Effexor withdrawl and symptoms, please help _{Page 79 of 140}

Thank you,
My boyfriend mentioned opening the capsules this morning and taking a lwoer dose (he's a chiropractor), I didn't think you could do that with XR. But, now I've read that people are doing it with success. I just don't know the effects on a fetus of this stuff. I don't think Wyeth does either.
THanks for the advice, I wish I had searched first before I took the 150mg, buyt I oculdn't tolerate the misery any longer.

Hello all - haven't been on in a while, but have been reading daily. I went cold turkey off Effexor last summer. It was about 2 weeks of pure hell - took time off work to get through it - then another month or so of minor symptoms. About two months after my last Effexor I was feeling totally human again.

Karen, please talk to your doctor. My heart goes out to you, because I can imagine that you must be a little scared. If you are pregnant and you can squirrell yourself away for some time while you are dealing with withdrawl, it might be better than passing this poison along to your baby. But I know not everybody has the luxury of taking time off work, or might not have the supports in place - I was and am lucky! So take this as only my opinion - your doc. needs to tell you how damaging this garbage might be to your baby.

I've also been reading with a lot of interest how many of you are writing that you liked yourself better on Effexor. Maybe, just maybe, we are actually meant to feel. Maybe getting angry, sad, frustrated, etc. is the perfectly sane reaction to a given circumstance. I've been thinking a lot lately about the bill of goods we seem to have been sold about any kind of 'mood' being pathological. Don't get me wrong - I'm not talking about the hell of clinical depression here. I'm talking about not thinking it's strange to be angry at something you should probably be angry at. If pills are the only thing keeping you in a crappy marriage, or a crappy job, or making you better able to deal with horrible people or situations, maybe the anger might lead to a more pro-active response than the soul numbing, 'hey, I can cope with anything now' effects of Effexor?! Frankly, I like me better when I can stand up to my own life - rotten moods and all!! Any thoughts....

Effexor is listed as a Class C regarding pregnancy. That means that no studies have been done at all on the effects of effexor on fetal development. HOWEVER, there has been a study on OTHER SSRI's that indicated no difference in the IQ development at all with control group. That's pretty reassuring! Effexor is a little different than those SSRI's however.

So, don't panic, but do work hard at getting off of them. Around 12 weeks of gestation, the developing baby is washed over in hormones. So there's a handy goal. Get out a calandar and map out your taper for 11 weeks. I've read that the beginning and the end of a taper program is the toughest. We aren't to the end yet, but the beginning certainly can be rough! Hang in!

So far, 5 mg drops don't seem to cause any side effects. But you need at least 5 days to level off with a new dose before you go down again. 150mg divided by 5mg is 30 steps. 30 steps times 5 days = 5 months. That's not quick enough for you. You will probably be able to make bigger steps in the beginning than you can toward the end. Try 10% reductions for 4 days, with a 50% reduction on day 5 and 6. Then go up halfway to the previous dose. That will get you down to 15 mg in 45 days if you follow what I'm saying. I'll post the reduction list I came up with.

I'm not a doctor, but I do like math, so here is a taper schedule that goes pretty quick. Maybe too quick. You can always stay on a dose longer than 4 days if you aren't ready for the next step down. I'd recommend that! This is 55 days minimum. That's under 8 weeks. That leaves you 3 weeks to play with for times when you don't feel ready to step down at any given stage. Use those 3 weeks wisely, but DO use them, I'd say. You could make every level off period 6 or 7 days instead of 4. That would use up those 3 weeks. Like I said, I'm not a pro, so tweak this however you want. Check my posts on page 78 of this thread for capsule splitting methods. Don't just 'eyeball' it. Never go to the next step down if you are experiencing withdrawl. Good luck, and keep us posted!!

150mg Today

75mg for 2 days
115mg for 4 days

55mg for 2 days (this will be your toughest week.)
85mg for 4 days up to 2 weeks (Keep this dose until you feel leveled off again)
45mg for 2 days
65mg for 4 days
30mg for 2 days
45mg for 4 days
25mg for 2 days
35mg for 4 days
20mg for 2 days
25mg for 4 days
15mg for 2 days
20mg for 4 days
10mg for 2 days
15mg for 4 days
0mg for 1 day
10mg for 1 day
0mg for 1 day
5mg for 4 days
0mg tough it out! You're there!

Hi all,
thank you for your advice, I don't feel alone, and I am getting useful information.
My pregnancy test said I am not pregnant . . . so I have a little time to get off this stuff. My doctor wants to put me on 75mg,for a period of time, I have to look at the prescription, but I am going to try to go lower to start. I can go one day without any meds (150), (today) so tomorrow I am going to try 50mg, and if I have no side effects, I'll start at that point and go down.
Mikemo, why with the taper schedule do you go back up for a few days? Does it just help with the symptoms of withdrawl?

Thanks
I'll keep you posted

Well, what I've found is that more than likely, you will have withdrawl symptoms. How difficult it is will be a function of how slow you go.

So it doesn't really help with the withdrawl 'mass'. But it does enable you to make continual progress toward your goal, while giving you a chance to 'catch your breath' so to speak. Plus, you get to control when the two rough days will be, knowing all the while that day 3 through 8 will be easy as pie. Or, you could use a step down approach that would stretch the 'mass' of withdrawl smoothly over the whole course of 2 months. I believe either way will put you through the same amount of withdrawl. It's just a matter of 'intensity' vs. 'duration'. If you have 6 months to taper, you might even be able to strtch it out so thin that you don't even notice the withdrawl.

We are going down in 5mg steps. But the day before a drop, we use a very low dose. The withdrawl is noticable. But then on the next day, we go up (yet still 5mg lower than the previous week) and NO WITHDRAWL AT ALL! Then we use that dose for 5 days, and then another VERY low dose for 1 day. I put two days on yours, because of the fast pace that you wanted.

Ultimatley, your schedule is based on what you can handle. Just don't go too fast. It's tempting to tough it out hard for 2 weeks and then be done, but why put yourself through that? Imagine having two days of minor withdrawl a week.

Try your 75mg for a while. If it gets too tough, it's okay to go up, just as long as you don't go back up to 150. If you can make it through the withdrawl at 75mg without going back up, GREAT! But wait for the withdrawl to go away before you go down again.

Lastly, if you can make it a day without ANY, then do that right before each step down. Everytime you do something that causes withdrawl, you body is cued to adjust accordingly. But TOO much withdrawl can stress your body out too much.

My wife was on 75. We went down to 56 for 2 days, and it was very tough on her. So then we went up to 70, and NO WITHDRAWL AT ALL. Today she is on 50 for one day. Then the next five days will be 65. I'm betting she won't even notice (except for tonights minor withdrawl from this mornings 50mg dose). She may be more sensitive than you, but she likes only having to notice it 1 day a week, all the while making progress. It will take us a while, but it is a peaceful way to go.

Good Luck! (more than you wanted to knew, eh?)

I am so glad I'm past the withdrawal. I still get a slight head rush, but it's over in an instant. I have not taken any three weeks ago today. This forum was so helpful for me to get through it all. I talked to my Dr. today who asked me if I wanted to try another drug. I laughed and said 'never ever'. He was shocked and because he has no first hand experience, just cannot fathom what it is like. I'm not sure I totally convinced him yet, but I'm definitely working on him!

Keep cutting back and stay with this forum. It's the best help you can get!

Well, the up-down stair stepping is working GREAT. I think that the single day of a very low dose triggers the body to adjust. But before the withdrawl kicks in, the next days 'normal' reduced dose keeps you functional. I'd really recommend this if your are having a hard time with tapering off. So far, our schedule has been something like this with no side effects:

Starting at 75
55 1 day
65
65
65
65
65
65
50 1 day
60
60
60
60
60
60
45 1 day
55

We are going to start experimenting with the number of days required between drops you need to let your body full catch up. I'm thinking you don't want to get your taper moving faster than your body can adjust. But it would be nice to find the tipping point! More later...

Un Flipping beleivable! 79 pages people with the same withdrawl sypmtoms as I. And dating back to even before I started this stupid medication. After finally deciding to get off the Effexor XR, My new Dr. Prescribed me Wellbutrin and stated that the symptoms should go away within a week. I had tried to just stop taking the Effexor on my own previously. That,as you all know,didn't go well! I apologize if I sound ignorant or like a raging lunatic here. I am only a few days into no Effexor at all ( down from a 150 mg dose daily) I know that I was at one time an intelligent well spoken individual who works in health care. I hate this. I am so dizzy and nauseated. I thought I had caught the Flu of something from my children. Except that I knew I had these symptoms before when I would forget to take the Effexor. I'm slurring my speech and sound and walk like I'm drunk.My heart will occasionally race and or skip beats when I get what I've seen others call the 'bed spins' if I recall correctly. These days I cannot seem to recall anything correctly. I can still remember though that at one time I had an excellent memory. I always recognized returning patients names and even usually what they had during their previous visit. Now I can't even remember meeting patients after they tell me we've met. Unbeleivable! I have to agree with some of the others oppinions here. I can't understand these evil drug companies who will approve these stupid drugs like Effexor that have all these horrible side effects and obvious addictions! I will never take another medication EVER after I get through the hell of getting off Effexor.

Yeah, 79 pages. It's sick. And this is only one of MANY websites.

Hang in there. If you can't get through the side effects from cold turkey, you can go back to a taper schedule. Some people even take Effexor and Wellbutrin together! You should ask you doctor about that, because I'm not a doctor. I can't be held responsible for my advise, but I would think you could use an accelerated taper schedule off of the effexor while using your wellbutrin. (If the side effects don't go away.)

If you do go back on, DON'T go back on at 150mg. That would be throwing away your progress. If you have to, start off with 75mg or something and taper down from there over a couple weeks to get down to zero. (in my opinion)

Good luck and Hang in there! We are all rooting for ya!

Hi, I had to come to this site to try to understand what the hell is going on. I was on Lexapro for a year, I was having trouble losing weight . I had heard that effexor helped lose weight and it was a great anti-depressant so I asked my dr. for it. That was only 3 weeks ago. I started w/ 37.5 mg. for a week then the last 16 days I've been on 75 mg. I didn't like the fuzzy feeling in my head so I said, heck with this I'm not taking anymore. That was Thurs. dose I didn't take. Its only 24 hrs and I feel like I'm on acid!! This is crazy. My head is doing this zig-zag thing, I feel like my neck is about 120 degees, I want to throw up. It started when I was at work, I drive a school bus. It was very hard to focus and the noise was really bad, like everyone was screaming in a tin can. I wanted to go the drug store and kill someone for a pill. I came home and took 1/2 a pill in applesauce. How can this already be like this after only 3 weeks? How can the FDA approve this drug w/o severe warning for the consumer? We should all start a class action lawsuit. Sorry to go on and on. I'm really angry to be prescribed this, unknowingly. I guess this is a perfect case for becoming well informed. I used to trust and love my dr., not so sure now. Thanks for listening. My heart hurts for you folks on higher doses for lenghty times. God Bless us all, Terri

it funny memory loss has been mentioned as i have been drug free for three and a half months and i am just lost. I can't remember anything, even when i have rang someone that day, i don't know i have and ring the person again. People and friends think i have gone mad. and you can imagine what my boss thinks, looks like i may even lose my job....
Does any one know if this gets better or is it just one of those things i have to live with..
love and thoughts to everyone!!!

Trying to get any antidepressant banned is a losing battle.

What we SHOULD be fighting for, are more variations of dosages within a BLISTER PACK all ready to go for people to taper off. '75 down to 37.5 down to zero' is B.S.

If the manufactures made a 2-month taper off blister pack, doctors wouldn't have to guess, just prescribe the taper pack when a patient is ready to come off. THAT is what should be MANDATED by the FDA. THAT is a battle that is winnable.

AND....the mandate could be geared toward all drugs used as anti-depressants, unless specifically shown to have a high success rate in ceasing without tapering off.

Any new drugs whould have to show a 'no-taper-needed' success rate during Phase II testing before it goes to market, or else provide such a blister pack, in a minimum 60 day taper.

The drug companies won't do it willingly, because it would help patients get away. That's why it must be mandated by the FDA. So how do we get this thing going?

PS...bring back tryptophan!!

Hi,
I have been tapering with a dose of 50mg for a number of days, and then today down to 37.5. I will try 37.5 tomorrow and see if I can stay at that dose. If not I will try 45 or something and see if that will help.

I was doing 37.5 for a number of days, and it was too hard, so i went back up to 50 for a number of days, and today so far, I am o.k. just a little little touchy, but not too bad.

I'll keep you posted.

Hang in there Karen! You are already ahead of the game. A little withdrawl is actually a good thing, as long as you can function and you can handle it. Too much withdrawl is bad, even if you can 'tough it out'. You want your body to react to the increased need to produce it's own serotonin. You don't want your body to crash into depression from heavy withdrawl. That's like flooding an engine. I would stay away from 50 at this point. Once you get comfy at the lower dose, it's like a nice little reassurance that it is possible to get to zero! It just takes more steps!


NOTICE:

I saw some posts in the past that said using 5-HTP will help with the withdrawl---

DON'T TAKE 5-HTP and Effexor BOTH AT THE SAME TIME! You must be completely off of Effexor before using 5-HTP.

In July 2006, the FDA issued an alert stating that a life-threatening condition called serotonin syndrome can occur when medicines called Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs, such as Effexor) and medicines used to treat migraine headaches known as 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor agonists (triptans), are taken together.

Mikemo, You are absolutely right, what we need is taper down blister packs made available to us. But that will be available at about the same time hell freezes over. I called Wyeth labs. today to see if I could get some advise. It was a real laugh, oh sure, they took all my info and acted concern, but literature is only available to drs. The woman made sure she let me know that possible withdrawl symptoms are all made clear on the prescribing info. leaflet under precautions. It is even there for all to read on their web site. The only advice she gave me was 'do not attempt to come off this medication without being under a doctors care.' Oh, she also said a report of my adverse withdrawl symptoms will be reported to the FDA. We should flood their office with complaints. I told her about this site. I said there are 79 pages on this site alone with people crying out for help, how can this be ignored! Anyway, I made an appt. w my doc for this Thurs the 15th. Will let you know how it goes. Would give him a real piece of my mind but I'm not real sure about giving any away. LOL Terri:)

Voluntary reporting can be done directly to the FDA by following this link! Everone go there and click on the BEGIN button at the bottom of the screen!

https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/

OMG
Thank you for thinking of this. It hadn't even occurred to me there may be a place to report this to the FDA.

Please, EVERYONE GO DO IT!

Just an update on doc appt.. As I had previously posted I originally was on Lexapro. for a year, Doc is using that to help w/ withdrawl from the Effexor. I take a 37.5 every other day and on the in between days I take a Lexapro 10 mg.. Aside from feeling a little sick to my stomach once in a while I feel great. Thank God! After 5 days, I'll take the Effexor 1 day,next day the Lexapro, next day nothing. Will keep you all posted. Ultimate goal is to me totally drug free.

Mikemo, Please show the link for FDA again. I couldn't click on the link so I tried to type it in. Didn't work. Thanks Terri

Mikemo,
Your wife is fortunate to have you help her through the withdrawl nightmare we are all experiencing. Several pages back, I was the one stuck on a business trip when my doctor dropped me from 75mg to 0, after takind Effexor for 6 years. I had no idea of what would happen by doing that, but I quickly learned. We had been tapering down from 225 mg, but my last 75 mg pill was on that trip. I'll spare you the repeat of what happened, but wanted to let you know I have been trying to follow the schedule you recommended. It was going well, I had gotten down to 1/2 of a 37.5mg pill. I took that for four days and then decreased again to 1/4 of a pill. Two days later, the zapping began- again. I just could not believe it. I thought this was a low enough dose that my body wouldn't notice the difference. The sad part and the reason I am writing; to share my experience with my doctor, is this. I called my doctor to tell her that even after tapering slowly I was getting the electrical zaps still and that in order to go to work,I had to go back to 1/2 37.5 mg. Her response was 'maybe your just thinking your experiencing these things.' I boldly told her that NO I was not just thinking it, it was interferring with my ability to get to work. I asked her 'you have never had any other patient have this experience?' She said no. I told her I felt - sensed like I was an inconveniece to her since clearly she didnt' believe me, but I needed insight into why I have gained 20# in 6 weeks. I am 5'4 and don't typically weigh more that 115#. This loveley side effect was apparently caused by one of the replacement drugs she put me on. Today is day three of the continued buzzing. I am trying to push throuh as many of you are, but it is very difficult. I feel like I have no control over my body or emotions. So, I broke down and called my pharmacist for advice on getting rid of the buzzing. He was very understanding and validated that yes you are experiencing these awful withdrawl symptons. His priority was to relieve my discomfort - which should have been my former psychiatrists priority. He suggested I go back to the last dose that I was comfotable with - stay there for a few weeks and then go to a go lower dose. He again validated my experience by telling me that I may be very sensitive to the withdrawl, due to the amount I was taking and the length of time. Clearly, this pharmacist knows the withdrawl symptoms of this drug, thank God. I am going to go to the FDA website and file a complaint. I came accross that address today when I was reading the Effexor pamphlet. I called Wyeth today, the maker of Effexor, before calling the pharmacist to seek advice on how to stop the buzzing in my head. Noone was available to talk to a consumer today until 3:30!!, due to a training program. If it was an emergency, which it felt like, they suggested calling 911. I couldn't make this up if I tried. I called the pharmacist after that. So thanks for the taper technique and sharing your experience. Good luck with your wife's recovery. Without this site I think I would really wonder 'Is it me?'. Wishing you all good health. twoxrd

Here's the link again:

https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/

It does work, but you may have missed the https://

That little 's' is important. You should use copy and paste it into your browser.

I've got an update---next post---

It appears as though there may be 'zones' that you have to break through when tapering down. It seems like you can have no problems tapering down over a few weeks from 75 to 55, but then there is a breaking point, where your body says 'THAT'S NOT ENOUGH'. When you hit these spots, don't taper any more. You have to stay still until you feel better.

More later. Stay tough all

Im coming off of Effexor 225mg now. I tried reducing by one single pill once(75mg) and was completely worthless for about a week. I have since been tapering by counting the 'beads' inside the pills.

So far I have noticed a few things. One the beads are different 3 sizes. Through experiments on taking different sizes I am almost positive that they are sized for the time of release. I have been throwing out the smallest. The largest ones brought on insomnia when I dumped them.

I have successfully lowered my dosage by 10 beads every 3rd day. Right now Im throwing out 30 beads, tomorrow will be 40.

I will keep you all posted how this affects me. So far side effects are there, but I can function, so this works well for me.

Mike

I say NITRIC ACID 200C for the Cindy Effexor case.

Jacob Vickery

Thanks Mike, I copied and posted, it worked fine.

I'm off of the Effexor altogether for 4days, I am taking the Lexapro 10 mg.. I am feeling really good.I will continue the Lexapro for 4 more days, then cut it in half for a week, then half every other day, then (hopefully) all done!! I can't wait.