Effexor withdrawl and symptoms, please help _{Page 76 of 140}

hi
it must be so hard for you ant the min, but hang in there!
another drug may be the answear, i have heard lots of good reports about other antidepressants that work great and don't have any lasting side effects!
Its important to find a good doctor you trust, and just explain every thing to them!
even about your worries about effexor..
just keep posting and talking!!!
love

I just am rather nervous about the whole thing. I hate the way I am with them in me and scared to be without them. Does that make any sense?

know exactly what you mean. I have been on them now for 4 years, and since stopping wonder which is the real me, the one really clam beyond beleif or the one now who is so nervous and angery at times.. but i don't want to go back on them but i feel really mixed up...
will once they are totaly out of my system will i like the person i am !!!!
will every one else!!!!!
but i just keep thinking that i should never have been left on them for this long.
i went on them after a case of postnal depression and now know i would have been able to come off after 9 months...
still don't know why docs never told me that then...
but hang on in there!!!
and if it means a different set of anti-depressants so be it just ask for ones that are easy to come off...
love

Max, I started out taking two different ones before going on this, I do not handle medication real well. Sleeping pills keep me awake and pain killers work like candy, can not take most antibiotics. I am a walking lab test when it comes to medication.

DixieMiss, I know someone on Cipralex and has been on it for quite some time. He did need it for depression and it was a good success for him. He too is now trying to ween himself off it and is doing much better than I am.(who was on effexor). He also is having headaches and mood swings now that he cutt his dose down slowley. Try it for a while all it can do is help you. If it doesn't work, your at the point where you are aware of your weaknesses and try to be stronger. Getting off the medication can only work when you are really ready and do not need them anymore. My friend also had a lot of problems before and the cipralex did work for him.(off coarse not for everyone).
Good luck, be positive things will get better. optimom !

Thank you to all of you for replying to my post. This is the hardest thing I have ever done

Blurred vision ?????

I am personally in the eye business and I do not think Effexor has a long term side effect on our vision. I did also experience occational blurr fluctuations. But I believe they are temperary. Headaches do cause vision blurrs and problems, as do migrains. So if we are experiencing headaches, than we can expect some eye fatigue and blurryness during the headache or migraine. Fatigue also causes temperary vision problems. I believe once most of our side effects tapper off, our vision will go back to what ever it was previously. Although as we are getting older naturaly our reading vision starts to decrease. Definatley see an ophthalmologist or optometrist so you can monitor any issues you are having.

Day 10 and counting!!!!
Good luck everyone stay focused.

opps. !! sorry Dixiemiss!
I think my post was for Delaney. I got a little mixed up which has been happening to me alot since I tryed weening off the effexor also. Keep up the good work, it is really hell trying to cutt down this drug but I think it will be worth it for you as it will for all of us. I also had to reduce the amount very slowley and unfortunely I think we can not avoid these feelings that overwhelm us at times. Don't go back of it, keep it up. You will have good days which help you along as you go. Have a great day !!! do something you'll enjoy. Even if its eating chocolate, that always works for me.
Optimom

Delaney,
I have been off the Effexor since March of 06 and have gone through bouts like what you are describing. I tried the Cipralex before I went off the meds. I just wanted off the Effexor so figured I would try that, I took it for 1 day and never took it again. I felt awful. My sister also tried it (switching from Effexor) and actually stayed on it for a month and it really messed with her mind as well. From what my doctor told me it is almost the same as the Effexor. My sister has also gone off the Effexor/Cipralex and also has times where she is extreamly depressed but she always manages to pull through it as well. I have talked to my doctor and he has givin me Zanex for the really rough times as long as they stay about 4 weeks apart but says if they get worse he is talking about Lexipro, I know people that have been on that one and came off very easily. I hope this helps a little.
God Bless,
Kim

I can realte to what you said about your sensitivity to medication. I ma a female and was diagnosed w/ ADHD and all that comes w/ it when I was a child..(anxiety, depression, hypoglycemia...). I have been on and off ant-depressants for about 9 years, but during that time, I have seen several holistic doctors such as chinese herbalists, homeopathic doctors, iridologists... I have done a lot of research on my own from what I have learned from them. We all know our body if we tune into it, and I have a VERY hypersensitive body. I have been off effexor for 3 weeks and chose to do so b/c I built up a huge inventory of naturopathic things to take at this time. And this is the best that I have ever felt! Anti-depresants gave me headaches and insomnia, and were harsh on my organs. There are so many other amazing things out there aside from natural remedies like exercise, Neurolinguistic programming, positive affirmations, finding a passion or something you are good at and embracing that. The crying will get better. If I wasn't yelling at an inanimate object or taking it out on my boyfriend, I was laughin or crying hysterically when I was weening myself off and for the first two weeks. Good luck. I hope this helps, and if you want any specific info on remedies let me know. Also, check out the site for 4 Life Research Transfer Factor Products. They have amazing products. (These are some recent products that I have been taking, especially the TF Recall for any type of brain development help for depression, anxiet, bi-polar...)

I'm a newbie. Just found this site yesterday. I am 29 and have been on effexor for about three years. I decided to come off of it with my doctor's supervision. A lot of good that did. My last dose was 37.5 on friday. By Tuesday it hit me so hard I didn't know what was going on. I called the Pharmacist and then my doctor. My doctor just now got back to me and want's me to go back on 75mg of this poison. I have been crying for absolutely no reason, have the dizziness and zaps that are talked about here, I've been nauseous, can't sleep cause of the strange dreams and nightmares and cause I can't really get myself to fall into any kind of reproductive sleep, I keep biting my mother's head off who is only trying to help. I am at a loss. I don't know what to do. I am a student and have not been able to go since monday. Any suggestions to make this go quicker without going back on the poison? I am almost done with school and I really can't afford to be missing it.

hi
sorry to hear you are having a bad time, i also got no help from the docs, they seem to panic and put you straight back on to full dose, they don't want any responsiblity for anything, so its easyer for every one for you to stay on it...
but if you think you want to stop taking this drug read some of the older posts and there is lots of advice, some didn't work for every one !!!
but i have tried 3 times before and this time ive been off 4 weeks...
and it does get better slowly..
i also have found work hard i think everyone thinks i have lost the plot a bit..
crying one min and laughing the next, but even that is settling down now...

lovelylioness48

I was on it for 4 years. I weaned myself off in two weeks, I was so sick while i was waening anything from blured vision to feeling like i was having a heart attack and sometimes a stroke. When i was off i was sick like i had the flu fever and crapy feeling. head zaps like crazy everyone told me it will pass you have to keep telling yourself that and sleep when you can laydown lots drink lots of water and exercise too. And remember to it will pass it will get better. i was one month to the day and i felt great.

robin

Thanks for the support. My psychiatrist took way too long to get back to me so I went to my regular doctor. She was more understanding and forthcoming as to why effexor is like this when you stop taking it. I guess it has something to do with a short half life. Well she told me to take 37.5 effexor for 2 days (that I won't protest to) and gave me two weeks of 20 prozac to help counteract the symptoms. I woke up this morning feeling alot closer to me than I have felt all week. I hope it stays that way after that second dose wears off and I'll only have the prozac to rely on. I am trying to stop anti-depressants all together because I have to be on several other medications that I cannot get around. Allegra for allergies, nexium for my stomach, and birth control but not for contraception, for me that's a happy side effect. I have PCOS and without the bc when my periods would come i would be curled into a ball until it went away. I also have fibromyalgia on top of everything (or everything else is on top of the fibro, some day's it's hard to tell LOL)
thanks again for the support.

Colleen
AKA lovelylioness48

Thank you all!! For posting anything and everything you had to share about your experience with and without effexor. Today I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I had been on effexor for almost a year at 75mg a day. Apperently a low dose compared to others I've read about. But I could tell it was starting to wear off sooner and sooner in the day so I decided to ween myself and strike out on my own. I went down to 37.5mg for 1 week and then nothing. The anxiety was overwhelming. I was afraid to sleep or even move. I was so dizzy it was an effort just to pour myself a drink. I had headaches, neausea, stomach cramps worse than my worst period, and My poor husband and kids endured the full gammet of my emotions every hour I was awake, which wasn't often if I could help it. Out of desparation to help me my husband found this site and I sat and read about 50 pages even though it hurt to scroll down.

All the experiences posted here gave me the strength to stick it out. It was clear to me that I was getting off easy compared to others and if they could do it, I could do it! Well today is day 6 and I feel great! Not 100% but alot better than the last five days. If anyone is considering going off anti depressants I would arrange for a vacation from work and some one to be with you for a couple of weeks because this is a major hurdle. Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Benedryl really helped and drinking water helped. Lots of water!

As for being on effexor it was a good experience for me. I never knew what it felt like to be so well ajusted and happy when you're supposed to be happy. I hope I can continue being happy on my own and not be so afraid of other poeple and new situations. Oh ya I really missed enjoying sex and even though I felt like crap I could feel the drive return, yay!

I was on Efexor for few monts and I know how every one feel and my DR.

I also like the wat traps told

Break open the pill and devide into the correct doses and eat with yogurt. Doesn't have to be exact but get it as close as possible.

18.75 - 2 weeks
9.4 - 2 weeks
4.7 - 2 weeks

I also start taking Homepathy and I was also taking
V-C15 Stress Effects tonic-calmer
That was big help
Thanks

I was on effexor 150mg, trazadone, and rozarem, all for my major depression and insomnia, for the last year or so, and recently i started to feel nauseous to the point i couldn't eat or even drink water. I told the psychiatrist about it and she told me that there is no way effexor and the other meds could cause those symptoms, and that i was just anxious, it had nothing to do with the med. Well, it got to the point where i was so weak from not being able to eat and/or drink, one day i had to skip my daily dose of 150mg. And that day, i felt so much better, better than i had felt in over a year. But when i went back on it the following day, i began to get sick again. i talked to my regular doc, and he recommended that i go off those meds because it was causing all the nausea i was experiencing, and it won't do me any good even if i kept on taking the medication but couldn't eat/drink. I felt awful with my brain zapping, head aching, and was super bitchy. I've been off of all those meds for a month now, and i have never felt better, and apparently it showed because my boss commented on how happy and alive i look compared to the past year or so. I went to see a homeopath the other week, and am going to try a remedy for my depression starting today. It feels really good to be off those chemicals.

Iam also on Effexor up to 300 mg now. It seems that after a while you need to upgrade so to speak! to be able to function agail... but from all I have read in the forum on Effexor, the more you take, you plan out, and then your old depression symptons come out and whoops there again you need another upgrade!.... Would like to know if anyone else has experienced this. Also my doctor seems to think I am suffering from paranoia as well. I feel this is also connected with this. Everything seems sharper, more aggravating etc.... I would need any response to this as I really need confirmation...
Thanks

It is me again. I forgot to indicate that i am still learning about homeopathy and am wondering if anyone of you during your withdrawals were advised to take anything homeopathically, or was it cold turkey, or did you yourselves try something homeopathically or advised of what could help. I reallize every case is indivualized, this is why I am asking this question. What do you consider was the best solution you took.
Thanks

Optimom - I'm a graduate of the 'get off Effexor school' - a year and three months and counting. It was such a traumatic ordeal for me that I decided to catch up with all the new people now and then.

My comments are about the blurred vision. I had blurred vision the entire 2 years I was on the E. Didn't get too much worse while I was withdrawing, but I went to my ophthalmologist during my withdrawal. He had had a lot of experience with people on E having blurred vision, including his own nurse who was withdrawing at the same time I did. He told me that 90% of the people who got the blurred vision would be okay afterwards. The other 10% might have life time problems with their vision. My vision is back to normal.

Good luck to all of you who are going through this. You are all in my prayers.

Thanks a mil catgranny, I also have blurry vision, but did not associate it with this. Yes, it is more that possible my blurred vision is caused by the e. I am not on removing e from my system as yet, I am trying to get all info i can and then homeopathically start weaning from e while using homeopathic remedies. At the moment I am quite closely followed by my doc. I will at some point in time mention to her my concerns of e. But I sure do appreciate your advising me about the vision. Funny how allopathic substances can disturb your system and you can still remain ignorent of certain side effects. Again thanks a bunch.

I'M READY!!! I began taking 150mg of Effexor over 5 years ago. Approximately 2 months ago, I decided to go and see a professional 'Counselor', who informed me that a more 'normal' dose was 300mg per day. So here I am. I've really wanted to try and get off this evil little drug for quite some time now, but thought that since a Dr. prescribed it for me, I must need it, right? Well, over the past 5 years, I've put on more than 50 pounds. I've always had a problem with my weight, but was easily able to take it off if I wanted to. Not anymore. I've gone to weight loss doctors, worked out regularly, etc., only to have the scale go up. I've had a nagging feeling that it might be because of the drug, but after reading your stories, I know that I'm right. I also have zero (0) sex drive. I'm 33 and should be in the prime of my life, but I feel more like a frigid old lady than a vivacious sex kitten ;-)

I've recently left my husband, a relationship that I have mainly contributed to my reason for having to take this damned drug in the first place. After being seperated more than a month from him, I'm happier now than I've been in as long as I can remember. So, here I am, ready to go.

I know from missing a dose at 150mg, that just missing one dose was enough to make me feel withdrawal symptoms that drove me to call the pharmacist in a panic. After reading so many of your stories, I know that I have a long and troubled road in front of me.

Here's my plan of action:
Since I've only been at 300mg for 2 months, I am going to scale back down to 150mg per day. Once my body has adjusted to the lower dosage, I'll scale back little by little. It might take me 6 months to a year to be 'Effexor Free', but it took me 5 years to get this addicted.

Wish me luck!! I'll be sure to keep everyone posted!!

Good Luck freespirit. Wish me luck too. I'm so afraid of what is to come, while trying to get off this awful, life-wasting drug.
I've been on for nearly 14 years. The lightbulb has just recently started to come on for me, as far as recognizing that this Drug that was suppose to be 'fixing' me, was in fact my problem. Sooo many of the issues that I've experienced, and the doctors have blamed on depression, adult ADD, and a host of other problems - I now believe are completely E related.
I have enough to write a book here, but I won't.
I'll just tell you for now, that I'm afraid to wean. In the past, when I've run out for a couple of days before getting refilled - it's been horrible. Literally in bed, crying, sick, suicidal.
I dropped myself down from 300 to 225 about 2 months ago. The DR. added 150 of wellbutrin about a month ago. I'm still getting the 'zaps' a few times a day, but I can deal with those for now. I do have this horrible ringing, but not really ringing, type sound in my ears now - 24/7.
I tried about a month or so ago to drop another 75. I wigged out, started crying, yelling at people, etc. Couldn't handle it, so added that back. A couple of weeks later, I split the capsules open and dumped out half of the beads in 1 capsule per day (like dropping 37.5 instead of 75). Then I was back to not wanting to get up in the morning, and not caring if I did.
The first couple of weeks after I added the wellbutrin, I was on cloud freakin' 9. I hadn't felt that good in years. That didn't last.
So ... as of today (here's where the wish me luck comes in) I'm dropping another 37.5 (which takes me to 187.5) and adding another 150 of welbutrin.
I hate doctors. IMO, 95% don't give a rat's butt about their patients. This has been my experience anyway. I have horror stories to tell. Yes, I am quite bitter about it too. They, along with this fruckin' drug have robbed me (and my kids) of the past 14 years of my life.

I'm doing great! considering how I was last time I was a week off of e. my doctor had me back on 37 for two days and had me take 20mg of prozac at the same time and for a total of two weeks. so far I'm fine. A little dizzy here and there but that's it. Prozac makes me giddy and bubbly so much so that I can get on my own nerves but I much prefer that than the former. And I know when the two weeks is up with the prozac I won't have the withdrawls I had with e. I also feel like I'm getting my appetite control back. When I was on it I couldn't control what or when I craved things and I was always thinking of my next meal. Now it's remembering to eat. To those who are just starting to stop good luck and hang in there. HUGS to all.
-Colleen

oh yeah and don't forget to vote. make my job worth it. I have to work the polls tomorrow. looooonnnngggg day. and now i have homework. yeah.

Well, today was day two at 150mg (down from 300mg)and so far, so good. I did still have some wigged out dream about a serial killer chasing me, but I'm hoping that the nightmares get better. Well, off to bed now. Don't forget to VOTE tomorrow!!