Effexor withdrawl and symptoms, please help _{Page 137 of 140}

thanx so much bodyworker and she wolf.
i get so much out of your advice.
re:creativity. i am an artist and art teacher.
i am self-cleansing to help reach a higher level of creativity. i want to be as clear eyed and open to beauty and adventure as i was when i was nine years old. before drugs, alcohol, teen angst, compromising, ect.
that's my journey and i so appreciate your help on the way.
i'm off to the health food store with my list.
thanx again and wishing you all a wonderful day.

hi all.
my aches are diminishing. i haven't had coffee in a couple of days and am feeling better. i bought the L glutamine and started dosage. no sugar today, too.
soon i'll need some new bad habits - lol!
i'll work on that while i enjoy not hurting so much.
i so appreciate all the info. i'm feeling much more hopeful about becoming effexor free.

Some new 'bad' habits include:

Yoga, exercise,pranayam, meditation, self love and care, doing charity work, giving yourself to some volunteer work (its amazing what happens biochemically when we do something for another without any thought of 'whats in it for me', and most of all give it space: Give what space? The lack of drug will create new energies and impulses in you body and brain - when it happens do not jump to do something in response - breath and be with it for a few minutes - then do one of these new bad habits.... Great job!!!!
Marty

Hey spiritwoman, what do you think helped you aches most? Mine are back with a vengence... Jaw joints, hip joints & puffy sore knuckles... Am sick of it!

Felt like I was doing pretty well but after picking up a bad cold I feel so rotten & it's impossible to work out what is cold, what is effexor & most of all hard to remember that it will all pass. Just feeling really down about everything ... Prefered it a few days ago when was nauseous but I had libido, laughing & crying & upbeat.

Hope everyone else managing well.

hi marthabelle. so sorry u are hurting so.
i really think quitting the sugar helped make my aches go away. and quitting sugar was made easy with bodyworkers' advice to take 1000mg of L-Glutamine
three times a day on an empty stomach.
i just can't believe how restored i feel to good health now.
from advice throughout the forum i take:
250 mg milk thistle
mega b vitamins
1000 mg of b12
1000 mg of omega's 2x per day
vit a and d
no alcohol, no sugar, no coffee.
hot baths with epsom salts.
sounds like a lot but i'm saving money not buying the junk.
but the best i've felt is since the no sugar and the l-glutamine.
hope this helps and u feel better soon.

Thanks so much!
Will check things out & stock up tomorrow.
How ironic that I saw your note just after I'd eaten a handful of candy!! Am cutting down on them & the diet cokes...my downfall!

Glad you are doing well.

marthabelle - too funny about the handful of candy - lol!
my pleasure to help as we are all in this together.
i'm off for my epsom bath.
hope all are doing well tonite.

bodyworker - since you mentioned OCD symptoms i want to tell u something funny i am experiencing since taking l-glutamine. my aches are gone, my mood is up, but i can't seem to get the song 'Mack the Knife' by Bobby Darin out of my head.
this makes me laugh.
and snap my fingers as i bee-bop a lot.
bfn

That is funny,

I have songs in my head fro 10,20 years ago.... OCD sucks but the yoga meditations with mantras are replacing the older 'recordings' in my head. Prayer (from a book helps to)

marty

How is everyone doing?
I am back from a weekend away and feeling awful. Not just physical, which now is mostly tiredness and my residual cold, but emotionally rubbish.
I much preferred being nauceous but upbeat...
Now I feel like such a failure, feel angry (at myself, my husband - for no apparent reason) numb and just so low. Of course I have such a fear that it is the depression. Feeling really sad I could handle, because that is a feeling at least... but the numbness is just soul destroying.
I can see so clearly that I am not doing anything to help myself, and yet I just don't really care which makes me feel lazy... and so on and so on!

Grrrrr. Sorry to moan so much, it seems a world away from being just off effexor somewhat sick but all giggly and with a great libido.

Anyway, have just bought milk thistle, htp-5 and l-glutamine on advice from here and elsewhere... fingers crossed.

M

hope the supplements work for u marthabelle. maybe the cold and lack of sunlight play a role. it's so nice to be lazy when it is dark and cold out.
i read eckhart tolle's book, a new earth, which i find very helpful. the point he makes that i find most helpful is that we are not our thoughts. we are the observing presence of our thoughts. and what we think (the mental dialogue) is just our ego struggling to create drama. without the drama ego dies, so it struggles to gain power. we can lovingly observe the struggling thoughts, feel the emotions, and let it go. turn up the unconditional love in your heart and feel the real power that is the real you.
anyway - you might enjoy the peace of mind this book can offer.
take good care of yourself while u are feeling low.

hi to all. i am starting my second day effexor free and so far so good.
at times i felt a slight nausea and so i took a homeopathic sublingual remedy and felt fine again. i am soooo pleased with the way i now feel compared to what i felt following my doctor's advice on how to wean off the drug. she is a very good doctor so i am so surprised she is in the dark on this.
i am trying not to heavily monitor my emotions because i think that in itself can be so damaging. i feel what i feel.
and bodyworker, i am taking your advice on taking a breath, a pause, to see what fills the space. that feels right for me, so thanx for that.
my very best wishes to all. i want to keep in touch to let u know how i am doing. my wish is to be a source of hope that this can be beat, with a minimum of discomfort. and that our journey to pharmaceutical freedom is very worthwhile and liberating.
bfn

Hi Spirit woman, Thank you for the update. Yes letting 'space' in and is great, its hard, at first, I still struggle with it but the rewards are bigger.

I have intense emotions and even bigger 'judgements' of people in my head since off Effexor and find the yoga meditation and breathing I do is slowly calming me down and the emotions are beginning to level off.

Marty

hi bodyworker. ditto here on the emotions and judgements.
that is why i like the no thinking philosophy of 'the new earth'.
sounds like your breathing and yoga meditation brings u to the same place.
thanx to all who so generously gave their time and excellent advice in order to help me. i would not feel so free and happy with out u.
i wish every one peace and health.
bfn

I haven't posted in a while, but I just wanted to check in to see how everyone is doing with tapering.

I have been completely Effexor-free since September 1/09 - almost 5 months! Although I didn't find the tapering process to be too bad, I do find now that my anxiety has come back with a vengence; I had forgotten what bad anxiety I have, not to mention terrible insomnia. Argh. I've been taking 5-HTP for about a month to see if that helps, b/c I've read that low serotonin levels affect sleep and quality of sleep, but it's hard to say at this point if it's really helping or not. Anyone else have any tips for insomnia? I was taking a lot of Ativan through Nov./Dec. to try to shut my mind off at night, but now I've stopped taking that too b/c it made me SO grumpy the next day; always had an Ativan hangover.

Also, has anyone had any experience with weight gain / overeating after stopping Effexor?? I guess I was lucky that I didn't gain a lot of weight while I was on it (maybe 5-10 lbs at the most), but I've gained about 15-20 lbs. in the last 6 months, and I've definitely noticed an 'urge' to stuff my face constantly since I've been off it. I don't know if it's an anxiety thing??

To everyone feeling very emotional while tapering, that is completely normal and does get better with time. I was really angry/emotional while tapering but my moods have noticeably stabilized over the last 2 months (notwithstanding the grumpy Ativan hangovers) - now I just want to eat everything in sight - lol.

Skipper

Hi Skipper,

The urge to stuff your face is a vacuum, an emotional vacuum or an OCD type habit 'vacuuum.' make sense???? It maybe right on target or way off - effexor can calm / blur and stifle emotions, conscious or unconscious, that when removed (effexor) can lead to other ways to stifle the repressed on consciously not welcome thoughts and impulses.

Marty

PS: (thanks for updating the group on your situation)

hell fellow withdrawal sufferers!

I have been off for 5 days now and sympton stillnot abating, but to day todk and motion sickness tablet, and that has helped enormously, no brain zaps dimished sense of wanting to eat continuously.

hallo all - i have now been effexor-free for over a month and i am starting to feel better. i was suffering a lot from body aches - i felt 100 years old! i persisted with homeopathic remedies but occasionally i took a robaxacet. i have a new understanding of people suffering chronic pain. what a living hell. but i am so glad to say the pain is finally going away. monday i see my family doc who started me on effexor and i will try to explain to her what a horror it has been to stop this drug. stay strong every one - i am living proof one can get off this poison but it takes a lot of advice and support from others such as you all in this forum.

Hi All,
Well it has been 2 months since I tapered down and came completely off effexor. Haven't been doing too well, some really low points mentally and the joint pains are still often debilitating.
My pyschiatrist believes I am having severe discontinuation syndrome and I have agreed to go on 20mg of Prozac to try and abate things. Its been nearly a week and I do think I am less irritable/angry.
Unfortunately I am still really down and in pain at times which is making life really difficult...
it's all just a bit tedious which gets me down!

Just thought I'd say how I was doing, sorry its not more positive.
M

Martha,
Hang in there.

Are you taking supplements to fill the biochemical void of no effexor in your system?

Its a must, nature does not like a void and will fill it with......depressive symptoms..

Lots of exercise too helps..

And again hang in there
Marty

hi marthabelle,
so sorry u are still in pain, and that your anger is distressing u.
i'm no expert on emotional stability - lol! quite the opposite!
but could your anger be giving u an important message u may need to hear, rather than medicating it away?
i am making big changes in my life. i am listening to my body/emotions and leaving a really irritating job. i had to be medicated to survive it these past three years. now i am medication free and have the energy to walk away from it. and give myself a big vote of confidence that i will be way better off
devoting my energies to what gives me joy. money may be tight for a bit, but i realize how little i really need to live and be happy. walks and talks are free, and my peace of mind is priceless.
i'll keep u posted cause i am beginning an interesting journey, which is already taking me in interesting directions.
please have faith in yourself and honour what your body is telling you.

Hello Everyone,

I have been weening off Effexor for 2 years!! Today is my 11th day without Effexor and I wish I could say I'm out of the woods but not yet!! I'm so frustrated.

I figured out how to get off the drug 'relatively' symptom free. But as you can see, it took me 2 years and this is probably way longer than most of you can bear. I was on 112.5 mg for 1 year and 75 mg for 7 years. To get down to nothing I did 112.5 and 75 mg every other day for 2 month, then 75 for 2 month, then 75 and 37.5 mg every other day for 2 months, then 37.5 for 2 months. Then the last stretch I found I could not do this for the 37.5 dosage. What I did was I cracked open the capsule and took two granules out for 5 days, and stayed at that dosage for 1 week until there was nothing left. If you add up all that time it doesn't equal two years. This is because there was quite a bit of troubleshooting in the mean time. If I somehow got to a point in the weening process where the symptoms were so bad I could not function I would go back to a previous dosage and try dropping again. For example, every two days instead of every other day. I also found that caffeine, mainly coffee, could set me back and hard liquour could also set me back so avoid these two things at all costs!! Now that I'm taking nothing I'm still not done suffering. I'm dizzy all day. But it's not so bad as long as I'm distracted. And now that I'm off I don't have the luxury of going back to higher dosage because going back up will just prolong the inevitable. I'm pretty miserable right now. I worry that my brain chemistry is screwed up beyond repair!! I just want to feel normal again!! I'm also naseated. I'm taking 1000 units of Omega 3 fish oil and a multivitamin. But they can't alleviate my dizziness. I'm hanging in hoping one day this ordeal will all be over. I can't wait for that day!!

i'm just starting to wean off 37.5 but not enjoying the every 2nd day approach as am having terrible brain zaps really hard to explain to people who have not experienced them - am thinking of trying the tapering method...

Have been doing every second day for 6 days now - took an ativan today when buzzing got too unbearable - it definitly made the symptoms less severe - has anyone else had luck with doing this?

Binny - I too got the brain zaps and non-functional symptoms when trying every other day for the 37.5 mg dosage. What I foung worked for me was taking 10 granules out per week (2 per day for 5 days). Then staying on that dosage for a week following that. So tapering 10 granules every 2 weeks. This gets you off in roughtly 4 months since each 37.5 mg pill has roughly 110 granules. I have now been off for 2 weeks. No brain zaps to speak of however I was dizzy and still stightly uncomfortable.

Hi, I am so happy to have found this website! I have spent most the day reading what others are going through with Effexor! I am 37 years old and was put on 37.5mg of Effexor about 18 months ago after losing my business, a struggling marriage, a new baby. My Dr put my dose up to 75mg until I lost my brother, then it was raised to 150mg. I have since lost 3 other family members and now divorced, so I have not had a chance the past year to TRY to come off it. However I feel I dont need it anymore. I have gained 15kgs!! Which doesnt help with confidence. Looking back I was always a relatively healthy woman, since Effexor I have suffered erratic depressions,irritability, massive hot flushes (have to have the room at 16 Degrees Cel!!! Yes seriously I am burning up all the time. Im moody, forgetful, angry, have dull eyes, tired, listless, demotivated and binge eat and have started drinking too much alcohol to help me have a deep full nights sleep. Ive withdrawn from my friends and family and totally lost all sex drive. I have pushed everyone away over the past 12 months. I detoxed/fasted recently for 10 days and what a difference, I was able to drop from 150mg to 75mgs in just a few days with NO side effects. The suppliments were copious during my detox, I had colonics everyday - extreme. But wow, no side effects AT ALL. I have since tried to reduce to 37.5mg - without any success. The headaches, dizzy spells, spots in eye vision, temper swings, nastiness comes out if I evey try to alternate days. I HAVE DONE SOOO much research and I am about to undetake a 'tapering' system I read on this forum. 10mg drop per 6 days. There is the most AMAZING book I have just read and purchased all the suppliments from my Naturopathic Store .....How to Quit without feeling S**t. A fast highly effective way to end addisions to caffeine, sugar, smokes, alcohol, Illicit of prescription drugs) written by Dr James Braly and David Miller and Patrick Holford. GO AND BUY IT!! It summerises in easy reading how the brain works with addictions and how to wean yourself off any addiction with a specific NATURAL suppliment prescription. we all know Effexor IS addictive (despite what our doctors have told us! This drug NEEDS to be banned or patients need to be WARNED about the difficulities of weaning off this drug!!)

So this week I shall start my Prescription of Amino Acids, Vitamins and Minerals in high doses of Omega 3 and Phospholid Complexes. I will be taking lots of mixtures to support my body during weaning off EFFEXOR ADDICTION.

I shall keep you all informed of my progess and will keep a note of the next 6-8 weeks. Watch this space! I hope that I can quit Effexor with little or no pain factor and help others to do so if I am successful.

Good luck to all of you who are suffering as much as I to get off this drug and stop the side effects. Thanks