I came across this site after my husband, a quite brilliant pharmacist poo-pood my complaints of withdrawl symptoms when I tapered off the Effexor after nearly 5 years. He had the nerve to say either I had a touch of the flu, or it was the "disease state" returning. I've been "clean" for 10 days and only a few minor headaches and nausea now...though initially I felt terrible with the full spectrum of symptoms. However, the other day I made the connection that perhaps my joint pain is connected to this drug as well. I"m a personal trainer and group ex instructor...I've been struggling terribly with fatigue and weight gain and my doc INCREASED my dose. My husband was smart enough to tell me to decrease it and I decided to just wean off. But, since the initial increase in my dose, I started developing severe bilateral hip pain, and ankle pain and had so much muscle fatigue. Now that my fatigue has improved being off hte med, I think I am more aware of the joint pain. I asked my husband...he skoffed and said it is probably because I ran the other day. I haven't run in months because I've been so fatigued. Five months ago I was running 9-12 miles at a time on a regular basis with no joint pain. I feel crippled in the morning and struggle through my exercise classes. How long will this last? Oh yeah, and I am packing on the pounds since the initial shift in dose and taper...that is just great for a personal trainer! Is weight gain as part of withdrawl common? or is this the remnants of the month long increase in my dose?
My understanding is that effexor actually does have issues like weight gain and joint pain associated with it so I am wondering why your husband would dismiss your symptoms. I know that he's probably trying to dismiss any potential issues but he seemingly is ignoring some actual issues. I hope that you are able to deal with coming off effexor.