Effexor Withdrawal Tips

I hope this helps people hang in there - - I stopped my lowest dose (37.5) alltogether 9 days ago and I'm doing MUCH better - the dizziness/brain zaps are almost gone - just a few each day - and it was almost constant just last week. All I wanted to know when this began was HOW LONG WILL IT LAST? If you are wondering too I can reassure you that after 7-8 days it got much better for ME. will post when all withdrawal symptoms are gone to help others through this!

Hi again, I upped my decrease today to three wet fingers. Still no noticable side effects, other than the one second dizzy spell on day 2. I had a pretty heated discussion with my boss today, but was able to concentrate and my all my points, but finally kind of exploded out of frustation, because he (parden me for saying this my sisters) but he argues like a woman scorned...in other words if I logically explain his objection with something I did, he brings up something else and keeps going in circles...I finally blew up and asked him "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME" >;) Even though this is very atypical behavior for me, I didn't cry, and I made sense the whole time. I definately feel more and I LOVE it. Going great so far! Take care ;-) Suzanne

I'm 27 weeks pregnant. I've been on Effexor XR 75mg for several years now (gotten off of it briefly here and there). My doc recommended me staying on it while I was pregnant because I tended to get very anxious and stressed out. (I had 4 miscarriages, and we couldn't tell if the stress was simply due to fear of miscarriage, or if the stress may have contributed to miscarriage). None the less, I'm well past the first trimesteer and everything is looking great! I want to get off of Effexor b/c most of the side effects for baby can potentially happen in the last trimester and effect baby's ability to breast feed when she comes. ANYWAY, I stopped taking it a week ago and feel psycho. Not sleeping well, emotional, angry, crying irrational, dizziness, diarhea, etc. etc. Oh, and reflux. Didn't realize all of these things were Effexor withdrawal. I took a Benedryl to sleep last night -- and it really worked! Not to say I don't still feel dumpy today, but I at least got a much better sleep! Wondering if anyone else has gotten off Effexor while pregnant & what their experience was.

hi canadianmeesh- i'm only 7 weeks pregnant but stopped effexor the day i missed my period - 13 days ago. i know what you mean about feeling psycho - i cry at the drop of a hat and i'm uncharacteristically angry. luckily the "brain zaps" have stopped, thank goodness (after about 9 days). i'm second guessing my choice to stop - i might have stayed on like you until later in the pregnancy but now that i've overcome the zaps i'm not going back. maybe things will calm down for you soon, i definitely have good days, especially when i'm with my 7-year-old daughter. my worst moments are directed at my partner, probably because i'm the one that is going through this pregnancy and crazy changes and i feel all alone in it - but i think i feel that way due to effexor withdrawal rather than reality. do you plan to resume effexor after your baby comes? i want to nurse but i also want to feel better than this! hang in there, keep me posted on how you are doing!

Hello all, Here for the first time and have only started investigating withdrawal from Effexor. I've been on this medication for 6 years along with several others (lexapro, lamictal, abilify - holy crap!). I was started on the effexor after I had encephalitis ( West Nile Virus) which resulted in a brain injury. I had severe depression and only recently began to feel better. Just now doing a SLOW wean off the effexor from 300 to 275 over the past 2 weeks. I do indeed have symptoms as many of you have described here: blurred vision, dizziness, fatigue/somnolence, and trouble concentrating. What is interesting, perhaps, is that following my brain injury and before I was on any medications I was having many of the same symptoms described here. Because I have the misfortune of experience I can tell you that effexor withdrawal feels like recovering from a brain injury. It takes time and strategies to make your symptoms tolerable. Brain recovery takes the time it takes, try to be patient. Peace

Hi I am on my second day of cold turkey. I am a teacher and thes must think I am mad!!?? I have the worst flu and have to keep running to the bathroom ( I live in South Africa) and its autumn here, everyone is sick so I can blame it on that. For Naf2000 - I took 150mg of Effexor for my entire pregnancy and my baby is now 2 years old and is fine - just in case it gets too much for you. I have tried to come off of this stuff before but didnt cope with the withdrawal symptoms - desperate to come off, in the long run I dont believe this stuff works - I still have terrible depressed days whatever dose I seem to be on, this has gone on for yers and I am fed up of relying on drugs for happiness.

I changed my dose on May 6th to 37.5 then 5 days later thought that I had the flu or something as I was totally dizzy and nauseous, this did not go away and I ended up having to leave work cause I couldn't concentrate and was sick to my stomach. Now its day 8 not feeling too bad but I have 3 weeks to go for the 37.5 dose I just want to quit but now I am afraid as to how much more I will have to endure when I have nothing left to take. Should I start taking 1 every other day? My Dr did not tell me anything about the withdrawal symptoms no warning as to what I would go thru so this site has been a godsend. Any info that you can share would be a help. thanks, its great knowing that I am not alone

I'm now taking 7 wet finger-tips off the top of the capsule (down to about 1/3 of the capsule contents) and still no physical side effects. I'm telling you, this is the way to go! It takes a little longer, but no side effects. I've had a few strange dreams. I'm feeling happiness again. A little irritable, but I had that as well when I got off Meridia about five years back (quit cold turkey after being on it for three months with very few side effects). In three more days I'll be taking off 10 wet finger-tips for a week, and then I'll try quitting completely. I'll keep you posted. Take care :-) Suzanne

i quit taking effexor xr cold turkey about 2 weeks ago. these brain shivers are making me just wanna die. and i'm always hungry but i don't wanna eat anything. i read about the prozac thing and i'm wondering if it's too late for me to try it. do you have to start the prozac immediately after quitting effexor? or can i start now... after 2 weeks?

I was on 75mg for about 9 months. After reading this forum and many others, I have decided to go off of it. The way to go off of Effexor is to reduce dosage VERY VERY SLOWLY. Going cold turkey, cutting to half dosage overnight, or changing to an alternate day schedule WILL NOT WORK. With my dosage, I took the capsule apart and counted the granules. A 75mg XR capsule has about 250 granules. I then started taking off about 5 granules every day. So far it has almost been symptomless. If I delay the dose on a day by 1-2 hours, I do begin to experience mild brain shocks, but I immediately take the dose for that day and the shocks stop. I have been able to cut down from 250 granules to 85 granules today (today is day 33 after I started reduced dosage). I will continue to reduce by 5 granules a day until I get to 50 granules/day. After that I am planning to cut back by 3 a day until 20/day. Then 2/day until zero. The official documentation from WYETH about cutting back in 2 weeks is COMPLETE BOGUS!! Even my doctor didn't know better. So, if you are feeling pathetic trying to go off of Effexor, take heart. There is hope. Do it VERY SLOWLY and you will get off this junk one fine day. Also, with me, getting out of home every day and biking for an hour helped a LOT with my depression symptoms. Good luck!

Hello, Four days ago I stopped taking the Effexor completely. I stopped on Thursday, 5/17 and I didn't notice any symptoms. I went from seven wet finger tips off the top of the capsule and doing that for one week. I was going to go to ten, but there was so little left, and I just want to be off of it. After reading the other posts, I knew the day 2 would be okay, so I felt I could handle whatever happened on Sat/Sun which would be the tough days. Friday (day 2 being off) I felt tired and a little like I had a muddy head, somewhat like a mild hang over. No brain shivers, but a few moments of dizzyness when I would glance quickly in different direction. One Alieve and one aspirin seemed to help tremendously. My friend at work also gave me a capsule of Serenity (from Whole Foods) which may have helped with my mood/symptoms because it was really not too bad. Saturday (day 3 being off) I felt tired and muddy headed again, but no brain shivers nor dizzyness. Sunday (today, and day 4 being off) I felt tired and less muddy headed. A bit irritable, but better than yesterday. It has been a bit tough getting to sleep, trying to find a comfortable position, but it hasn't been too bad. So, to recap, here is what I did: - 3 days taking three wet fingers off the top of the capsule. No side effects. - 5 days taking five wet fingers off the top of the capsule. No side effects. - 5 days taking seven wet fingers off the top. No side effects. - Day 14-17 off completely. Minimal side effects. I have read that Benedryl is very helpful in treating the symptoms, but have not taken any yet (I have had stuffed up sinuses lately, but not sure if it's a side effect). If I was going to do this all over again, I would take one wet finger off, and add a wet finger each day until there was nothing left. I am happy to be happy again, and feel things physically and metally. I'm not a zombie anymore. XD I don't plan on posting any further, unless my withdrawl symptoms get worse. Good luck getting off and God bless. Take care, Suzanne

Hello everyone. I can't believe how many people are here that suffer and have suffered just as much as I am! My particular situation is that I'm 22, recently moved from Illinois to NY state (not NYC) away from all my family. I don't have insurance, so I'm being forced to wean myself off from what I have left of my last prescription. I really thought the dizzy spells were just my body telling me I'm crazy lol. But I had no idea it was possible to grind a pill and take that little of it to keep going. I've seen a few people on this thread do it, so I may take a shot at that and see how it works. However, Narf has given me a LOT of hope that I can pull through it cold turkey. I started out at 150mg, then cut down to 1 37.5 a day, then every other day, and pulling it out one more day after each dose. I've made it to about 4 days now without symptoms. But the emotions are insane! I began thinking that it was just because of the move and all the changes in my life, but man, after reading everyone's postings, I know now it's this Effexor!! I'm definitely keeping this page bookmarked, because any support for getting through this is more than welcome in my book! XD

I have taken Effexor for yrs. Since 2001. (Am bipolar and have been diagnosed since my teens- several suicides in my family incl. my farther) Anyway, first time I tapered down it was to half my dose cause I was pregnant. Terrible withdrawl. Brainshakes the lot. Later I quit completely. Don't try cold turkey, Its horrendous as Im sure u know since ur here. Going half and then half and then half again is not the best option. Tell ur doctor to consult a profesional weaning off specialist if thats his advice to you! You need to get capsules. They conained aprox 180 beads each. Then remove 5 or six beads every 3- 4 days or so. Some people can handle 10 beads. You will not feel very much at all- as long as u pay attention to detail and do it properly. It Takes a bit of time but it is so worth it. After having tried cold turkey in the past I was surpriced how easy this was. Give it a go!

Hi Everyone, This topic has helped me a lot. I was placed on Effexor XR 150 mgs 6 years ago by my ob/gyn, he informed me that it would help with menopausal symptoms. It did seem to help in the beginning, but not anymore. I dropped to 75 mgs and then to 35.7 mgs for the past year. I have forgotten to take 1 or 2 over the years and felt horrible. I came to the conclusion that this drug is dangerous and wanted to get off of it. I have gained much weight, vision problems and had the just don't care about anything anymore, no sex drive, job suffering from lack of anything.....etc. etc. Today is my 5th day off and the withdrawals are really bad. I am at work, but it is very hard to walk and the head shivers are driving me crazy. 1 minute I'm cold - the next I'm sweating. Oh I am VERY Bi***y. I started looking on the internet to find out if this is normal and how long it will last. This is how I found you guys :-) All I really found out it what I suspected. This drug should be BANNED!!! I am glad to hear that some of the symptoms seem to subside around 2-3 weeks. Will be keeping an eye on this thread and will also keep you up to date on my progress, this is what helps me get through this. It can be done. I'm very sorry for all of us that where lead to believe this drug was a good thing >:(

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