize i shouldn't be doing something that makes me sad and life is too short for that.

anyway, i am hoping that these crying jags and feelings of depression are just the *temporary* effects of getting off effexor. does anyone know more about the emotional/mental side effects of withdrawal? are my serotonin levels still trying to even out and that's why i'm crying?

in terms of physical effects, i think i'm okay. i get headaches but not the awful, brain zap kind. i definitely agree with mikemo's taper method or just halving the medication until you feel okay to halve it again. when i did it that way i had minor side effects, as opposed to when i tried to make too big a drop, which is when i felt awful -- brain zaps, shivers, etc.; i don't advise too big a drop! as soon as i went back up a bit, i felt much better and could start tapering slowly again.