Effexor withdrawl and symptoms, please help _{Page 69 of 140}

LauraPh--If you taper too fast, you will get stronger reactions. What I did was drop my dose in half, work through whatever side effects happened, and then when those reactions evened out, I would do the next drop, etc. That enabled me to function like a human being and also other people did not notice what misery I was in. I had warned my friends and coworkers about it, so they were aware that I might be having some problems. The reason I told them was because I had read that oftentimes suicidal thoughts happen while weaning, and I wanted them to watch my behavior. Of all the symptoms of depression I had before taking the E, suicidal thoughts was the only one missing. I have a tremendous sense of survivorship, so I came through that one okay. The hardest drop for me with the most side effects was when I dropped to 18.25 mg. It took 3 weeks to get through that one. Others weaning at the same time said the same thing about that dosage. So expect it. After that the tapering went relatively easy (relatively, I say, because it was still not without side effects). After I was on the 4.5 for a week or two I stopped completely (and threw away a six week supply of 75 mg capsules). The first two weeks of total withdrawal were interesting. But worth it. I promised myself that I would check into this site every now and then and give encouragement to new sufferers and let them know what to expect and that there is light at the bottom of those pills, and how things are down the road.

John Crazylegs--I find your comments about healing interesting. I never noticed it while I was on the E, but now that I think about it, I did not heal as fast when I cut myself, etc. Also, the fact that some of us have low serotonin levels. I am still getting the zaps but I almost think I had them before, which probably means I do have low levels. At least my zaps are just mild, more like air pressure in my head, nothing like what was going on during withdrawal when I couldn’t stand the noise in my head. I also had terribly blurred vision which my ophthalmologist said was normal on E and that 90% of people on E with blurred vision would get their sight back normally, which I did.

To all: Drink LOTS of water. Get LOTS of exercise, it doesn’t have to be aerobic, walking, swimming, yoga, gardening, anything using your weight-bearing muscles (don’t overdo however). Sweat the E out of your bloodstream. Sweating is good. Keep busy and try to keep your mind occupied so that you don’t dwell on your discomfort. Stay away from refined sugar if you can. Ditto for caffeine.

I haven’t noticed CHASER mentioned recently. This is a wonderful over the counter medicine for hangovers that really helps with the headaches and zaps. It is in a red box and at Walmart is at the end of the aisles on one of those clip things. There is lots of good advice from previous posters on this site. Go back randomly a few pages and find them if you have not already. Some things work for some people, some for others. A lot of people swore by the epsoms salt and peroxide baths to promote sweating. I walk two miles every morning and work up a good sweat that way so I never needed the bath but others loved them.

You are all working your way to better health, both mentally and physically. Good luck to you all. - Love, Sheila

catgranny - THANK YOU for your posts. I am so happy that you continue to check in.

hey all, I am down to 18.5 mg . I have alot of brain zaps but the omega-3 have been helping during the day. I've been feeling joint pain though. Has anybody been feeling this? My husband thinks it might be dehydration.Any thoughts? livvie

Whatever is your effexor dosage increase the timespan. If you have to take it after each 12 hours, next time take it after 13 hrs and gradually increase the timespan.

As you reach the stage where you can't increase the time then decrease the dosage by 5% after each two days. (by taking off some medicine from pill)

Also Belladonna 6C two pills twice a day would help a long way.

Hello everyone - It has been a week and so far so good. Sunday thru Friday I reduced each dose 20%. I did my barley powder/omega 3/vit. E/cherry concentrate regime religiously. Very mild withdrawal... more like a head cold than anything.

Yesterday I just dumped half the balls out at each dose. yesterday and today I felt ok until about two hours before my PM dose. Then I got brain zaps and cold-sweats. Yesterday it was ok because I was home and just relaxed. I felt fine as long as I was still. Today I decided to go to Target in the late afternoon... The zaps started and my vision was blurry. Luckily my daughter was with me and she drove us home. I do not think I could have driven home. However, I realized when I got home that I did not take my supplements.

Work will be interesting tomorrow. I will have to be on time with all my supplements - I really think they help.

Hello everyone,
I am on my first day on 18mg. So far so good. The only thing I've had before today was anxiety, which I have never had before. It woke me up in the night , my heart racing and this scary feeling in my chest. I woke my husband because I thought I was having a heart attack or something. He told me this is anxiety. I know some people have said that they have had a racing heartbeat but I did not expect this. The nausea only lasts about a day or two when I decrease and so far no zaps. The sweating and the dry mouth are for the birds though. I feel like I am going through early menopause.
I hope all is well for all of you!! I am awakiening and I have not been this happy in years.

God Luck to everyone and God bless!!

Delaney

Hi Delaney - Anxiety attacks are very scary... that is what got me on this stuff to begin with. luckily I haven't had any since I started tapering my doses... I hope I don't. No matter how many you get it is still very frightening.

The sweating and dry mouth are driving me nuts. Last night I was chewing on ice - something I have never done. My nouth was hot and dry.

Have a good day!

Hi All, This forum is awesome. I have just started taking effexor Xr and was wonering what the difference is between this and Effexor. I was prescribed this drug for depression and social phobia and was wondering if anyone has had success on this. Should I be taking it or not and how long till its in my system cause its day 3 and i feel like crap.

Hi, I have been reading this forum for a while. I am on Effexor XR 225mg daily. I want to go off this medication as I feel it is hurting me more than helping me. I too am numb and I want to feel again. I started tapering down today by taking about half of the medication out of one of my 75 mg capsules. So, that would be roughly 187 mg. I do know that I am going to have a tough time going off this medication because if I forget to take my dose, even if it is just a few hours, I start to feel the zaps and the fogginess. My Psychiatrist is out of town until the middle of August so I am doing this while he is away. My endocrinologist determined that I am hypothyroid and put me on Synthroid. I should be feeling better by now as I have been on the Synthroid for a month but I still feel awful. It is almost as if the Synthroid, and the return of my body to the normal functioning state, has caused the Effexor to give me increased side effects. I have GAINED weight (about 5 lbs) in the past month despite diet and exercise. Now that we figured out that I am hypothyroid, I find myself wondering whether I needed the Effexor in the first place. We just kept increasing the dose until I felt like I could function when there was underlying endocrine problems we didn't know about.

Oh, Effexor XR stands for Extended Release. Same stuff, just have to take it once a day rather than twice or whatever.

Hello everyone!

Just some info about Effexor aand the xr are the same medication and have the same awful side effects.

Shadowstalker you probably did not have to start this med as thyroid problems often get treated as depression.There are so many of us who have been improperly diagnosed and what a shame to have been given poison as a fix.
Gogetter- if I were you I would research this drug much more before taking your next dose and speak to your doctor about what you have learned so far.

Good day everyone!!

Delaney

Hello everyone - I am logging an update on my progress...

I woke up Monday morning and I felt great. I had to get to work very early to set up for a big meeting and I realized when I got to work I forgot to take my morning dose. Of all days! Luckily somehow I made it without any withdrawal symptons at all until I got home about 7:00. I wan't hungry, but I ate some crackers and took my evening half dose. By this time I was pretty nausaus and dizzy with brain zaps.

Tuesday I woke up feeling awake and refreshed. I decided to skip the morning dose again. Once again, fine until about I got home around 5:30. The withdrawals hit pretty hard right before the evening dose. I just laid on the couch all night. If I didn't move I was ok.

Wednesday - same thing. I was very irritable in the morning and scatter brained all day. I could not focus at all. I felt like I could have broken down and cried at any moment. I was able to make it through the day without any issues. I manage a large group of people so I was worried about doing or saying something unprofessional. I didn't. By the time I got home the withdrawals were the worse yet. I finally just broke down and cried, took a shower and went to bed.

Today, woke up feeling great - until I ate. Very naseaus and ended up throwing up. I was fine by the time I got to work. I took some Dramamine before leaving work. It helped ALOT with the naseau and dizziness. I have spent the evening laying still with my eyes closed, tyring to converse with my family.

Since the weekend is almost here I decided to stop Effexor all together. In the past few weeks I have gone from 150mg to 38 and now I am going to nothing. Despite a few bad days, it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. My family has been really supportive and I know I just want to get this over with.

Good night - I hope you are all doing well.

I've taken effexor for 11 years. In Jan 2006, I began to reduced my 150mg dose gradually over a period of FOUR MONTHS (Wyeth suggests 2 weeks!). As I started reducing, I became sick and missed a lot of work in Jan and Feb. By March, I was so sick, I had to quit working completely. I have no husband or family to support me. I have no paid medical leave, and my insurance is catastrophic for the self-employed, so everytime I see a doctor and he or she does nothing to help me (they have all been clueless), I have to pay in full out of my pocket. No one ever told me about the severity of effexor withdrawal and that it would continue months after I took the final dose. I didn't know what was happening to me until I got on the internet and diagnosed myself on April 29. When I was taking effexor, I didn't think I had any side effects, but now I realize that the abnormal uterine bleeding and nightmare/sweats were from the effexor. I know this because they finally stopped after all these years. During my 4 month dose reduction, these side effects intensified along with a long list of new symptoms I had never experienced before. Doctors didn't know what to do about these new symptoms, but the decided the bleeding would only be cured by a hysterectomy--and I was so desperate, I signed up for one. That was before I read the most recent effexor drug labeling put out my Wyeth. Turns out heavy, prolonged uterine bleeding can be a side effect of effexor and other anti-depressants because of serotonin's role in the clotting mechanism. I had been misdiagnosed for years! Wyeth likes to put responsibility onto the doctors for 'treating' effexor discontinuation syndrome, but I haven't found a doctor yet who has even heard of it! I did actually find one psychiatrist in Denver who wanted $250/hour to put me back on effexor and combine it with prozac through the reduction period. This method has not been proven effective, and he finally admitted to me that some people just can't seem to get off effexor. This isn't the 'classic' model of withdrawal we tend to think of with drugs like heroin or alcohol. At least a heroin addict is free after that week of hell--and it's the same with everyone. The severity of symptoms associated with effexor reduction and discontinuation is individual. Some people go off quickly with minimal problems, some get severely sick no matter how gradually they reduce, and some are never able to stop without severe, and perhaps permanent sickness. The only proven treatment for EDS, is to go back on the effexor. This boggles the mind. A paradigm shift is required to understand EDS. The old model of addiction does not apply here. It's horrible to think, but I suspect Wyeth knows this drug can cause permanent dependence in some people and they are suppressing the information, stalling for time until the inevitable happens and they are forced to undergo their own effexor withdrawal when they top-money maker is withdrawn from the market. If I had known I would become so sick when I tried to come off effexor and that I would continue to be sick months after my final dose, I never would have taken it. Think about it. We get so upset when we hear about crack babies, but did you know that babies born to mothers taking effexor can also go through the same horrible symptoms we are experiencing?I'm not making this up. You can read it for yourself in Wyeth's 47 page drug label for effexor. These poor helpless souls cry ceaselessly for days in the hospital, they reject feeding--does this sound familiar? Their poor mothers may have tried to go off the drug but couldn't so they have to live with the guilt of bringing a newborn baby into this horror. The more I learn, the more determined I become. I'm not going back on effexor to relieve the sickness effexor is causing me. I'm in this for the long haul now. I will be starting a website/message board to help effexor victims come together. We need to support each other because the doctors (the vast majority) who prescibe this drug feel threatened when we confront them. And Wyeth is making too much money off effexor to want to see it yanked. I'm not going to stop until everyone knows the truth about this dangerous drug. I pledge to be a thorn in Wyeth's side until this drug is removed from the market completely. Effexor is now the second best seller behind Prozac. More and more people are discovering what we are experiencing every day, so I have hope, we shall overcome.
As for homeopathic remedies, I've found them to be somewhat helpful. EDS has made me supersensitive on all levels. I had to stop taking my vitamins because they made me feel sicker. One of my greatest joys in life has been eating good food, but now, the sight and smell of food disgusts me, and after I eat, I feel sicker. I take benadryl and it helps a bit, but sometimes I think it makes me hypomanic. I drink non-caffinated herbal teas, peppermint and chamomile. They don't help much, but they taste better to me than water. I take homeopathic formulas for motion sickness (because my symptoms increase with movement)and calmes forte for the anxiety and insomnia. It seems these remedies helped more in the beginning than they do now. I'm going to try Bach's vervain because I remeber loving the tea when I was abroad (I haven't found it in the US). When I first diagnosed myself, I went into panic and tried to find a traditional medical treatment to help me, but I've given up on that route. I stayed up all night trying to find answers on the internet. One doctor I found suggested St John's Wort might help. I took one and started trembling uncontrollably. I think it induced a serotonin overdose, a very dangerous condition which can be FATAL. St John's Wort was waaay too strong. I tried the ER doctor figuring he must be familiar with such things--wrong! I was charged $400 for a 5 minutes consult which didn't help me in the least. I showed him a case study reporting success treating EDS nausea with zofran (ondanstetron), and he yelled at me 'I'm not going to base treatment on one case study.' 'I understand,' I said, 'but what are you going to base it on?' He stammered, 'Are you having thoughts of suicide?' When I told him no I was not, he froze not knowing what to do. He then quickly wrote the prescription for zofran and left me. I took one pill and felt much worse so I never took another. I was still desperate, so I tried a scopalomine patch. I knew it was a powerful drug because I had taken it before for motion sickness, but this time, it was like I never took it, nothing. After 5 days of this panic, I became resigned, and that helped a great deal. I resolved to take it easy, stay calm and focus on more positive, production activities. But I couldn't be productive in the way I was before the sickness--I could barely move! Any kind of exertion, even movement of my eyeballs, increased the intensity of the nausea and dizziness. On the bright side, I can still sit in front of my computer as long as I don't move my head and eyes. This week, 8 weeks after my final dose, I began to panic again. What if this horrible feeling never goes away? What if I can never work again? What if I am one of the unlucky ones who is permanently damaged by this drug? What am I going to do with my life, and how am I going to survive? It's a grieving process. Shock, denial, anger, reconciliation to the new reality. It has helped so much to hear the experiences of others. My heart goes out to you all. I am not alone. Very few people truly understand the severity of this, but they will eventually, once it touches a loved one, once a doctor or pharmacist or lawyer experiences it for him or herself. I plan to have a website/message board up in the next few weeks for effexor help, a place where we can come together and support each other, because we're not getting support from Wyeth or the vast majority of doctors.

It's now Sunday night and it has been a long weekend. Friday was pretty bad. I stayed on the couch most of the day. I could only lay flat on by back. I started feeling ok around dinner time. I ate and then laid back down.

Saturday we had already scheduled a trip to tour a University that my daughter is thinking about applying to. It was almost a three hour drive. Since motion makes me sick I took a dramamine. I dozed on and off most of the way up. I put on a good face for the first hour of the tour. It was tough. We spent the next three hours walking around the campus. Luckily it was a slow pace. By the end I was actually feeling pretty good. I contemplated taking dramamine for the trip home, but I didn't. The drive was fine. I felt good the rest of the night. Just mild, but consistant, brain zaps.

Woke up this morning with a severe headache. I had a new refrigrator being delivered so I had to clean out the old one before the delivery man got here. I was miserable. I just wanted to cry. I was so naseaus! I had terrible sweats and shakes. I got it done and laid back down. Once my body cooled off I felt better. I several glasses of ice water and laid under the ceiling fan. It is as if my body could not cool itself.

I saw my daughter off to summer camp and went to the grocery store. I drove a whole 2 miles! I have been afraid to dirve all weekend because of the dizziness. I felt pretty good and did fine.

I got home a napped! Everything is so exhausting.

Sorry for the long posts, it just feels good getting this all out...

Back to work tomorrow... If I can get through the morning I will be fine.

Hey all,

Well it has been almost three months since I first started my tapering and I feel a heck of a lot better. I am currently at 18 mg and not doing too bad. I do have many awful side effects but it is much better than I anticipated. I am having very vivid dreams and it is freaky because I have not remembered my dreams in years. Has anyone else noticed this?

Laura- sounds like you are doing great! Be proud od yourself. This is a struggle but you are doing it.

My hubby asked me last night what was wrong but nothing was. Apparently I have been irritable in the last few days( I thought it was everyone else)I am going to chalk it up to the big E cause nothing is making me cranky.

Nancy- I think you wrote what most of us are feeling. These bastards deserve to answer for what they are doing to people. If there is a way to make a t.v. commercial warning people of the effects it should be done.

Good days to all!!

Delaney

Well, I am down to 150mg now. I haven't really had any problems except for a headache and some irritability. No zaps as of yet, thank God!

It seems as if I am euphoric one moment and ready to kill the next. I think I may hang out at 150mg for a couple of weeks and try to decrease in small intervals rather than all at once. I think I will be better able to handle things if I only feel cruddy for a week or two at a time.

Hello everyone - I am pleased to say that I have been completely off Effexor for exactly one week. Yesterday was the first day that I felt human again. I cooked dinner and then cleaned the kitchen! That was the most activity I had since I started tapering.

I was pretty aggressive with my taper - going from 150mg daily to zero in three weeks. I dropped my dosage every couple of days. I stayed nauseas and had brain zaps consistantly in varying degrees of annoyance. I figured that the longer I kept tapering the longer I would be miserable.

To I actually feel good, happy and optimistic that I made the right choice.

THe brain zaps are mild and mostly at night when I first lay down in bed. Also, mid afternoon after looking at the computer all day.

I have also noticed a bit of the anxious feelings coming back that I haven't had since Effexor. The thing now is that I am aware of them and can get over them. I think before Effexor I was just always anxious and got upset easily. I just thought that was who I was. On Effexor I did not have those feelings (becuase I didn't have any feelings.... :)) Now, thoese bad feelings are obvious and so far I have been able to be rational about them and calm down before getting too stressed. I am going to go to the book store sometime this week and see what kind of books I can find about controlling axienty through breathing and meditation, etc. I think now that I can recognize when it is happening I can do something about it.

I hope you all have a good day.

I've been on Effexor for five years and am on my second day of not taking any Effexor.I have lost my job and along with it, my insurance and can not afford to buy Effexor on my own. My doctor had been giving me free samples, but on Monday, when I was in his office for a follow-up on my blood pressures, he was out of samples so I guess I do not have a choice. But, from what I am reading I am in for the ride of my life.....if withdrawal is this bad, I think I was better off before I started on the drug than I will be in the next few days. I take medication for my blood pressure so hopefully, I can get off those too. I have also gained about 25 pounds since starting the Effexor and have started an exercise routine about a month ago. Hopefully, that will help my withdrawal symptoms. I feel very fortunate to find this forum to get (and give) support from people going through the same thing.

gabdom i got on disability because of my withdrawal and got cobra insurance which is atainable within 60 days. you might wanna look into it

Hi All,

I just found this forum and wanted to share my experience with you. First off, for those of you in the process of tapering off of Effexor, there is an end to the withdrawal symptoms. I am 11 weeks Effexor-free. The symptoms were completely gone for me after 4 weeks. I spent 2 weeks tapering from 150mg to 37.5mg, then 7 weeks tapering from 37.5mg to 0. It was not easy but it was not disabling either. I did not miss any work and managed to function pretty much as usual. I suffered the brain zaps, eye-swooshing, body aches and dizziness as so many of you describe here. But these symptoms are all gone now.

While on Effexor, I developed high blood pressure, rapid heart rate and high cholestrol. I also gained 40 lbs in 4 years. My blood pressure is now back to normal as is my heart rate. I won't know about my cholestrol until I have it checked again in August. I have also lost 20 lbs. over the past 3 months.

I really have 2 reasons for posting. One, to let you know that your Effexor effects will end, just hang in there. Two, I'm wondering if there is anyone else on here that has successfully withdrawn from Effexor and, if so, are they suffering from anxiety now? That is my only problem. I now have anxiety. I'm hoping it is just an 'after effect' that will go away without treatment but would love to hear from anyone else who has this problem.

Thanks for listening and sorry for the long post.

In response to kevinnye20: I was laid off about a year ago, so COBRA is no longer an option.

I'm on day 3 now without my Effexer and so far it hasn't been to awfully bad. I feel a bit out of it along with feeling tired and having some brain zaps, but could still function. I'm finding if I keep my body and/or my mind active, I tend to forget that I am no longer taking this drug.

When I first started on Effexor, I was on 100s then my doctor put me on 150s. The last month or so, he decreased my dosage to 75. I'm wondering, with the lower dosage, if it lessons the withdrawal symptoms. Also, I remember my doc telling me when I started Effexor that it was not addictive. Either he is grossly misinformed or he just doesn't know the effects of withdrawal.

donewithFX - thank you so much for taking the time to post your story. I think it is so good for people that have been successful with tapering to let the rest of us know that it will eventually be ok.

I just finished my taper and am having the same issues with the anxiety coming back so unfortunately I ma no help to you!

DonewithFX - Congratulations on being successful at getting off the E. I was very interested in your comments about your cholesterol level. After about a year on the E, my family doctor, during a routine blood test, told me mine was too high, 259 when it usually had run about 180-200. There was no reason for it, I'm plump therefore I live a relatively low fat life, always dieting. He tried to put me on cholesterol meds, but I said no, I didn't have a family history of high cholesterol. I have spent a year trying to lower it, successfully if not as rapidly as I would like. There may be something to this, interesting.

I stopped the E last August and have been slow in losing the weight I gained also(most people on E on this forum gained weight). I was already on blood pressure meds but mine has dropped at least 10-15 points since stopping the E. I also stopped eating and drinking anything with aspartame in it (Nutrasweet) and I feel wonderful.

Did you have anxiety problems before being on the E? If you did, why would you expect them to stay away when you got off. Mine came back but I learned so much about myself and my ability to cope with the panic attacks and the anxiety during the withdrawal, that I am doing all right. (That first panic attack after withdrawal was a doozy--in front of my golf foursome when I could not get out of a sand trap! Very embarrassing).

LauraPh - congrats to you for making the final step. I hope the days ahead are good to you, I went back and read all my own posts from beginning to end (page 9 to 40!!) and can empathize again with all who are going through this ordeal. Take care of yourself.

Nancyindenver - wow - what a story. Let us know when you get your blog up and running.

Again to all, good mental health (to paraphase Frazier Crane!)

Love, Sheila

to done with fx. i no longer suffer from withdrawal at three months. i went on e for panicattacks when i drive now ive been diagnosed w/ generalized anxiety disorder which isdifferent from panic diorder. this is my lasting effect of e i guess.

Laura
Good for you!! I wish you all the best. How are you doing now has it been two weeks?
I am down to 9 mg and taking it later in the day each day. Sometimes I wait until I am really nauseous or until I feel drunk and lightheaded. Very soon I will be done too. Must say I am very nervous about not taking any.

Enjoying the beautiful sunshine, Delaney

hey Delaney! you are almost there! Life has been pretty good. The firs week completely off was exhausting. All I wanted to do was be still and cool and sleep. Heat really bothers me and it is SCORCHING here.

This week is better so far. I have more energy throughout the day - although I still want to go to bed early. up until last night my sleep wasn't very restful. I woke up several times a night almost gasping for breath. It almost felt liek I would stop breathing and then wake up... I reordered some cherry concentrate pills and took 2 right before bed. I only woke up once and that was to go to the bathroom. I do not know if the cherry had anything to do with it or not, but I am going to take them again tonight.

I get pretty irritable late afternoon, but I am completely aware of it and seem to be able to control it really well. I haven't had any particularily stressful situations to really test it, but that's ok with me!

I am brought to tears fairly easily... thoughts of my daughter going off to college (it is a year away), touching commercials, you name it and my throat tightens up! Again, it doesn't consume me and I am able to move on.

I ordered a treadmill that should be coming in a week or so. I am ready to start exercising. It is much too hot to walk outside so I thought I would fix up my rarely used exercise room.

Brain zaps are mild and few and far between!

Good luck with your final doses!! post your progress.

10 off Effexor and things are going quite well. I can feel my energy coming back and have been staying quite calm. Perhaps it's because I'm more aware of my feelings now and can control them. I guess I didn't realize how emotionally numb I felt while I was on the Effexor. I can actually feel my emotions and can shed some tears of joy or sadness. One thing that does have me concerned though. I do have trouble going to sleep...have been experiencing restless leg symdrom...something I never had before. Also experiencing hot flashes again. Thought I was done with this years ago. LOL Any suggestions anyone?