Reducing Effexor Withdrawal Symptoms

Well - today is day 6. Most of the symptons have gotten better, excpt for the DIZZY feeling. I am taking benadryl for that, but it helps very little. I am determined to beat tis thing. It may cost me my marrige b/c I am and EXTREME B**CH right now. But, he hasn't helped much eithr. Left me alone at home last night (which was by far the worst yet) to go out and get falling down drunk. Not only that, but left me with three kids to feed when I can not even feed myself. Oh well - one poision at a time.

I have been off Effexor (The Beast) for about 4 days now. The zaps seem to be worse now than ever!!!!!! I have not had any kind of other drug to help with this! BUT I will try the fish oil! THANKS!!! I hope this works! I feel like I am sticking my tounge to the end of a battery!!!!!

Like everyone here, I'm glad to have found this forum. I've been on XR for about 9 years, 300mg/day. I had been feeling increasingly bad for awhile, so I decided to get off Effexor. My way of thinking was perhaps it was no longer strong enough. My dosage was already considered high, so increasing it wasn't an option. For the past 7 days I have been taking only 150mg/day.
I have experienced very little of what I've read here. I keep a nagging headache that could be sinus, memory problems, fatique and had 2 days where I felt like I was coming down with something. However, I was feeling those same things before I cut my dosage in half.
My plan is to cut back to 150mg/every other day if I experience no bad side effects between now and next Monday, 10/20. A lot of you seem to agree that the withdrawal is the worst when cutting back to 37.5mg. If I understand that correctly, do you think it's possible to not have problems until cutting to the lowest dosage? Do you think it's possible to experience no problems at all?
Like 'NeedSupport', I don't have a very good support system in my husband. That's why I need to be aware of any symptoms so I can monitor myself. My husband isn't much on letting me know any changes that he sees.
For the record, I also take Adderal 40mg/day for concentration issues, but have only been taking it for about 2 weeks. I had hoped it would be helpful in making the Effexor work better. I also take Zantac, because the Adderal sometimes gives me heartburn, and DHEA, for night sweats from menopause. I also smoke a joint at night to help me sleep and sometimes in the day if I really need to concentrate on something. I have to take Xanax when a joint isn't enough to help me sleep and I also take Xanax when I have panic attacks.
OK, that's my story. I'm depending on feedback from you guys to help me be ready for any problems that might happen.

Loony2ne;
I can not speak for the slow cutback on the meds as I have only done the full Cold Turkey. I can tell you that as bad as I felt for the last 7 days, I feel that much BETTER today!! I finally am starting to feel like a person again and it is nice. The dizziness was the worst for me, but it is better.
I willl share what I have done, in additional to drinking tons of water. This has all helped me, so maybe some, or all will help you!!

I went to GNC and bought their brand - 7 day full body detox program
(it has not been NEAR as bad as I thought it would be)
Got a good Multi-vitamin B complex and Vitamin C
Dramamine for the Dizziness
Fish Oil - get the soft gel capsuls and freeze them. There is no taste associated that way!

As nuts as this sounds, I read it here and it worked:
EPSON SALT AND HYDROGINE PEROXIDE baths
\Hot as you can stand it
Drink lots of water while in the bath
It not only helps some detox through your pores it relaxes the muscles in you body and I found helped me sleep.

Today is full day 7 completely off Effexor XR and I WILL NEVER TAKE IT AGAIN! AS hard as this detoxing from it has been, it could not have been anything good for my system. There were a few days that I felt so bad I was tempted to go back and take it but out of shear will, I viewed it as a poision in my system and just REFUSED to do it.

You can ge tthrough this and I promise, the "other" side looks great from where I am sitting!!

HANG IN THERE and I hope some or any of the above will help.

Hey there,
I am still withdrawing from effexor. I've found I have to do it very slowly. I started opening the pills 75mg. and taking half. Last two weeks, half every moring, then this week, taking 1/4. In the afternoons I sometimes am getting the electrical shocks, so I take about 10-15 of the granules and it goes away.
Man this stuff is nasty. At the beginning of the year I was on 300mg, terribly angry and for the past few months I would vacillate between feeling homical to suidcal. I started praying for a solution to my prolonged depression when a thought came into my head that something was really wrong. effexor is not working anymore
Whew! I am glad I found this web site.

Since I've been weaning off of it, my moods have improved, and I feel hopeful again. the spacey-ness is still there, and it is really hard to concentrate, and sometimes I feel really blah, but I think eventually this will go away. For the first time in years, I feel like myself. What a relief! Praise God.

Hang in there whoever is reading this

Here is what's working for me. I had to start Prozac to help me get off the Effexor. I am down to 3/10 of the 37.5 capsules of Effexor (I take 1.5/10 twice a day). I take just 10 mg of the Prozac liquid. I must be a fast metabolizer or something. If I miss a dose of the Prozac or Effexor, I get vertigo, but it is manageable.

Without the Prozac, I would get debilitating vertigo and vomiting from lowering my Effexor dose. In order to get out of that state, I would have to take about 3 times the dose I had been on. It was terrifying.

I am dropping reallly gradually now (37, 25, 20, 15 mg on each dose for about a week). I take fish oils (when I remember), various vitamins, and Benadryl and melatonin at night. I sleep well, but have the wildest, colourful dreams!

I feel as though I'm equally addicted to these web sites, as I am to Effexor XR. I have been on 75 MG for about 6 months. I decided to come off for a variety of reasons, one of which I felt like I was losing my short term memory. No one has mentioned it that I've seen, but my friend who is on it went off for the same reason.

Others' stories really help a lot. I went from 75mg to 37.5 with basically no big impact. Occasional tingling in my hands, or a slight brain zap when I shifted positions, etc. I am on day 3 of nothing. I threw up all day yesterday. Horrible. I attributed this to a bug, but maybe not. I'll never know. Today I woke up and felt better and indulged myself by laying in bed til 1. I thought that maybe I was going to be one of the lucky ones, and get off "easy" with withdrawal. As soon as I got up, the tingling in my right hand and the weird brain feeling as I moved around, brought me back to reality. I am going to tough it out. It is Saturday today and I am lucky enough not to have to work til Tues. I am hoping I don't have to take even a little bit more. If I knew for sure that this would be hell for a few more days, then OVER, I'd pay the price.

I thank everyone for posting. It helps. A lot. I too had put on about 12 pounds, but thought it was just normal pre-menopausal weight gain. I have always been very thin, but I am having a hard time losing this weight. I hope getting off the Effexor will help with that, too. We 're all on the same team. Thanks.

I have been reading these posts this morning as I have been thinking of weaning off of Effexor as well. The thing that is a relief after reading is that others have experienced weight gain w/ Effexor. I have put on almost 50 lbs since being on this drug....this does NOTHING to help depression!!! I was depressed enough w/out feeling fat on top of it all!! I can trace back almost to the day (5 yrs ago) that when I started the pills, the weight came w/ it. I was a size 8-10 then...I am an 18 now...UGH.

Anyway - thanks for all the tips that I have read about w/ others that have successfully gotten themselves off this medication. My burning question to those of you that did it - did the weight come off? God I hope so. I read one post that said she lost 20 lbs soon after she quit - that was inspiring!

Wish me luck! I haven't started yet - but now know what I need to do to wean gradually (have been off cold turkey for a week now...starting to get just a little on the grumpy and cry at the drop of a hat side of things! Figure I better take it slow - and love the cocktail mentioned w/ vita-water, benadryl, and Omega 4 - thanks to everyone for their helpful hints!

Goodluck to all of you...and wish me luck as well!

Almost 6 months ago, my doctor put me on effexor xr for depression and social anxiety. I started off on 37.5 then upgraded to 75 mg. After a week the medicine seemed to stop working so he upgraded me on 150 mg and said if the same thing starts to happen then he'd put me on 220 mg but refused to go any higher, luckily i was okay on 150 mg. however, i feel i shouldnt have to rely on medicine anymore so i quit cold turky. this is my 2nd attempt. my first day i was okay, the 2nd, i seemed to have a cold that only lasted a few hours and now i feel like i am high. so far no brain zaps or nausea. I am extremely dizzy, little bit confused and really tired. how long until i am symptom free? i keep telling myself i can do it. i dont wanna give up.

Hello everyone, this is my first post. I have been tapering off effexor for about 2 months.I was on 150mg day for the last 10 years. I seem to be having all of the symptoms everyone is mentioning. the nausea is the worst. If I can get 1/2 pb& j down with a glass of milk in the morning, I can make it. But I was actually starting to think I had alzheimers! seriously, I thought I was loosing my mind, clearly my marbles are already gone. I'm encouraged that it is part of the symptoms. the good news is my sex drive is coming back!! thats the good side of this. I see weight gain as a side affect also, do people loose it? I'm in menopause and that hasn't helped with weight gain. double wammy - what a mess. I had no idea it would be this bad. My chiropractor suggested the fish oil and that helps. I saw on another site that Vitamine E is a must with the fish oil, so I will start that also.

My short term memory seems to be affected. I am having trouble functioning some - and frankly just dont want to some days. I am down to 1/4 of a pill - so ...18mg day?? I teach at a community college, so taking the days off just cant happen. We have some extra days off around thanksgiving, so that is my goal, if not before.

If anyone has any suggestions on the weight loss, please let me know. Its comforting knowing so many of us are going through this! Bless you all!! enjoy the sunshine, and the birds!
debava@suddenlink.net