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Effexor withdrawl
Anyone made it through the withdrawl symptoms yet?
Been completely off effexor (after gradual weaning) for 6 days now. that jolting feeling comes and goes - notice it more in the evening, the nausea has gone away but still have these incredible mood swings. they are different than depression - it's like all of a sudden i am just ANGRY or start crying and can't stop!
when does this end?
Been completely off effexor (after gradual weaning) for 6 days now. that jolting feeling comes and goes - notice it more in the evening, the nausea has gone away but still have these incredible mood swings. they are different than depression - it's like all of a sudden i am just ANGRY or start crying and can't stop!
when does this end?
It has been a week since my last effexor and 3 days since my last prozac...........NO WITHDRAWALS! WOOHOO!
I have a bad case of Pustular Tonsillitis though.
I have a bad case of Pustular Tonsillitis though.
Also check out these useful and interesting resources for undergoing withdrawal and coming off of antidepressants:
www.GwenOlsen.com
www.theeffexoractivist.org
www.GwenOlsen.com
www.theeffexoractivist.org
I have been on Effexor XR for approximately 3 1/2 years. The entire duration of my treatment I have suffered terrible and consistent night sweats along with intermittent vivid nightmares. I have finally become so sick of the side effects (mostly the sweating) that I have decided to taper off of the Effexor entirely. After discussing it with my doctor, I took his recommendation of tapering off the medication gradually. About 2 months ago, I began tapering down from 150 mg. I took 112.5 mg (75 + 37.5) for approximately a week and experienced only mild dizziness and headache. Then I went down to 75 mg and stayed at that dosage for roughly 2 1/2 weeks (I would have gone down sooner, but I came down with a full-on cold and decided to let that pass before decreasing my dosage further). Upon going down to 75 mg I felt the same dizziness and headaches in addition to body aches and some fatigue.
I picked up on a pattern to the symptoms: The first 2 or 3 days after decreasing the dosage I would feel lightheaded/dizzy. The headache, fatigue and flu-like symptoms didn't set in until day 4 and would last through day 7 or 8 at which point I would feel a little better. At that time I would decrease my dose again. I went down to 37.5 and stayed at that for about a week or a week and a half. The withdrawal symptoms were slightly worse than in previous weeks and the pattern I had noticed didn't quite hold. I started to feel crummy pretty much from day 1. Once the symptoms leveled out I tried to stop taking it altogether. The withdrawal became drastically worse. After a day or two of suffering, I opened the 37.5 mg capsules and emptied about half of the granules out. I took these ~18.75 mg modified capsules for 4 or 5 days (until I ran out of the capsules). At that point, I went off of the Effexor completely. That was almost a week ago and the withdrawal I have experienced in the last week has been horrible. Perhaps I have not tapered correctly, but I followed my doctor's instructions and felt ok during the initial tapering. It is this final stretch that is becoming debilitating. Withdrawal symptoms that have developed since I stopped taking the Effexor altogether include the following:
1. Dizziness/ Vertigo/ Feeling out of it
2. Uncontrollable emotional extremes (intense anger, crying at the drop of a hat, irritability)
3. Persistent Nausea (I also suffer from Celiac Disease and assumed that I had ingested gluten which would account for the nausea until I read this message board. Apparently the nausea is a product of the withdrawal).
4. Extreme Fatigue (having withstood extreme fatigue before my Celiac diagnosis, I am no stranger to being tired ALL the time, but this withdrawal fatigue is just ridiculous!!)
5. Tremors that seem to emanate from my chest/ a sensation of my chest seizing up as though I am very cold (except I don't feel cold at all). At times it feels like my heart is leaping out of my chest as though I'm nervous.
6. The night sweats that I considered a side effect of the Effexor while I was on it, have not subsided at all. I still wake up in the middle of the night to change my soaked pajamas, just to wake up in the morning soaking wet yet again.
7. Loose stool (again, my Celiac situation complicates things here. But it sounds like others have experienced digestive issues coming off of Effexor as well).
Fortunately I have not experienced the brain zaps many of you have described. And while I am ridiculously emotional, I agree that the withdrawal symptoms seem to mimic the initial depression that led me to Effexor in the first place. This can be very misleading it seems. I will not be fooled into jumping back on the Effexor for fear that my depression will return. I will cleanse my body completely of this drug first and then see if the depression is again an issue for me.
I am going to continue on with everything and see how I fare. My boyfriend was on Effexor at one point years ago and experienced similar withdrawal symptoms so it definitely helps to have someone who knows exactly what you're going through. Getting support from friends and/or family is essential while going through something like this, especially given the emotional unpredictability. You need someone in your camp. As cliched as it sounds, it is so true!!
I am dedicated to sticking this out and I plan to update my progress for those who are interested. I hope this offers a useful perspective of someone who tapered somewhat gradually off of the medication. I can't even imagine doing this cold turkey. It's hard enough to deal with day to day life having approached this gradually. I'll let you all know how I fair over the next few weeks. Good luck to everyone struggling with this horrible experience.
I picked up on a pattern to the symptoms: The first 2 or 3 days after decreasing the dosage I would feel lightheaded/dizzy. The headache, fatigue and flu-like symptoms didn't set in until day 4 and would last through day 7 or 8 at which point I would feel a little better. At that time I would decrease my dose again. I went down to 37.5 and stayed at that for about a week or a week and a half. The withdrawal symptoms were slightly worse than in previous weeks and the pattern I had noticed didn't quite hold. I started to feel crummy pretty much from day 1. Once the symptoms leveled out I tried to stop taking it altogether. The withdrawal became drastically worse. After a day or two of suffering, I opened the 37.5 mg capsules and emptied about half of the granules out. I took these ~18.75 mg modified capsules for 4 or 5 days (until I ran out of the capsules). At that point, I went off of the Effexor completely. That was almost a week ago and the withdrawal I have experienced in the last week has been horrible. Perhaps I have not tapered correctly, but I followed my doctor's instructions and felt ok during the initial tapering. It is this final stretch that is becoming debilitating. Withdrawal symptoms that have developed since I stopped taking the Effexor altogether include the following:
1. Dizziness/ Vertigo/ Feeling out of it
2. Uncontrollable emotional extremes (intense anger, crying at the drop of a hat, irritability)
3. Persistent Nausea (I also suffer from Celiac Disease and assumed that I had ingested gluten which would account for the nausea until I read this message board. Apparently the nausea is a product of the withdrawal).
4. Extreme Fatigue (having withstood extreme fatigue before my Celiac diagnosis, I am no stranger to being tired ALL the time, but this withdrawal fatigue is just ridiculous!!)
5. Tremors that seem to emanate from my chest/ a sensation of my chest seizing up as though I am very cold (except I don't feel cold at all). At times it feels like my heart is leaping out of my chest as though I'm nervous.
6. The night sweats that I considered a side effect of the Effexor while I was on it, have not subsided at all. I still wake up in the middle of the night to change my soaked pajamas, just to wake up in the morning soaking wet yet again.
7. Loose stool (again, my Celiac situation complicates things here. But it sounds like others have experienced digestive issues coming off of Effexor as well).
Fortunately I have not experienced the brain zaps many of you have described. And while I am ridiculously emotional, I agree that the withdrawal symptoms seem to mimic the initial depression that led me to Effexor in the first place. This can be very misleading it seems. I will not be fooled into jumping back on the Effexor for fear that my depression will return. I will cleanse my body completely of this drug first and then see if the depression is again an issue for me.
I am going to continue on with everything and see how I fare. My boyfriend was on Effexor at one point years ago and experienced similar withdrawal symptoms so it definitely helps to have someone who knows exactly what you're going through. Getting support from friends and/or family is essential while going through something like this, especially given the emotional unpredictability. You need someone in your camp. As cliched as it sounds, it is so true!!
I am dedicated to sticking this out and I plan to update my progress for those who are interested. I hope this offers a useful perspective of someone who tapered somewhat gradually off of the medication. I can't even imagine doing this cold turkey. It's hard enough to deal with day to day life having approached this gradually. I'll let you all know how I fair over the next few weeks. Good luck to everyone struggling with this horrible experience.
Don't go off effexor cold turkey. I switched to cymbalta after being on effexor xr 75 x 3/day. It was pretty easy. The cymbalta didn't seem to do anything for me so I tapered off of it. Now several months later my depression has returned, and they have placed me on lexapro 10mg/day. Hope this is better.
I think the withdrawal symptoms are kind of the same for almost all antidepressants. I have been in them for 3 years, first cymbalta, then celexa, wellbutrin, effexor, pristiq and then a COMBO¨: 60 mg of cymbalta and 120 of wellbutrin in the mornings and amytryptilin at nights, went off COLD TURKEY last week and I still feel AWFUL and MISERABLE. Brain zaps 2 (2 every minute), diarrhea, dizziness, my HOLE body terribly aches and I cry for nothing. I have been reading and most of people said this is gonna last at least 3 weeks!!!!! Sometimes I feel I can not go through this and want to call my doc and say that i want to go back to them and suddenly I notice that would be the WORST thing to do! I just want to pass this.... but I wonder.... am I going to feel better on my depression? Also I am willing to loose all the 35 pounds I gained!
Well done, I tried to go back to work today. My boss was horrible so ended in an argument and me crying and my husband coming to get me. So not a good day but still no Effexor at least. I will keep going.
Still no withdrawals?
Still no withdrawals?
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