Effexor XR withdrawal

twiggmg · Newbie Joined: 26 Jun 2007 Posts: 1

I've been trying to go off effexor xr the last 2 months. My dosage has gone from 150 to 70 to 35.5mg. I was doing fine, until I decreased to 35.5mg. Now, I've had a constant headache, been very weepy, and the worst part is very cloudy and tired.

Has anyone else had the problem of being extremely tired and just cloudy? Does it get better? How long does it take before it gets better. This has been going on about 2.5 weeks now. I'm not sure if I'd be better just to have my dosage moved back up, or continue with the withdrawal process. Any suggestions?

slpgal · Newbie Joined: 26 Jun 2007 Posts: 1

I have taken Effexor XR for the past four years. I decided to get off because my husband and I would like to get pregnant. I took my last pill of 150mg on Friday. My withdrawls were so bad that I had to miss work Monday and Tuesday. As of Tuesday, I have had terrible diarrhea, nausea, brain zaps, headaches, nightmares, night sweats and fatigue. I am trying to do this cold turkey. I have taken Paxil before and quit cold turkey and did have withdrawls as well. However, they were not near as bad as the Effexor XR. It only took me about a week to a week and half to get off Paxil. The withdrawl symptoms I had from Paxil were nausea and brain zaps only. I could deal with it even though I thought I was going crazy. I can't deal with these terrible withdrawl symptoms from Effexor and I have a feeling that they will last longer than a week. I can't miss another day of work so I don't know what I will do.

Guest · Guest

I feel the same as you! My husband and I found out that we are pregnant so I got off the drug for the sake of my babies health, but now I know I will never go back on it if I don't have to. My doctor weened me off the drug from my original dose of 150 to 75 for one week and 37 for the following week. I began getting the symptoms about two weeks ago when I went down to 37mg. I have been off the drug completely for a week now and just feel horrible. I have constant headaches, diarhea, stomach pains, and am so tired I can hardly function. It's a good thing you are getting off the drug before you are pregnant. It's hard to distinguish between whether or not your symptoms are comming from pregnancy or withdrawel. Although; I am totally convinced it's withdrawl. I didn't feel bad untill I was restricting my body from the drug. It's not morning sickness I am experiencing- minus the fatigue of course (that's the only thing I think might be pregnancy related- but who knows). I have my first prenatal appointment tomorrow so maybe I will gain some insight and clarity to my confusion. I don't know how you people are working like this.. There's no way I could function at work like this. Luckly I am a teacher a have a couple more weeks off, but I hope things get better soon.

Michele Sherman · Newbie Joined: 08 Jul 2007 Posts: 2

JenArkansas · Newbie Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 2

I am trying to withdraw from Effexor XR after eight years on antidepressants and 3-4 years on Effexor. Now I understand that this is a syndrome that neither our physicians nor the FDA has acknowledged until recently. Thank goodness we have each other, to share withdrawal techniques and coping strategies so we can get through the weaning process together! I had to take a few granules in the timed-release capsule today because the symptoms became so severe. I have spent a month going from 150 mg to 37.5 mg, and 72 hours ago I stopped completely after spending two weeks on 37 mg. Side effects have increased in severity instead of waning as I had hoped. I pray I am not one of these people whose withdrawal symtpoms continue indefinitely instead of resolving.

I plan to try the extremely slow method of going from 37.5 mg to 0 mg, just a few granules at a time, because the side effects are so severe when I try to speed it up. It's great that some people can practically go cold turkey, but I become pretty non-functional when I try that route.

Jen in Arkansas

Lee/NJ · Newbie Joined: 05 Sep 2007 Posts: 2

Hello to everyone,

I've been on & off anti-depressants for the past 8 years. Celexa, Effexor, and Effexor XR. Effexor XR for the last 12 months.

I recently realized that being on Ef XR was turning me into a robot. No lows(good news) but no highs either. I felt like I was floating through life, and now I want my life back. Emotions and all.

So...

I quit Ef XR cold turkey and am on day 5 being drug-free. The symptoms that you all mentioned, I've had so severe. I have been reading and researching all over the net for help. This is what I am doing/taking to detoxify based on my findings:

1 - Drinking lots of water all day, basically non-stop, keep refilling my water bottle (yes, LOTS of trips to the ladies' room Smile

2 - Omega 3 capsules, 1 pill, 3 times/day to help brain zaps
3 - Multivitamin to get B6, B12, folate & magnesium for nerves/brain
4 - Seratonin over-the-counter, also called 5-HT. to replace naturally what I used to get from the drug.
5 - Lots of cardio exercise, daily for at least 30 minutes to help energy levels.

I pray this gets better and I wish all of you posters a speedy recovery & detoxification! Very Happy

Lee/NJ

coreyh · Newbie Joined: 18 Sep 2007 Posts: 1

My last pill was Saturday morning. Today's Tuesday. I am so glad to find this thread, because I had absolutely no idea how to describe what I was feeling. I thought people would think I was insane. I haven't called my doctor yet cause I didn't know what to tell her!!

While it's depressing to hear how long some people have had these symptoms, it's relieving to know I'm not the only one.

I'll definitely be trying the suggestions the previous poster mentioned. Hopefully they'll work!!!

Now I'm getting weepy writing this...Crap!!

Guest · Guest

meglp_83 · Newbie Joined: 07 Oct 2007 Posts: 1

I am a 24 year old female, and I have been taking Effexor XR 150mg on and off for the past 10 years (long time, I know). I started anti-depressents when I was 14, and just figured I would need to take them for the rest of my life.
But after doing research and talking to other people on Effexor, I realized that it's not healthy to be on anti-depressents for such a long period of time, especially starting a such a young age. I never thought that the Effexor could be causing my "spaciness" or my lack of emotions. I just thought that was me, and there was nothing I could do to change that. Now I know, that was not me, it was the drug.
YOU CANNOT STOP THIS DRUG COLD-TURKEY! At first I tried that, and it was the most horrible, terrifying experience ever! So, I was forced to start the med up again.
But, after talking it over with my doctor, she developed a plan for me to ween off Effexor XR 150 mg safely.
You cannot rush the process of weening off this med! I've been weening off slowly for the past 3 months.
The first week I alternated my 150mg every other day, and a 75mg every other day. I did that for 2 weeks. Then I took the 75mg every day for 2 weeks. Then I alternated the 75mg every other day, and took the 37.5mg every other day for 2 weeks., and so on. Now I'm on my last few weeks (I start taking the 37.5mg every other day with nothing else in-between). So far, through this process, I have to say I feel pretty good, compared to how I felt when I stopped cold-turkey.
There are times, especially when I'm lowering my dosage, where I'll feel nauseated, but that passes. I haven't had any major mood-swings or emotional break-downs, so emotionally I feel good. The real test will be when I finally stop taking the drug all together.
I just wanted to let people know that it is possible to ween off Effexor slowly, and it's important not to rush the process or to stop cold-turkey. Talk to your physician, and work out a plan with them. It's also important to note that like someone had posted before me, taking a multi-vitamin and drinking lots of water during this process is beneficial. I am also taking Omega-3 and watching my diet (limited processed foods, sugar, alcohol, and wheat).
It is possible to get off of this powerful drug. Good luck to everyone!

jenni00022 · Newbie Joined: 09 Oct 2007 Posts: 1

My wonderful physician weened me off of Effexor 150xr after 3 years of use in 3 weeks time. My last pill was on a Saturday, by Thursday I was in the hospital with severe dehydration from the vomiting. It has been 4 weeks since my last dose of Effexor. I still have horrible stomach problems, headaches come and go, brain zaps are milder and less frequent. For the females out there: I have missed two periods and gained approximately 10 pounds. I have horrible water retention like I have never had thru any of my 3 pregnancies. My husband has been wonderfully supportive in seeing me thru this. At this point I don't even want to be in the same room as a bottle of this drug. I completely blame my physician for not telling me the effects of this drug, the withdrawel problems with this drug, and for not medically weening me off the drug in a recommended way. Whenever I would tell my physician of any of the detox symptoms I was having he would smile and have a "suck it up and deal with it" attitude. Not cool, now I have a new doc who is at least willing to give me Phenergan for the nausea and vomiting to keep me out of the hospital. I would really like to know how one person can eat so little, vomit so much, and still gain weight. I seem to have done fine mentally and emotionally with the detox, however I do have a wonderful husband that supports me and really helps me to determine whether my emotions are extreme or "off the wall" and keep me calm. I would not recommend this drug to my worst enemy. At this point I am concerned with long term symptoms and damage to major organs. Obviously someone at the FDA in a padded chair dropped the ball on this one.

Effexor XR withdrawal

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