Effexor XR Withdrawl Survivor- Sorta

Well, I spoke with my doctor yesterday about the nasty side effects of coming off Effexor XR and I was told that I came off too fast- After 48 hours of hellish withdrawl. She put me back on the 37.5mg once a day. I decided to do a little of my own self medicating just the same... I went home and popped open this weeks supply of capsals and took out 5 pellets from each capsal. Next week I plan on taking out 5 more pellets and so on until I am either off or need to stay on the few remaining in the capsal for a few days/weeks/however long it takes me to kick this nasty habit. I gotta say I feel 100% better today vs. yesterday! No 9 Volt body shocks, no dizzyness, confusion, nausea, panic, paranoia, NO CRYING , loss of coordination, sweating, sleepyness, aggitation, worthlessness, chest tightness, no negative thoughts, blured vision, crawling skin- it's all gone!!! Thank god! I didn't want to go back on the meds, but I think tapering off slower will greatly help with alot of those feelings! I am in a GREAT mood today, I want to do dirty kinky things with my boyfriend (WOO HOO FINALLY!!!), I have much more energy (Still a little tired here & there), I actually can eat without thinking its coming back up, SOOO much better!

For those of you trying to kick the habit (I say that with love & understanding) try the lowest dose and take out as many pellets as you think you can handle (you can always eat the ones you took out later in the day if need be). My Doctor suggested I not self medicate like that, but she was also the @sshole who put me on this shit to begin with, so I am really not about to listen to her on this- I know my body well enough to know I can handle less of this drug then she thinks I need!

Hang tight, I will be right here with you withdrawling like a junkie too!

I decided to get off Effexor finally after taking it now for three years. I am better and we want to have a baby. Ive been reading these forums and there helping. I was taking 225mg a day. And just last night I decided to taper off. Well I took 75mg and again 75mg tonight.

I feel so sick. I feel like vomitting and my head aches like Ive never felt before. It feels so sickening. I cant believe I let these doctors shove this down me all this time. I feel the brain shocks, head pounding, cant eat, feel dizzy. This is terrible. I am committing to kinking this crap!!!!!!

If you are trying to get off Effexor XR, here is some advice... SLOWLY!!!!!!! I first tried to wean off it by taking 38.5mg a day for a few days and then stopping. VERY BAD. I was vomiting, had the sweats, and was so dizzy I couldn't stand it. I went back on it and tried slowly. I asked my doctor to give me the breakable pills (25 mg each) , not the capsules. I first took 25mg twice a day. After 2 weeks, I cut out a 1/4 of a pill each time (so I was taking 3/4 of 25mg x 2). AFter 2 more weeks I cut out another 1/4 of a pill. I did that until I was only taking 6.25mg/day. If I skipped a day, I would feel dizzy. 4 days ago I figured it was time. I stopped taking my 6.25mg piece and was fine... occasionally a little dizzy but nothing bad. NOW I have hives.

SO be very careful weaning off and if you haven't been on Effexor, know that it can be very long and hard to wean off.

Goodluck to you all while I pray the hives will go away too.

I am coming off of it now....I got down to 37.5 mg two days a week while pregnant and I am now trying to come off completely. I skipped the first day and feel awful....I am having the brain shocks, dizziness, fits of rage and anger. Its awful....I would of never went on this crap if I knew it would be this hard to get off of. So if you are thinking about going on Effexor DONT!!!!

Well this is day 5 of stopping Effexor XR. I too went back to the doctor and told her I was so depressed and felt that my anxiety had reached a new all time high and I was experiencing depression for the first time and it was bad. That was on 150mg, to my surprise she took me to the top 225mg. I became so depressed that when alone all I did was cry, everything broke my heart. I noticed that if I missed my dose by a mere 3 hours, I was becoming confused and feeling way out of sorts.
So being the tough cookie that I am, I started to take myself off this drug one pill at a time. I took 3, 75mg's a day for 1 week, then I took 2 75mg's per day, for 1 week. Then the next 2 weeks 75mg per day. I stayed there for 2 weeks and did great. But then came the cold turkey week, this week. I finally realize I am not crazy, not having a heart attack, not having equal librium problems, and I am not plugged into a 220 volt outlet thanks to this webpage/topic.
I am not going to give up now. My "doctor" doesn't know and after reading up on this drug and consulting with another MD friend of mine I am not taking another one of these pills. When experiencing severe depression the doctor is to monitor or stop the drug. My doctor did neither. This drug Effexor Xr is the hardest thing I have ever dealt with. I hope after week 3 I will be better. Paxal worked for the year I was on it, but I am giving up the drugs and going to a Therapist.
Dutchamo [/i][/quote]

I am 6 weeks pregnant and my doctor told me to wean myself off of effexor. I was originally on 150mg but dropped down to 75mg then to 37.5mg. That was all fine. Now I was supposed to miss one day then take it the next. Yeah Right..... I feel like crap. Yesterday I missed it and wasn't too bad, except for vomiting all day and night. Today I have the brain shocks really bad and have been snapping at people I love and cry over absolutely nothing. Oh and I can't keep anything down. I decided I would wean myself even further and broke open the pill and took out half of the pellets. Tomorrow I plan on doing the same and each day from then taking out a few more. Hopefully it works because if it wasn't for my baby, I would go back on them just to stop these feelings. Does anyone know how long it would be before I start to feel better after taking one today? I really don't know how much more of this I can cope with.
These pills should be banned. The doctors have no idea because they haven't been on them.

I'm slowly trying to get off effexor I was prescribed it for post partum depression 5 months ago. I'm active eat well and live a pretty healthy lifestyle. This drug worked for a period when I was feeling disconnected from my daughter which im very thankful for. A few months ago I started exercising and clean eating I've lost weight from having my daughter but the drug does slow down this process. It also zapped me of a lot of my energy and I started getting vision problems. I'm slowly weaning off and have just started taking a half of a 37.5 mg pill. This is when I started noticing the NAUSEA weakness headaches and inability to focus. After reading all of the forums online I admit I'm terrified about withdrawing from this drug. How long will this last? and how long should I be taking half of a 37.5 mg before I go completely drug free? I have only been taking this drug for 5 months. and 75mg a low dose.

HELP

My husband wanted to wean himself off effexor so I did a lot of studing. He started using vit b high potency complex with folic acid and vit c two tablets daily. He also uses acetyl l-carnitine 400 mg with alpha lipoic acid 200 mg. He quit cold turkey because he hated this SO MUCH. (i watched him day and night)The first day he had a groggy feeling but nothing else really. Second and third day same but easing up!! Two weeks out and no symptoms at all!!! He is so happy that he got off and has realized that he would be better taking a good b complex for stress and taking time for himself than RX medicating.

People out there do not ever take the amount of antidepressant a doctor prescribes unless it is the lowest dose. I started with the 37.5mg and stayed only on that amount as it seemed to work for me. If in two weeks you increase the dose you will never know if the smaller dose worked and many times it probably will. I have always been paranoid about drugs so even now I only take around 3 or 4 a week and since it is extended release that sort of makes sense to me. Also, Dr. Oz says to eat a banana everyday you will see a difference in how you feel, I did. It is good for your brain and for depression and also to take DHA 600 mg.

I too am in the process of tapering off of Effexor XR. Although I will say, this drug has helped save my life, it is also terribly harsh and so difficult to come off of. I want to get pregnant in the next year or two and need to get off of this drug. Advice to you women who are not on antidepressants: do whatever you can to prevent getting on them because it is a trip to hell and back to get off of them. My doctor wanted to continue increasing my dosage (I was on 400mgs at one point!). Back down to 75 mgs every other day. Saturday I was very ill from withdrawls: head shocks, serious nausea, pounding head, dizziness...it's hell.