Effexor withdrawl

[YlwRose]

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?

[ellier15]

Been on 150mg for 7 years. Recently trying to change from Effexor XR to Wellbutrin. Dropped down to 112.5 for two and a half weeks then 75 for two weeks then 37.5 for three weeks. Three days ago I stopped. Yesterday I had leave work early because I starting feeling really nauseated and threw up. When I got home I started throwing up more, and started sweating, I felt hot(stuffy) and cold (shivers) at the same time, started having sever anxiety issues, hyperventilating, and my extremities were going dumb. I also started passing out then would wake up to throwing up and panicking. Emotionally I was flat. The nausea was extreme. My mother came over and my husband came home early to take me to the emergency room. He called my doctor and he told me to go ahead and take the 37.5. I'm going back to see him soon. Is there any dose lower than 37.5mg and are there any drugs to help with the withdrawal symptoms? This stuff is EVIL!!
This drug should have not been approved by the FDA and any doctor that prescribes it should be sued. So here I am stuck on it again and I'm wondering whether I'll ever get off it. HAS ANYONE TAKEN ANY LEGAL ACTION? If so let me know. I'll thinking about it.

[thomj513]

UPDATE- I've been off of Effexor for 6 weeks.  Overall I feel "O.K." and only have the occassional brain zap but they're not painfull... just annoying when they do happen.  I feel like I've come full circle from 3 years ago when I was put on meds.  I don't feel any better nor do I feel any worse.  I feel like cr@p most days with the constant pain, stiffness and blah feelings that I had before.  I've requested copies of all my GP and Mental Health report summaries so that I can read and understand what the doc's were trying to diagnos.  Time will tell.  

[Lindaaw]

Okay after reading all the posts - I am going to get off this stuff. I have been taking Effexor since June and have put on 9 pounds. Like many others I have not changed my eating habits - yet every morning a new pound seems to appear. Heaviness runs in my family - like 450 pound people. I cannot take this new weight and feel like an elephant. I also experience instability when standing. Falling down hard too. So I start tomorrow - no more Effexor. Wish me luck and weight loss. I hope to deal with the emotional side of this with help from family and friends.

[sportlover]

Hi again everyone, another update:

I stayed on the 75 mg dose for 3 weeks and 1 day and seemed fine.  I am now on the 37.5 mg pill.  First day I took it.....felt great. Second day not so good.....crampy, upset stomach, foggy head and just didn't feel like myself.  Third day...upset stomach and head still a little foggy.  Fourth day....feeling better and gettng back to feeling more like my old self.  It almost seems like if you can handle about 3 days of feeling crappy your system will adjust to the new dose.  

Talk to you all soon.

[lovemykids465]

Oh boy, I just started taking Effexor a month ago. I was on lexapro and I am premrin due to a complete hysterectomy and doc felt I needed a bit of an anti depressing to help with mood swings. Put me on effexor with the hopes of getting me off the premrin seeing effexor has estrogen in it. But ready this makes me nervous.

[andyp123]

On July 23 2010 there was a post on this forum regarding cataracts and Effexor connection.  While I don't doubt that there is a connection if the research supports it, it is important to remember that age-related cataracts - the most common type of cataract - affect about 50 percent of all Americans by the age of 65, and the number grows to approximately three-quarters of all 75-year-olds. Around that age, about half of the men and women suffering from cataracts will have significant enough changes in their vision to warrant treatment to restore their vision.  So 3/4 of us, if we live long enough, will eventually develop a cataract whether we are on Effexor or not.  I'm in my late 50s and have a tiny cataract which my opthalmologist told me was extremely common for my age.  I wouldn't stress too much about the Effexor connection - and cataract operations are  non-invasive and quick (eg 10 minutes) these days.