Effexor withdrawl and Nausea

[Dan1983]

About 3 months ago I decided to lower my dosage of Effexor XR from 75mg ed to 37.5mg ed. For at least a couple of months now I have been feeling constantly nauseous, and I really do mean constantly. Is this a common effect of lowering Effexor dosage? I feel terrible all the time but I do not really want to increase the dosage of the medicine again as it was impacting my cholesterol values.

I would really appreciate any advice.

[stormy6490]

you absolutely CANNOT stop cold turkey off of ANY antidepressant...it can actually kill you in rare cases. you MUST taper yourself off of these and it does take time to do so. I just read that effexor is not really a good choice for an antidepressant anyway. I am tapering off of effexor right now and off of tegredol...I take 150mg of effexor and now I'm on 113.5...as I have the 37.5 pills and I will stay on the 113.5 for at least a week then take away another 37.5, you get the idea. with the tegredol I am down to 50mg every other day then down to every other two days.good luck to you.

[connie5908]

I've been ill off and on and had to get I.V. fluids several times because I get so nauseous and throw up until I'm dehydrated, shaking and weak, dizzy and gained 12 pounds. I recently moved and my new doctor switched me to effexor/venaflaine and it has not helped my depression and I am going back to my other antidepressant.

[bribri151]

Getting off effexor is a little tough. I felt constantly sick for days. Like to the point I wanted to make myself throw up just so it would go away. Anyways I finally got off of it and I feel much better. I feel relaxed and ready to go.

[tclynn]

About 4-6 weeks ago I stopped taking Effexor.  My doctor assured me it'd be a piece of cake...all I had to do was take the starter pack backwards.  While i was doing that it was fine, but day 2 of no pill was the worst day of my life.  Pretty much all the posts you will read anywhere will tell you dead-on what it's like.  For me, 3-4 days were really bad, and then about 7-10 days of not quite as bad.  Taper more slowly than two weeks, but I think no matter how slowly, you will still experience this.  Take a few days off of work, and tough it out.  Good luck.  P.S.  Try not to make yourself crazy by reading a million discouraging posts from people who couldn't hack it and had to go back on.  You can do it!

[AnnieJac]

I read these and cried. I've been on effexor for over 10 years and want off! I'm starting tomorrow by tapering off. I would love to have support from people who have done it. Not sure I can post my email, but ***@**** just in case. I'm desperate. I want to regulate everything with diet and vitamins. Please help me know what to do.

[farmingmother]

i started getting bad headaches, my mother in law passed away so i thought maybe that was the cause.  a week later they were continuing-BAD so i had read that if your sertonin level is too increased then you may get headaches.  i am trying to wean myself off of a 150 mg of effexor xr- i have been taking this dosage for about a year.  the head tremors or brain shocks is pretty frequent- i wouuld notice these brain shocks even if i would skip one or two dosages which i did rarely so i knew those were going to happen.  i have gained 27lbs and now i am so tired i think going cold turkey is not the way to go i am waiting for my doctor to call but i am grateful for the advice of opening the pills to get to the granules DID ANYONE ELSE TRY COLD TURKEY AND GET EXTREMELY TIRED?

[dazed123]

how many people have experienced weight gain with effexor.  I have always been very skinny wearing a size zero. all of a sudden I'm a size 4. and I hate it. I'm considering not taking it anymore....

[Chrissylynn324]

yup.. if you do a yahoo search for effexor withdrawals.. you will see hundreds of websites that talk about how hard it is to get off of effexor.. if you are strong willed you can do it though.. talk with your doctor and see if he can help.. another thing that some were saying is that if you take the caplet apart and lower the beads in it.. ie: take out 10 the first day, then another 10, etc.. that it helps.. good luck and if you need anyone, we are here... =-)