Dear Miligram... What Effexor is doing is ONLY MASKING your depression (like a thin veil, or pink glasses). It does not cure it. AND, worse... IT IS NUMBING YOU. AND, IT IS DESTROYING THE REST OF YOUR BODY, WHILE DOING ITS MASQUERADE. You will find, in one, two, maybe three of four years from now, that Effexor HAS TAKEN AWAY your willingness to ACT. You will be the proverbial Couch Potato... IT MAKES A VEGETABLE OUT OF YOU. I can only warn you... naturally, the hard decision is yours... but, I promise you, that, IF YOU WERE AN ACTIVE, VIBRANT HUMAN, BEFORE YOU TOOK THAT... SOMEDAY, you will sit there and wonder where you have been lost. THERE ARE OTHER WAYS THAN TO MASK AND DESTROY. Wish you the Best, Miligram... Take care. - Francine... (I'm on Day 23 of my weaning of the Poison... because, this is what it is... POISON. Whenever you have withdrawal symptoms from anything... it is Poison. Nothing ever good for you can do that to you.)
Hi, I was wondering if you are still off of effexor and how it is going? I have been on it for more than 10 years but am weaning off ever so slowly. Were there further withdrawal symptoms? Thanks. Heather
I know you posted this a year ago but I just stopped taking effexor one week ago and was reading all the posts to help me get through my detox. I had to write because I too was a personal trainer and started to take it for a mild depression. Within a very short period of time I had gained over 20 lbs. - I am so sad and I feel like I am not myself anymore. I have lovely clothes that I cannot fit into anymore and actually have to buy some larger ones now...I was an inspiration to those I used to train and I was so proud of how health and fitness were a big part of who I was. I even shower in the dark now as I cannot stand to see how much my body has changed. Yes, I have rolls of fat in places that were smooth before...I realized I had to stop it when I reached the point where I didn't care how I looked - that was not who I was - Its been a week and I still feel all the withdrawl symptoms but I feel like the numbness and zombie like state has gone and I am determined to get back to the personal training body I once had...it may take me a few months but being fat like this has made me realize how much I value being in shape...
I was taken off Effexor cold turkey in January. Almost had a nervous breakdown. Now I'm on new meds finally but have horrible dizziness and full ears. Anyone have any suggtestions. Help I'm desperate!!!!!
Hi, I was on effexor for only 5 days! Off for 2.5 months and my life is a living hell still. It destroyed my life. But I have notice that omega 3 helps with the dizziness, so take a lot of them. I also drink lemonade for dizziness, works instantly for me. I have cut off all alcohol, caffeine, and meet as those seem to make it worst. With that, nausea and ear ringing seem to go away. But I have terrible dry eyes witch cause my vision to be blurry and light sensitivity. I can barely read and i need to wear sunglasses all the time even at night. If anyone who had blurry vision withdrawal got better after a few months please let me know, I need hope.
It is good to know I am not the only one who experiences these horrible side effects if I miss a dose, I ran out of my prescription a few days ago and the pharmacy won't have it in stock until today because of the holiday weekend. The withdrawal symptoms have been horrible, One minute I am freezing and the next I am hot and sweaty. I have been feeling nauseous but thankfully no vomiting. I have tried to eat small amounts but things don't seem to agree with me. I think constantly drinking ginger ale has helped at least keep me hydrated, I am glad I have spell check because my spelling is horrible writing this. The emotional sensitivity is driving me crazy with wanting to cry over the slightest sad thing. The worst is feeling exhausted and not being able to sleep. The past few nights I have been sweating like crazy and my mind has been having all kinds of bizarre scary thoughts and my body was twitching all night almost like mini seizures. Now I know I should have tried the find out if another pharmacy location would have had any in stock. I can't think straight and can't function. Fortunately my husband was home over the holiday weekend to keep our son occupied and out of the way. I've been taking power naps and trying to function.
I read on another forum that Benedryl can help with the side effects, I hope it works to get me through until I can pick up my prescription later. Especially since my husband went back to work today. I guess I will also be counting the beads tonight to slowly increase me back to what I was taking. I am sure there would be issues if I jump back to taking my full dosage after being off for 4 days.
I don't wish this misery on anyone. I hope I have learned my lesson to never run out and try to find a few pills somewhere to tide me over if I have to wait for a refill.
I read on another forum that Benedryl can help with the side effects, I hope it works to get me through until I can pick up my prescription later. Especially since my husband went back to work today. I guess I will also be counting the beads tonight to slowly increase me back to what I was taking. I am sure there would be issues if I jump back to taking my full dosage after being off for 4 days.
I don't wish this misery on anyone. I hope I have learned my lesson to never run out and try to find a few pills somewhere to tide me over if I have to wait for a refill.
Oh just read your post and this was similar for me. I tried an antihistamine today and it cut through all the mind- swamping episodes. May need to take for two weeks then will give that up
Thanks! This is so awesome to hear. My muscles are freezing up and I've been having what people been calling electric zaps in the brain (I just called them brain boiling because I had no idea what was going on). I was on 150mg Teva-Venlafine XR for several years and just recently been craving more and didn't know what was going on. I didn't know how to describe it to the Doctor. Anyhow I started to come off the pill and working my way down and might try and go off it completely instead of switching to another medication. Going on Anti-Depressants was one of the best moves for my functionality and after several years I am thinking of going off again completely. I had no way of being able to describe what the heck is and was going on inside but it sounds very similar to what others going through. Even my finger is starting to hurt now from just a little bit of typing...lol....so fun eh..... I be walking around and then my brain is starting to boil and I can hear all the noise and they start to get annoying and if I don't stop and do nothing, the noises grow to point where everything is irritating and I found myself acting out in public. Anyhow this is all I can write right now.
Hi... I recently stopped taking this med and went cold turkey.
HOWEVER I researched and took omega supplements , magnesium, and a multi vit daily from day 1 of stopping.
I also made sure I ate lots of nuts, protein, bananas, salmon
The tingling "zaps" we're still pretty bad for the first week - I kept a diary of moods, zaps, headaches etc so that I could see if it got better.
I am now on week 4 and honestly only have 1 or 2 sappy weird moments a day.
I am sleeping better, less anxious and feel better than I can remember.
I would recommend the supplements of omega 3,6,9 and take 4-6 tabs a day.
X
HOWEVER I researched and took omega supplements , magnesium, and a multi vit daily from day 1 of stopping.
I also made sure I ate lots of nuts, protein, bananas, salmon
The tingling "zaps" we're still pretty bad for the first week - I kept a diary of moods, zaps, headaches etc so that I could see if it got better.
I am now on week 4 and honestly only have 1 or 2 sappy weird moments a day.
I am sleeping better, less anxious and feel better than I can remember.
I would recommend the supplements of omega 3,6,9 and take 4-6 tabs a day.
X
It’s been about 5 days after my last dose of 37.5 mg Effexor xr. I have NOT experienced the bad withdrawals! I was so worried about it happening and I guess time is still short it could. I added 20mg of Prozac and tapered from 150 mg to 75 mg one week, down to 37.5mg the next and the third week I was supposed to do every other day with the Effexor and go up to 40mg of Prozac. I stopped the Effexor completely and upped the Prozac.
No brain zaps. A little irritated and irritable. Had a headache and felt a little nauseas. But took Benadryl and it went away. I also have .5mg of Klonopin when needed which I only took twice.
I call this a WIN! It’s not hopeless.
No brain zaps. A little irritated and irritable. Had a headache and felt a little nauseas. But took Benadryl and it went away. I also have .5mg of Klonopin when needed which I only took twice.
I call this a WIN! It’s not hopeless.
I have been on Effexor for over ten years as well. I mainly want to get off this drug because of the terrible headaches and dizziness I have when I miss a dose for a two days. I feel something that powerful is not helpful or healthy. My doctor feels since I've tried many other medications that didn't work with anxiety I should stay on it. I will try decreasing grandulars instead of doses instead which is 150mg. When the withdrawal greatly interferes with work I stop. The whole process scares me and I want to wait until I retire next year. I want to know how your process ended and if you still have side effects.
Seek God psalms 86
Did neurolink help completely? You never posted the link.
I was on abt 100 mg for a year. I dropped to 75 mg and had mild withdrawal for about 3-4 days. My body adjusted to that for about 6 months. Then I dropped to 0 mg 3 days ago. 75 mg is actually a low dose in the spectrum of total amount you can actually b prescribed so you can Just stop it. I will say I do have mild withdrawal symptoms again. Mainly, dizziness on and off, headache, and just tired! I've found I sleep fine if not better with withdrawal and it helps relieve the symptoms. I recommended starting before having a few days off bc you may need to rest and just take it easy. So far tho it's been mild and I'm super stoked to get off this medication. I noticed I'm also Super thirsty! any ways good luck! Don't do this without a dr but honestly you can just taper off slowly and it will work. Some of my drs over the years have been annoying so I do what I want
Hello everyone. I am reading this forum not because I take Efffexor but because my beautiful wife had taking it for about 4 years and is starting to ween off of it. I am a fairly healthy person and have no way to understand what she is experiencing now or going to experience during this process. Everyone stories on here are helping me have more compassion and empathy for my wife. What can someone do in my positron to help sorry her through this? I am a fixer and if there is a problem I'm looking for a solution. I know this is something only she can solveasily and that leaves me to support her but what are some specific ways I can do this?