Effexor withdrawl and symptoms, please help _{Page 77 of 140}

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!!

to Glandry22 - yours is the same situation as mine. I took 150mg a day for 4+ years, then went through a rough patch and my psych told me that after a while, the medicine is no longer in 'therapy' range. She then switched me up to 300mg per day. Since then, I've decided to go E-Free!!
Good luck to all!

Hello everyone, I went to the Dr's the 23rd of Oct. That was the week I took 75mg and it was very very hard for me, the brain zaps and the light headedness were horrible!!! I decided I wasnt goint to take the next weeks even though the dose was cut in half. So last week I was a real mess. Every feeling was so intense, happy seemed to be giddy, feeling sorry about something meant down right depressed and bawling about it. Orgams so intense sometimes the'd hurt. I think I have to learn how to feel emotions again. But this week not feeling any brain zaps, very little times of being light headed. At Bedtime I am tired and can sleep unless my youngest daught (18) has been in one of her bitch moods and makes me feel less than a human

Just wanted to tell you to hang in there. I have been off effexor for almost 6 weeks
after being on for years. It is a joy to be able to feel ALL my emotions again. You deserve to be undrugged. The withdrawl symptoms will pass as the drug clears from your body. Hang On.

I just joined and typed into a different place than this. Go figure. I have been of effexior for about 5 years. 4 years on 75mg and last year or so 150mg, On sept 9th I wanted off so Dr put me on 37.5mg for two weeks. I've had definte withdrawls which won't go into now but am having terrible hot spells and though my head feels clearer I'm major angry, when something is said that doesn't sit well with me. Any advice please.HOW long does this drug stay with us.

oops that should have read I've been ON effexior for 5 years. Prosac before that.

Hello Everyone! I am new to this site but am aslo so very thankful I have found it. I am now on day 4 of no Effexor. These symptoms are unexplainable to anyone who has not experienced them themselves. I am so glad to know that I am not crazy! My doctor told me that the symtoms I am experiencing are most likely a viral infection(the flu) or that they are all in my head because quote..'Effexor has NO side effects' I thought you have to be kidding me I am not making this up. Anyway, on top of feeling like s**t I also feel like a Fat Blob I have gained over 70lbs in the last 4 years (when I started this evil little pill.)Don't get me worng this little pill probably saved my life 4 years ago but now it is making it a living Hell. I too have very little emotion to those things in life you just know you should feel Joy or Sadness. I recently got engaged to the most wonderful and paitent man and when he proposed I felt like he just ask me to go to dinner. This experience should have made me feel more but yet it didn't. I must say in the last 4 days of being off of this medicine I have felt more ALIVE then I have in years but I can't shake the withdrawl symptoms. Does anyone know the name of the Detox stuff from GNC that may help??? Thanks for all the support you have shown to everyone on this site this in itself can relieve some of the pain and frustration of the withdrawl.

Well, I'm glad to finally see someone report a SUBSTANTIAL weight gain besides myself. Not that I'm happy you gained weight of course, but I was starting to doubt myself.
I've gained 136 pounds since starting this drug 14 years ago.
Call me stupid, but I didn't put 2 and 2 together until a few months ago my daughter's friend told her that she had been on Effexor a couple of years ago, and gained 70 pounds within a few months. When she went off of it - she lost the weight.
Of couse, that's when the light bulb went on in my head. May be too little too late, but at least I have something to go on now.
The doctors have blamed my weight on everything BUT this stupid drug. Depression, PCOS, thyroid, you name it.
I went and got a copy of my medical file for the past 15 years. BINGO !
Yet another reason why I detest the medical community. There it was in freakin' Black and White. Why the hell didn't the doctors see this? Aren't they trained for this? Effexor had my mind so screwed up, I could hardly add 2+2, much less put these symptoms to this drug.
I started off on 75 mg. Was on that for about 4 years. Steadily and slowly gaining weight the whole time. Was bumped up to 150mg. and BAMM! right there in the medical records - as soon as that dosage went up - so did my weight. Then about 4 years ago, was doubled again up to 300mg. This was in 09/02. My next visit to this doctor was in 05/03. In less than 9 months - I had gained 68 pounds.
The idiot doctor didn't even bat an eye. I told him I was surprised upset that he didn't even seem concerned about the ridiculous weight gain. His only response was, that he was of course concerned but since I no longer had health insurance, I couldn't afford the tests that would need to be run to find out why I was gaining weight so drastically and so fast. (I had been laid off months prior to that and lost my health insurance.) I continued to gain, and of course become even more depressed. Depressed? Who wouldn't be depressed when they've gone from a fit size 10, who works out and goes to the gym 6 days a week, to a big fat 326 pound blob that can't even take care of personal hygiene without assistance?
Mind you ... over all these years - they've also been trying to figure out why I'm now a total idiot. (not literally) When I look back at my medical files .... duh. Those symptoms started at the same freakin' time. Confusion, lack of concentration, short term memory loss.
Believe it or not - as of April of this year - I am now on permanant disability through Social Security because of my lack of ability to focus, my poor memory, my morbid obesity, and a host of other issues that were probably brought on by the weight gain ... which was broght on by this evil drug.

That's enough for now.

Thanks for all the talk and support folks. Good luck to all.

I know this question gets asked a lot but will the weight come off after you stop taking this pill and if it does how long before that happens??? I am desperate to lose weight before I get married and I have been on weight watchers and exercise regularly and because of this stupid pill all I have been able to do is gain. I refuse to even go look for a wedding dress cause I know that it will depress me. I have only been off the medicine 5 days and of course I missed my workout these few days cause I felt to sh*tty to do it. Anyway, if anyone has had sucess in losing the weight from this pill please respond and let me know that I will not be forever FAT!!! Thanks

Jess

OMG I just came today to see if this topic was still a hot one on this website. I used to post I was back on pages 5 or 6 ..and now it is up to 77? How sad! I have been through this whole thing and I am a survivor. I was on the meds for 3 years after being put on it for post-partum depression. I started off on 75mg and after I kept levelling out the stupid doctor kept upping my dosage until I was at 350mg which I believe is over the max reccomended. I had gained 65 pounds during my time on the meds. I finally realized how numb and crappy I felt even though I had plenty of great things in my life. I had quit working and my husband was struggling to keep the finances straight. I just turned a complete 180. I finally hit bottom and said I am going to stop this nonsense. I went to the doctor who said I SHOULDNT be experiencing withdrawls...YOU HAVE TO BE kidding me! I was experiencing everything if I missed one stinking pill let alone missing a couple days worth. I decided finally that I was done with that doctor. I weaned down for two weeks and got so fed up that I went cold turkey and just stopped it all together (I don't reccomend it) My husband had to take 2 days off work at around 2-3 days of cold turkey to just sit with me while I experienced the biggest emotional roller coaster, I would try to sleep and the nightmares were so intense I was freaked out. The brain zaps were horrible I almost ran my car into a mini-mart after I misjudged my stopping distance pulling into a parking space. It was and will always be one of the most if not the most horrible experience of my life. It has been a year and a half since I went cold Turkey and I can say with certainty that though it is hard it CAN be done and it DOES get better. At about the 6 month mark I was 85% back to the person I was before the MEDS though I still had that weight to loose. I started focusing on that and for the first time in 3 years I was able to lose some when I dieted and excersized. I have lost 40 pounds of that 65 but I admit I have not been trying in over a year. I am just so happy to be back to me even with a couple extra pounds! I am back to work and have a great job with the county I live in! Things are so much brighter!

I have scoured the internet for class action lawsuits against Wyeth but had no luck so if anyone finds anything let me know! Best wishes!

Jamikissez, I APPLAUDE YOU!
Well done on everything. Its amazing that my Dr said the same thing 'There are no withdrawl sideeffects'. Though I didn't withdraw from a large dose the effects were there. I can't believe the Drs ignore this.
Any way congrats again. It is wonderful to 'Be Me' again.

Jamie, it is so good to hear from you. Like you I check in every now and then to see how many people have joined this group. It is depressing, isn't it. I'm so glad to hear from someone I weaned off with and that you are doing well this far down the road. I am too. I am back to the old me, am dealing with my down spots a lot better, haven't lost much of the weight, but haven't tried either. To all of the alumni of this site, if you ever check in, hi!
Love, Sheila

Checking back in two months after my daughter was taken off Effexor cold turkey to give you guys a report of encouragement! Here's her situation - was put on 225mg effexor two and a half years ago for teen age depression and all its' nasty symptoms. Kept her in therapy the whole time. Wasn't working and she ended up in the hospital. One psych. diagnosed her as bi-polar, but I wasn't convinced - he seemed to be in a hurry and the diagnosis was awfully convenient. Second opinion from a thoughtful psychiatrist who spent quality time with her was to take her off Effexor and put her in IOP with a heavy dose of cognitive behavioral therapy. It's working! No drugs, all intensive talk and work. She's coming along - baby steps, but in the right direction. The withdrawal symptoms were scary, frequent black crying jags, muscle twitches, odd thoughts, insomnia - but we stayed with her, used B1 and C vitamins and lots of water and pure fruit juices and reassuring talk, and she's doing well. Worst of the symptoms were lessened within one week, a bit better each week after that, with all gone by end of first month. I would not recommend anyone going this route alone - we had lots of the right kind of professional help and support - but it does work and it does get better. Effexor is a scary drug - and I truly, truly believe that patients or patients' families should be made aware of this at the beginning of treatment. No, it did not manifest the thoughts of suicide like Prozac or some others, but the withdrawal symptoms are frightening! Good luck and please know that there's light at the end of the tunnel. Just make sure you have a good support system in place when you start to suffer the symptoms.

Hi everyone.. I am on day 13.5 [ it is 2:30 in the morning so I guess day 14] of NO Effexor and I need to know when the hell ends?
Today I was mean and nasty to my sweet little boy and as a single mother it isn't like he can go running to Dad. Then I proceeded to cry non-stop and I have been doing that for over 4 hrs now and tonight I cannot fall asleep. I have also all the other standard set of withdrawals - nausea, belly pain, muscle aches, flu like symptoms, headache, dizziness, weird feelings with my eyes etc... and I cannot stand it .. I battle bath and forth with myself if this is worth it.. should I go back to the Dr and ask for a smaller dose then the last one taken but then I see that I am two weeks in and if I got this far I should be able to keep going right? I just want to feel useful.. I have no ability to keep my house in order, I am backed up on laundry and I just feel like a failure all the way around and I want to be happy and have energy and play with my son and enjoy the Holiday Season and here I sit at 2:30 in the morning bawling my eyes out. Oh and what is with the cravings?

I need stories of hope and success to help me .. I need to know this too shall past and to shore up and stick it out and I will be OK... I need to know what what 3 will be like and if it is better then week 2 and week 1?

Thanks.. P.S I am soooooooooo grateful I found this site.

P.S The websites I have read that have reported the FAQS on Effexor said the length of time for withdrawals depends on the dosage taken and length of time on it but they do not give any type of formula or guide.. so I was taking 75 for less then a year - hmmm maybe 10 then 37.5 for 2.. off it now for 2 weeks so any ideas on how long I am going to be on this trip through withdrawal hell?

Thanks

Lotusgirl97, Don't give up Now you are doing great if you have made it 2 weeks you can do this. For me the symptoms began to level off about then and eventually I began feeling normal again. I have only been off Effexor for a month now and I have very little symptoms left. Occasionally, I have a bad day where all the symptoms are back which is really wierd cause I thought once the drug was gone from your body it was gone but apparently not. Anyway, you are doing great try not to put too much pressure on yourself and ask for help from maybe from a sibling or parent my sister helped me do my laundry and just some of the simple things in life that for some reason are impossible to do while coming off this drug. Just remember you are one day closer to being yourself again the too shall pass. Take care!!

Lotusgirl97, you will make it. Every day will get better. I have been off 4 months and I know this forum really helped to keep me going. It is worth being free of the drug.

Thank-You JessCat and d23951 - I don't have anyone to turn to.. I am in the USA alone - I moved here because my NOW ex-husband wanted to be with his family and so here I am alone me and my son - I would love to move home again [ Canada] but my ex won't let me take my son and I cannot be without my son so I stay.
I am praying for God to help me get through this day and I will continue to read here for encouragement.

lotusgirl97 Please Hang in there. I was one month and i felt so much better. you are have way. My last pill was Sept 14 2006. and it is the best thing i ever did. Please hang in there. Robin

Thanks rollerbladequeen - I am having a decent day today .. I read in the early pages that beneadryl helps and it really is helping me cope through the days.
So 1 month and you felt better? That is encouraging. Thank-You

Lotusgirl. I went through this in June of 2005. I NEVER thought I would get past that hell. I completely understand what you are going through. It will end soon. I think I started to feel 'normal' around day 14. I also did lots of additional thing to help detox my body. See my post on page 29, I list what helped me. You will get better soon!!!

Aimee - Thank-You .. I went back and read your post and I have been trying to stay active and drink water but I need to do more and plan on following your steps a little better.
I had a good day yesterday not sure if it is becuase I took benadryl and stayed active in walking, cleaning etc.. or because I just had a good day. I am so happy that I found this site for support - the other night was a big LOW for me and rough and I came on here around 1AM for support and it actually calmed me down and by 4AM I stopped crying and could actually sleep. I am grateful for this site.

Lotusgirl,

It's amazing how much you sound like me a year and a half ago. I would be up at all hours of the night terribly upset and everyone's posts helped me get through it.

It sounds like you are on the right track and your days continue to be getting better. Good luck and you will be in my thoughs and prayers.

I will apologize in advance for the long intro. This is the stuff the doctor's don't want to listen to. Can't even get them to make eye contact most of the time.

I have been on Effexor for a year and a half. Prior to that I was on Prozac for 13 years. During the first few years on prozac I kept trying to wean myself off, not wanting to be dependent on any meds. I never went cold turkey, but the results of going off Prozac were always distastrous nonetheless. I began to accept that I had to either stay on Prozac or agree to take it one day at a time. Then June of 2005 I cracked. I had a big horrible breakdown, and of course I was the last one to realize what was going on, so insidious are the symptoms of depression. I had spiralled directly into hell and wound up in psych unit. There I was told about this phenomenon that was known, ever-so-cutely, as Prozac Poop Out. It had to do with prozac becoming suddenly ineffective for people who'd been on it for a long time. I like thinking that I nearly killed myself and everyone around me because of a neurological condition described as a 'poop out'. Anyhow, it was decided that I should be switched to Effexor.

I started at 75 mg or so, went quickly up to 450/day which nobody believes because it is so far higher than the max recommended dose, but here I am. I was 5' 2' and 140 pounds at that time.

I found this forum because I wanted to learn about the connection between effexor and weight gain. I have gained 50 pounds in the 18 months that I have been on Effexor. Tragically, I am still 5' 2' so it isn't pretty. I have been told that Effexor can cause weight LOSS but not weight GAIN. Weight GAIN is not among the side effects of Effexor. Oh really. I went on Effexor and gained 50 pounds. No number of dismissive, patronizing doctors claiming that there can be no connection between effexor and my weight gain will change the fact that I have ballooned on Effexor. I want to get off and am researching other meds.

This forum opened my eyes to what I am in for. Getting off effexor sounds hideous, and I am terrified. I am a sober alcoholic and am 21 months smoke free. The quitting smoking thing, I SWEAR, contributed to The Gteat MeltDown of 2005, by the way. And OK, probably some of the weight gain. But not 50 pounds. I'd quit smoking before for as long as 4 years, and never experienced weight gain. This is a weight gain borne of a lethargy that just seems beyond me.

On Effexor: little constant heart attacks. Normal blood pressure, but I could do without the heart attacks. Nightmares. I scream in my sleep. I wake up screaming. My nightmares have this fluid, altered state, new dimension kind of quality where I am never sure if I am awake or asleep. They remind me of those weird psycho fantasy dreamish sequences in Twin Peaks. Boo hoo,you might say, nightmares. But these are the ones that stay with you and haunt you and impact every waking minute. There is something in there trying to get out, and I really think that it'd be better to get it out once and for all than let it torture me every night for the rest of my life. And the drymouth, the exhaustion, physical exertion of any kind all but has me hyperventilating, and the sudden jerky movements, especially at night, kind of like turrettes syndrome. The lethargy - I feel like I'm living in Jello. Memory lapses, sudden ones - can't come up with the word the name, the train of thought. I am 48. So, maybe Menopause? Early Alzheimer's? Maye it's the freaking Effexor!

Right before I cracked, I figured something hormonal might be amiss - I wanted to talk to a doctor about menopause, specifically peri-menopause. Could that be part of the reason why I was so off, so wild, depressed, panic struck, inappropriate, hysterical??? (Hormones: serotonin - epinephrine - other neurotransmitters - c'mon! of course there are connections here.) In my twenties and thirties I had PMS that made the medical journals. My reaction to birth control pills way back when was like psychotic episodes. In other words, I'd had issues with hormones and am so blessed to have dodged the postpartum depression bullet. So my point was to go to the doctor, say LOOK - I have a history of depression, I'm 47, I'm don't think I'm CLINICALLY DEPRESSED depressed, but I'm flipping out, can you help me figure out if something is going on hormonally that can be treated, or should I just take what has become the path of least resistance and chalk it up to depression? That bastard - to me he said 'Well, by definition it cannot be menopause because...' (flip laksadaisically (sp?) through chart, stifle a yawn, look at clock '...MENO PAUSE means the MENSES has STOPPED and you still have a bit of a period, no? You ought to consult your psychiatrist.' I wanted to kill this man, but I settled on changing my native american name from 'Jello Dweller' to 'Dances on Drs. Fat Heads'.

Affect-wise, my unspoken response to everything - the conversations I have with myself - is 'who cares.' Now, I did crawl out of my hole, and I do prefer my current state over my major depression episode or whatever, and I am in many ways happy with my life and grateful for the love and support of family and friends. Job's OK, love my 2 kids so much I feel knocked over by it sometimes, I am in the one and only healthy and fulfilling relationship of my life. And I'm sober so there's all the gratitude that comes with that too.

But I am not all here, and I miss me so much I feel bereft. I often feel like I'm doing it (living) for both of us - the real me, and what's left of me on effexor. It can get scary to think about, but after a minute or so I'll remember : who cares?

I care. I want the big broad flat ham of a hand that effexor is OFF my head, it's the hand that's got my head just below the surface of the water. I didn't get this far, get sober, finally catch a good glimpse of my good and worthy self just to lose me again. I get this fat, reasonable facsimile sort of version of me. What is worse than the vacant zombie eye of the Stepford Wife, or the Living Dead? It's the vacant zombie eye look that has just a glimmer of terrified awareness of the limbo state it is in! I want to really breathe, really sleep, really feel, I really, really want to go outside and play again. I know that I will have to lose the effexor in order to do these things again.

I have never joined or even read a forum before. I have already realized much hope and inspiration from reading the entries of others. I think that I can do this with the real and honest support that is here. I hope that anybody reading now who wants to give it up or is otherwise feeling desperate will find a bit of their strong real self and hold its hand for a minute or two until the pain lets up.

Eudoralives,
I just read you intro. I have been off effexor for 3 months. I had lost my job and my medical insurance ran out. It was hell but I don't think I could have done it any other way. I have been on antidepressants (Prozac, Zoloft, Effexor 150mg) for almost 20 years. Every time I would try to cut down I'd feel anxious and my Doc would say 'I guess you still need them ' and I'd relent. No one told me that feeling anxious is part of the withdrawl. Then I lost my job ('can't cut down now' my Doc would say) so I kept going until I couldn't. I am also a former drinker (22 years sober) and gained about 50 pounds. When I need comfort, I read the posts. That's where the real help lies - knowledge.
Welcome to the journey.

hi, i haven't been on site for a while which i suppose is a good thing as it means i have been out there living, and not having the horible side effects of effexor.
ive been drug free for 2 months and now can say i understand what drug users go through with addiction...
2 months on and i only seam to have the odd moment of anger outbursts, (which i don;t know is normal or still the drug withdrawl), it might just be the real me, but its something i nead to work on..without drugs.
I would say to anyone come off this drug, hang in..
every day is a little better.
I know what people mean when they say 'is it worth it' but think of the bigger picture!
This site did help me every step off the way.

Love and thoughts go out to every one!!!!