Effexor withdrawl and symptoms, please help _{Page 80 of 140}

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.

Well, I made it to 30 beads and got stuck there. Today I finally had my appointment with the doctor and got the approval to lower my doseage.
They want me to drop by 37.5mg! Tomorrow I start, wish me luck.

Funny no doctor admits there are any withdrawals on this toxic poison of a medicine.

Mike

I am so scared to withdraw from this medicine after 9 years and I am taking 300 mg a day. I have terrible RLS and I am so frustrated with it all.

I am making an appointment with my MD. The co-pay for Effexor went up 40% from last year. so 200 pills cost me $177.00 Unreal plus I don't feel better when taking Effexor. I am going to get off this stuff one way or another before it kills me!

That's a bargain for 300mg pills. I pay more than that for 75mg!

60mg was a platou. We are past it now, and the steps are working quicker again. I'm expecting another platou around 40-45 mg. We'll see if my pattern is correct.

It's looking like the very low dose the day before a small step down is VERY effective at reducing withdrawl symptoms. It triggers your body to produce, produce, produce! We're going to really put it to the test on our next step down. We're going straight to the next theoretical platou point. Stay tuned...

I have to buy 150 mg pills. So this will last me 3 months. I hope to get off this stuff. Thanks for your reply and update on how you are doing. I appreciate it.

I have taken Effexor XR 75mg once daily since September 2006 and plan to going off of the drug shortly. I have been researching information regarding common withdrawal symptoms, patient experiences and the general procedure used by medical staff to gradually stop taking this medication.

Be sure you consult your doctor before going off anti-depressants/anxiety medications. Also, make sure your concerns are HEARD and CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD by your doctor.

A few tips for people preparing to make an attempt to go off of any anti-depressants:

Be completely confident that the stage of depression or anxiety in your life has past or can very easily be managed at this point.

Slowly reduce the dosage amount. DO NOT simply stop taking the drug. (2.5-3 weeks at each level)

EX: 75mg -> 56mg -> 37.5 -> 18.75 -> 10mg -> 0

Have a well balanced and healthy diet that you can maintain with a family member, partner, or friend. Establishing this before you attempt to reduce your dosage amount can significantly decrease withdrawal symptoms.

Exercise at least three times a week for 30 minutes or more. This will boost the amount of endorphins in your blood stream giving you a natural boost of happiness.

Spend time in the sun. Natural sunlight has been proven to reduce depression and negative feelings. Also natural lighting is helpful if you live in the far north/south where light levels are lower during the winter. These should be placed where you spend most of your time both idle and working.

Best of Luck and Cheers,
Josh

Good advise Josh -- I like the bits about diet, exercize, and sunlight.

But after two days at 56mg, my wife was in tears and scared. That's too fast, for her anyways. Everyone is different, though. You may be able to endure it. Please keep us posted when you start your taper down program.

I have slowly reduced my dosage of Effexor. I have increaed my intake or water and 30 minutes of exercise per day. I only tend to get symptoms right before bed. A funny head feeling and wierd dreams. Other than that it has been ok. I am doing this very, very slowly. I feel better already. I think that's odd as you would have thought I'd feel worse.

Hi: I've been off the Effexor for two months now. I no longer have any of head rushes. I'm feeling better mentally and physically. The mental part just happened a few days ago. I was feeling stressed and anxious and was beginning to think I was going to have to go on some type of other drug when all of a sudden, I woke up and actually felt great!

All I can tell all of you is that you will feel better! Please just hang in there. You will get through this and come out on top in the end!

I'm telling you, I got this taper thing figured out!

The 'low spike drop' day is so effective, you can drop 10 mg over the course of 6 days.

It goes like this: down 25, up 20, down 5, maintain for 4 days.

Let's say you've been at 55mg for a week or so and your ready for another step down. Here's how it would go:

55
55
55
55
55
30 headachey day, vivid dreams at night
50 No withdrawl at all!
45 No withdrawl at all!
45 No withdrawl at all!
45 No withdrawl at all!
45 No withdrawl at all!
20 headachey day, vivid dreams
40 No withdrawl at all!
35 No withdrawl at all!
35 No withdrawl at all!
35 No withdrawl at all!
35 No withdrawl at all!
15 Headachey day, vivid dreams
30 No withdrawl at all!
25 No withdrawl at all!
25 No withdrawl at all!
25 No withdrawl at all!
25 No withdrawl at all!

The low spike drop day shocks your body into adjusting. Then the next day, you avoid the crash by coming back up, just not all the way. 10mg drops for every 6 day cycle! That's pretty good! I don't know about you, but 1 day of MINOR headache is pretty good for a 10mg drop!

Now, it takes some time to get your body used to less and less effexor, so the 4 day maintenance time could be as long as 10-14 days when you are first starting out from 75mg or 150mg. But once you get your body to wake up and start working again, you can shorten the maintenance days each time until you get it down to the 4 days.

Note, to make these precise dose changes, I really recommend you follow the Effexor Capsule Splitting Method I outlined in a past post. I also posted it in it's own thread in the forum. Just do a forum search for Effexor. You'll see it on the list!

I hope I've helped a few with all of this. I'm not trying to be a know-it-all. I'm just very excited to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

I just found this site. I was on 75mg of Effexor for about a year for what I thought was Depression. What I've been experiencing coming off of this drug made depression fun. I weaned off of it over about two weeks and then went cold turkey. I've missed work, don't care about anything, have intense brain zaps, vision impairment, and can't get enough sleep. I've read thousands of the same complaints and people saying this is just depression returning have no idea what they're talking about. It's been about three weeks with no drug and the one night I felt like geeting off of the couch, I got arrested for DUI. I had drank two beers six hours before and couldn't pass the road tests. Now, not only is every aspect of my life ruined from this withdrawl, my future and my childrens' security get to partake in this adventure too. Unfreaking believable. Good luck to everyone trying to kick this evil drug. If I have a home or computer after they take my license, I'll let you know if I make it.

Macon,

That sucks. Effexor sucks. Please tell your story to the FDA. Nothing will change until the Effexor folder at the FDA gets so fat they can't ignore it anymore. Here's the website for reporting:

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

Make sure you use https: not http:

(it's easiest if you just copy and paste it into your browser)

That website was made for people like you. Please do it! You have my apathy, no doubt. Good luck!

Hi all~ I have gone from 300 mg to about 175 mg and have had side-effects that come and go. It has been over a 2 week time period. Next week I go to 150 mg. I have had headache, nausea, brain shivers, am cold (which is a biggie for me because I am ususally hot), some la la land feelings. It doesn't help that I have to work full-time. I have to carefully watch my typing and though processes. I get aggitated easy but have had no outbursts. I make sure I drink lots of water, take vitamins, get sunshine and exercise (walk for 30 minutes) a day. This is a big step for me to get down to 150 mg. I have taken the advice here and reported this drug to the FDA. It's a terrible drug! Thanks for the support on this board. It has helped alot. Hope to hear from more of you soon. Hugs not drugs, Mary!

Here's a copy of what we sent to the FDA:


Effexor XR 75mg--6 months of continual use for mild depression, anxiety, sleeplessness. Effective, though difficult tapering onto the medication at first. And VERY difficult tapering off.

Began tapering off of the medication using reduced dosage. Day 1 at 56.25mg resulted in difficulty concentrating, overall unpleasant emotional state. Day 2 at 56.25mg. Depressed is not the right word for it. Emotionally unstable. Heavy crying sessions. Unexplainable feelings of doom. Day 3 went back up to 70mg. Much better.

The manufacturers taper 'plan' of 75,75,75,75,75,75,75, 37,37,37,37,37,37,37, 0,0,0,0,0, simply DOES NOT WORK!!!!! It sends patients into a talespin back into serotonin defficient depression. Please introduce tapering rules to force anti-depressant manufacturers to privide blister packs to utilize a slower taper schedule.

I do not beleive that anti-depressants should be banned. They have helped me through a rough time in my life. But the currently prescribed taper schedules make it impossible to succeed at ceasing anti-depressant use.

I have devised a taper schedule that is very slow, utilizing 10mg drops per week. Before each 10 mg drop, a single day of a 20mg drop, followed by a single day back up 15mg, and then four days at the final reduced dose before starting another cycle. This method has been VERY effective at removing ALL sympoms of withdrawl. For example:

75,75,75,75, 55, 70, 65,65,65,65, 45, 60, 55,55,55,55, 35, 50,
45,45,45,45, 25, 40, 35,35,35,35, 15, 30, 20,20,20, 5, 15,
10,10,10, 0, 5, 5, 5.

This is a 6 week schedule that is VERY EFFECTIVE. Crafting these dosages at home from the 75mg capsules is difficult for the average user (at best), and laughable to the physicians. But I know from EXPERIENCE that this is needed!

Good Luck Mary! Try to stay where you are at until the wierd effects disappear. You don't want to get too far ahead of your body's response to the reduced dose. Keep us posted!

One thing I have noticed about decreasing my dose of Effexor is that my emotions are all over the place. Things that didn't bother me on the big dose, now come to me face to face and I want to run back and hide. Normal? Running from the pain or reality? Hiding behind the drug instead of confronting the problems? ANyone else feel this??

Ok, This week I will stay at 150 mg. I have done well, pat on the back for me! I went from 300 to 150mg. It took 3 weeks. I have to say I do feel better! Next week, I will decrease a bit at a time as mikemo says. Whew! There is a light at the end of the tunnel and I don't have to be dead to get there! Hope all who are going through this read this message board for help, support and suggestions! It sure has helped me out a lot!

Mary

Hello,
I have been off of Effexor XR 75mg daily for 3 weeks today. I still feel very emotional. One minute I am fine the next hopeless. I am still experiencing a bit of vertigo and that foggy head feeling like I am in the clouds! I do not take any other medication at all. It hasn't been a fun ride and I am hoping it will subside soon. My advise is after the initial first week when you actually can get out, DO SO. Fresh air and sun is so helpful. I have also been drinking lots of water and eating a well balanced diet. I did stop cold turkey which I do not recommend. But the side effects for me while I was on it were terrible, and I wasn't going to keep it in my system another day. Anyone who is over all symptoms please send some encouragement my way!! God Bless You
Heather

We crossed another platou last night. The taper method I've outlined worked perfectly all the way from 55 down to 25. Then she took a day off completely (zero) because she felt so good throughout all of this, that she thought she could just quit at this point. It didn't work. Last night was rough. Now we have to stick it out at 25 for a week until she levels out again. (just a few days setback I hope)

This goes back to my befief that if you get your dose too low, too quick, it's too far ahead of your body's response. It appears as though this could actually cause a relapse. I'm praying that 25 for a week will get her leveled back out without having to go back up.

To Heather, because you are completely off of Effexor, it would be safe to take 5-HTP. It will actually boost your body's serotonin production. This claim is validated by serotonin syndrome (a very dangerous and life threatening condition)in patients taking both Effexor and 5-HTP at the same time(on record at the FDA.)

I am not a doctor, so you should consult with your's first. But I would really consider it. (note, your doctor will poo-poo the idea, and push another anti-depressant. Don't give in to that crap. All you want is for him to tell you it's safe to take the 5-HTP. Who cares if he say's it won't work. It's worth a try)

If we can't get past this 20mg mark, I'm going to suggest a cold-turkey drop to zero and introduce 5-HTP.

To Mary, keep hangin in there, but DON'T use 5-HTP within 48 hours of your VERY LAST dose of Effexor. Serotonin Syndrome can kill.

Keep Happy Thoughts!

I don't know what 5-HTP is?
Can you explain???

Sure! For years tryptophan was the leading suppliment for depression. (yeah, it's in turkey and makes you sleepy).

Unfortunately, tryptophan was banned in America because of a bad batch that killed many people. The batch was manufactured in Japan. The reason it killed was not because it was tryptophan though. It was because it was poison. Tryptophan doesn't kill. ANyways, it was banned JUST IN TIME for drug companies to announce a big breakthrough---Paxil. Nice, eh?

Well, serotonin is manufactured by the body from the amino acid tryptophan! So, eat tryptophan, get serotonin! (Or you could just take an anti-depressant which concentrates your body's deficient ammount of serotonin into your brain.)

But, no. Tryptophan is banned. But when the body makes serotonin out of tryptophan, first it makes 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) and then it makes serotonin out of the 5-HTP!
So eat 5-HTP, get serotonin!

Now it is looking like the ban is no longer in effect. I would think it is better to take tryptophan and make your body do the work. But I have to look into that. Never take tryptophan manufactured to less than pharmecutical grade purity (like veterinary grade).

(By the way, this is why it is dangerous to take 5-HTP while on Effexor. The effexor is taking every little bit of serotinin that your body produces and pushing it into your brain, so you feel good. Now if you ramp up your serotonin levels and it ALL gets pushed into your brain, you get serotonin syndrome. Bad.)

You can read more here:

http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/Depression/treatment...

I said 'Paxil' in a previous post. I meant 'Prozac'---sorry for the mistake! Read this:
-------------------------

“The effects that the tryptophan debacle had on the nutritional industry—especially related to amino acids—were devastating. Millions of people who depended on L-tryptophan to boost their serotonin levels, and for other health reasons, were deprived of one of the most important natural supplements. Many had to resort to using side-effect-laden and dependency-creating doctor-prescribed sedatives, antidepressants and other drugs in order to replace the health effects of this nutrient.”

Enter Eli Lilly, the makers of Prozac, who were treated to a cover story in the March 26, 1990, edition of Newsweek magazine, “Prozac: A Breakthrough Drug for Depression,” which came out, coincidentally, only three days after the first expanded FDA recall of all marketed L-tryptophan supplements.

Prozac quickly became the drug maker’s fastest rising star in 1989, contributing to windfall company profits of 22.5 percent on overall drug sales of $4.18 billion that year.

---------------------------

Apparently, the ban is over! I'm leaning toward tryptophan now!

Heather,
On Monday,3/26, I too will be off of Effexor for three weeks. In reading your post, I can tell you that despite being off the drug, I am having the same experiences. Fine one moment, hopeless and crying the next. Compared to depending on the drug though, I will take these residual withdrawl symptoms as the more time we are off the drug it will resolve itself. I still get brain zaps, randomely and that scares me as I don't know for sure if that will go away unless my brain heals, or uses another brain chemical to fix the zaps. So I just wanted to say be patient with yourself and think of how far you've come. When people have a 'drug addiction', they are usually weaned from the addiction with a medication that reduces the withdrawl effects. We haven't had that. We are all a lot stronger than we give ourselves credit for, for getting off this stuff. As it is said 'this too shall pass'. These annoying risidual withdrawl symptoms will soon burn out - I hope. Keep smiling, you have come a long way. We all know it's been no easy feat to get off this stuff. Wishing you good health.

Hello.
I read that one of you has been splitting open the 37.5 dose. Can you tell me exactly how to divide the granuals. Every time I open the capsule, they roll all over the place.
Thanks for posting what worked for you. I think it is the answer I have been needing.
Shelly

Shelly,

Copy and paste this link into your web browser. I've outlined a method of dividing capsules:

http://www.abchomeopathy.com/forum2.php/102450/

Go read it and then come back here...

Now, because you are talking about spiltting 37.5mg capsules, the line you draw should be 1-7/8' long. Draw a little tick mark at each 1/4'. You will have the little 1/8' increment left at the end. That is 2.5mg. Each 1/4' is 5mg.

To keep the balls from flying all over the place, you have to be very careful. Hold the capsule so that the 'inner' sleeve is like a cup, and the 'outer' sleeve is like the lid. Squeeze the 'cup' slightly to have a good grip with one hand and then use the other hand to pull the 'lid' off. You should be able to do this with EVEN pressure so that you can pop the lid loose WITHOUT actually taking it off. Then easily (and carefully)remove the lid. Now you can pour the contents into the crease of your folded and marked paper, as outlined in that old post. Ask questions all you want!