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?

[Sophia10]

I tapered off my Effexor (after being on 300 mg for fifteen years) and have been completely off it for two weeks. I started feeling the withdrawal symptoms once I went from 75 mg to nothing. I am still very uncomfortable, but I stopped feeling like I was going to die and like I was drunk and hung over at the same time once I started taking Benedryl, vitamin B complex, omega-3 fish oil supplements, and Tums and drinking A LOT of ginger tea everyday. (I know vitamin E has been recommended too, but you must be careful not to take too much; it can make you very sick. I've also heard that it is a good idea to eat a lot of meat and leafy green vegetables. I've been eating a lot of the latter, but I'm not sure how much it's contributed to my feeling better.) Once I got sick of the ginger tea, I started eating pickled ginger, the kind you get with sushi (you can buy it in a jar at the grocery store).  I cannot begin to describe how much it's helped--I'm still waiting to feel completely better, but I can honestly don't think I could have gotten this far without all the vitamins and pills and ginger tea--the way I was feeling, I really could not function. This is such a hellish process, but I was so grateful when I found these tips posted online, and I hope that this information helps someone else.

[andyp123]

After 15 years on Effexor XR 75mg I have just come off it without withdrawal symptoms.  No big secret - I did it VERY SLOWLY over 8 months using the bead counting method.  I think I could have gone a little faster however.  There is supposed to be 180 beads in a capsule (I've never counted) but I made up a spreadsheet on that basis and stuck it on the fridge.

I recommend removing 5 beads from each capsule for the first week, 10 for the second, 15 for the third etc until you are down to 30 beads a day dose.  Then over that last month, take one less bead per day until you are down to zero eg 30, 29, 28 etc.
In the last week and for a week after stopping, I felt vaguely light headed when I was tired.  No nausea, no brain zaps, no nothing!

I previously tried coming off it using 37.5 mg tablets and breaking them up but this was not successful for me.  I suffered withdrawal symptoms if I was a few hours late in taking part of a tablet.  While tedious, the bead counting method works.  

Tip:  find a shallowl dark colored container (I used a washed black polystyrene tray some steak came in) and remove beads with a pointed skewer or toothpick by lifting the top off the capsule, licking the end and dipping it inside.  If you remove too many put them back.  You can count the beads on a dark surface easily.  I stored the beads I removed in a small jar with a screw top and in the last few months I took my daily dose out of the stored beads.  Easier to count out 40 beads than remove 140!  I put them straight in my mouth to no ill effect.  Plus no further need to fill prescription and fork out $$.

My husband kindly counted beads for me from time to time which was a big help. Yes it's tedious, and yes it takes a long time but it is worth it.  There is no need to suffer - it just takes patience and perseverance.  It now remains to be seen if the depression returns but I have transformed myself slowly over the last 10 years from a person with low self esteem and no sense of entitlement to a confident, assertive woman with few insecurities.  Effexor transformed my life and helped me do it.  I gained no weight beyond normal weight gain with age eg about 1 pound a year and maintain Effexor is a wonderful, wonderful drug.  Just hard to get off but the method described, while not a quick fix,  is painless.

[sportlover]

Hi all.  Well it's been nearly 2 weeks now since I have cut my dose down from 150 mg to 75mg.  Probably the only thing I have noticed is that I have been a bit cranky and while watching a movie a bit weepy.  I use to cry so easily it wasn't funny....even watching commercials on tv.  After being on Effexor for a few years....never cried...not even at sad movies!

Other than that....nothing too bad.  I think I will continue for another couple of weeks on this dose and then will cut it back to 37.5 mg.

Hope everyone else trying to get off of this doing good!

P.S. Thank you Alanas for the Prozac tip...may just try that when I am ready to take my last 37.5 of Effexor.

[alanas]

UPDATE

I have noticed that on here people don't seem to give progress reports after they have given up effexor so I am doing that.

I had my last pill of effexor about 6 weeks ago. The day after I stopped effexor I took prozac 20mg a day for 3 days and then stopped. I did get some dizziness after a few days so I took more prozac, 20mg for a week and then 10mg for a week and then off. Now I am feeling good. No depression or irrational anxiety. However, I am occasionally experiencing mild light headedness. I recommend switching to prozac for two weeks after stopping effexor....I have been able to go to work and be fine. From what I have read about others going off it without switching, they couldn't go to work and could barely function.

I am pretty good! Work is fine, I have't had any mood swings. I know this because I am a teacher and the kids tell me if I am being a grouch! lol They are like "Miss? Why are you so crabby today?" No one has asked me that....I think the last time they asked me that was a few months ago when I had PMS and a headache :)

Good Luck to you all!

[1lis]

Hi I have been reading all your posts on EffexorXR I have been on 150mg for coming up four years along with Mirtazapine 45mg and Zopiclone 15mg. I have put on over 60 pounds in weight, I have started to have focal seizures, I have pain in my right temple and headaches all the time and migraine every few days. It wasn't until i read your posts that I began to look at what this drug could be doing to me, I have depression and PTSD but i can't really say that Effexor XR has helped, I still have really low moods,self harm and inability to concentrate. My Docs are good and listen to me and I would like to come off Effexor now I know what it can do but I am a little worried about what sounds like horrendous withdrawals. Any advice would be welcomed

[ckhs]

I tried Prozac about 12 years ago and ended up w/violent dreams and violent daytime hallucinations.  I did some investigation and told my MD I'd like to try Wellbutrin.  Worked wonders for me and took it for many years.

Last year I felt that it wasn't working for me any longer and asked  the doc if I could try Effexor.  My (generic) dose was 37.5 mg twice a day . I didn't wean off of W and felt "funny"(hard to describe) for a couple of weeks, then really felt fine.  This was in August of 2009.

In April of this year I had an eye examination w/dilation for contact lenses  (I hadn't worn them for years).  Everything was fine until July when suddenly the vision in my right eye was blurry.  Needless to say, I returned to the eye doc to find out what was going on.  He examined my eyes (again w/dilation) and he told me I had developed a cataract!  Not bad enough yet for surgery, but I could suddenly see it in my not-too-distant future.  He was mystified, and, of course I was quite concerned.  I asked if it might be a stroke & he said that that wouldn't be the cause.  

After I got home I tried to figure out what could possibly be the cause of this.  The only new medication I had taken was E so I did some online investigation.  Lo and behold, one of the side effects of E is a 33% increase for the risk of cataracts!  I immediately called my MD and said I wanted to stop E and go back on W and why.  She didn’t mention withdrawal symptoms and said I could start W.  I was off E for two days and then started W.

The brain zaps (they seem like the sound “zhunn” going back and forth, in my brain, between my ears!) started the first day being off of E.  A lot of the other withdrawal symptoms that have been described here started soon afterward.  I work from home and I’m divorced, so I haven’t had to deal w/co-workers, a boss, husband, kids, etc.  I did, however, have to cancel out a BD party tonight that I had been looking forward to.  I’ve just stayed in my house since – about 7 days now.

Today, it felt like I had a bad case of the flu.  Yesterday, I felt pretty good for the first half of the day, but then back to the side-effects.  I’m trying to be as calm as I can about all of this; especially since there is absolutely no way I would go back on E again.  I haven’t had much of an appetite (today, I’ve had mashed potatoes the ice cream) and I’ve been watching funny shows on tv and reading funny books.  Don’t laugh – it helps!  I’ve also upped my dose of Omega3 and have been drinking lots of iced drinks.

The reason I’ve gone on so long-windedly is that I haven’t read anyone mentioning cataracts.  I encourage you to get your eyes checked if you’ve had blurred vision.  Good luck everyone!