The "fun" of Effexor withdrawal

[Tim]

What a read this topic is! And how familiar it is, getting off antidepressants. My final one was Serzone which caused all sorts of side effects I would have paid good money for as a teenager . It came as tablets but I did the same thing as you Larynxa — I cut the tablets so that I could taper off smoothly. It worked well.

Good luck with the tooth.

REPORT ABUSE

[Patte Rosebank]

After a month of dumping out the spansules so I was only taking about 8 mg a day, I’ve been completely off Effexor for 4 days. So far, no brain zaps, and no inappropriate teariness. Although, I have heard that those side effects can pop up again, even several months after stopping the Effexor.

As for the tooth, the oral surgery has been postponed ’til the 31st, because the specialist who took the CT scan hasn’t bothered to reply to my oral surgeon’s requests that she share the results and her opinion on the likelihood that the root is actually fractured and must be removed, or whether it can just be cleaned up and the infected bone and tissue removed. Until he has that information, he is, understandably, unwilling to just open up my jaw and mess around in there.

So I’m on massive penicillin capsules for another week. Those capsules are so big that, when my dad saw one, he said, “Are you sure you’re supposed to SWALLOW those things?”

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

Hey Larynxa!

How’s things going now, with the withdrawal and all?

I’ve already commented about the fun I had with Cipralex in another post. I hated it! I’m glad that I didn’t suffer the withdrawal that many people do after I quit, but, I feel permanently “altered” as it were. Maybe I wasn’t on it long enough to get withdrawal. And I’ll say it again; I think it’s a mistake to treat depression without getting to the root cause. I our case, it happens to be the lifetime of heartache, collateral damage from ADHD.

P.S. I hate pills! No matter how small they are, they always get stuck in the back of my throat. Don’t horse pills just suck?

REPORT ABUSE

[Patte Rosebank]

I’ve been totally off the Effexor XR for several weeks now. I’ll still get the occasional brain zap, and I can now cry on cue—sometimes, whether I want to or not. I’m not sure if that’s still withdrawal, or if it’s because the Effexor was blocking my emotions, and now it isn’t.

I started taking Concerta, 6 days ago, and I’m now adjusting to this wonderful feeling of calm, after a lifetime of being constantly wound-up. For the first time in my life, I’m thinking about what I eat, and I’m eating very slowly, savouring every bite, and, as a result, eating normal portions, at normal times. And I’ve discovered that clutter bothers me enough that I’m actually doing something about it.

My family says they noticed a difference when I started on Effexor, 12 years ago. I didn’t, really. Now that I’ve started on Concerta, I’m noticing a huge difference, and so are they—at least, when we talk on the phone.

Clearly, for me, Effexor was the wrong drug, treating the wrong thing.

REPORT ABUSE

[ADDled]

Concerta….wonderful stuff.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

Good to hear you came off the Effexor XR successfully.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

Wow, so I probably made a big mistake rapidly cold-turkeying off of Effexor. I did so because Effexor XR + Concerta make me feel like I’m going to have a heart attack, not to mention feeling worse than most menopausal women in terms of sweating, flushing, and just plain old being hot despite being a 27 year old man.

I have had sinus headaches for weeks, so that made me believe that the massive headache I’ve had today (2nd day without taking Effexor) was how sinusitis is supposed to feel. But maybe it’s part withdrawal and part sinusitis. Never mind that I have had uneventful Effexor withdrawals before…who knows. I guess I’d much rather be able to give Concerta a fair chance without sweating at rest and without having a coronary at my new job that I start on Monday. I’ve been on Effexor for years and haven’t been able to get over this slump in my life until I started ADHD meds. So yeah, the Effexor is ineffective but the Concerta is effective…I choose Concerta.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

I was on Effexor for about 6 years, which was treating the depression and anxiety likely caused by or at least related to my then-undiagnosed ADHD. My experience was almost word-for-word identical to Larynxa’s!

I had to stop taking Effexor because it basically stopped working (but more likely it had stopped working years ago and I just didn’t notice it). Withdrawal (or “discontinuation” as they euphamistically put it) was a nightmare– it was like I was going through heroin withdrawal! I had the shakes, felt hot and cold, nausea, diarrhea, etc, etc, etc… Thankfully I had been prescribed Prozac to help taper me off, so I can only imagine how much worse it could have been without it.

REPORT ABUSE

[trashman]

I am on 450 mg of effexor and 108mg concerta a day all doesn’t help much still sad and hard to concentrate . what sould I TRY NEXT.WITH ALL THE OTHER DRUGS i TAKE MAYBE i WILL GET LUCKY AND DROP DEAD.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

Wow. Big doses trashman. I hope you have a doc looking after you that you can talk to. While I can’t give you advise as to what to do, the combination of the two medications has potential cardiovascular risks particularly conduction problems. Unless you tell me you are over 300 lbs, you might want to get checked.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

I was on Effexor for about 3 or 4 years. Was down to a fairly low dosage, and decided (unwisely) to take myself off, without consulting with my doctor. No major health effects, but it was unpleasant. For probably about a month I dealt with the “brain zaps”, slight vertigo, and nausea. Got through it, now only taking Adderal, fairly low dosage. Too much Adderal and I find that I am living in extreme hyperfocus, which is not pleasant either. Current dosage seems to provide me the “lift” i need to get a good days work done, and also seems to help my overall mood.

Anyway, regarding coming off Effexor, most definitely was not pleasant. Was the Effexor helping me? Hard to say exactly. Dosage had been moved up and down, but effects, if any, were subtle.

REPORT ABUSE

[Anonymous]

I’d been on 75 mg for a year or so before switching to another (mirtazapine then sertraline) due to side effects (memory problems). But after switching I didn’t react very well to the others, so I decided to go back on the Effexor. Since switching back my add meds stopped working and started giving me bad side effects.

I decided to come off the Effexor by halving the dose every week for a month before stopping completely. However, this did nothing to prevent the withdrawal symptoms – nausea, diahorrea, brain zaps, flu-like symptoms. It’s been 3 weeks since I stopped and those symptoms have improved, but now I feel like I have akathisia – a hot, tingley, energised feeling under the skin. It feels really unpleasant! Any ideas how long this might last? I just want to go back to normal, I wish I’d just kept taking it instead of switching since that’s when all these problems started.

REPORT ABUSE

[trashman]

DJ, the good or bad thing is I am 300lbs.so I don’t know if it is good or bad . the thing I wonder about is if there is another drug that I could take because I still spend weeks in a deep depression?

REPORT ABUSE

[Patte Rosebank]

About 3 months ago, I realized I’d been having real problems…problems which were symptoms of depression, for some time. Considering all the “fun” I had getting off Effexor, I really didn’t want to go back onto it, but I simply couldn’t function any other way. So I talked to my doctor, and we decided to try it for a month.

Within a couple of days of going back on 75 mg. of it, those symptoms became much more controlled. So it seems that I have depression as a co-morbidity, so I’ll have to be on Effexor for the rest of my life. Yay.

I’ve been off Concerta and Ritalin (and Wellbutrin, which my old psych. had tried me on, but which didn’t work) for about 5 months, because all they did was make me feel very anxious (after an initial few days of calm). My doctor referred me for a new psych. 10 months ago. Perhaps his stipulation that the new psych. had to be familiar with adult ADHD is why I have yet to receive a new psych, and my doctor will not get involved with trying to find the right ADHD med for me, because it’s not his area of expertise.

As a result of this limbo, my eating is out-of-control, as are my weight and my blood sugar. As I am diabetic, and Effexor raises blood sugar anyway, this is a very dangerous situation. But I’m stuck until I can get a new psych. and we can get my ADHD properly controlled.

This sucks.

REPORT ABUSE

[trashman]

this is a question for Dr. J, Asked by the trash man whether or not there’s something else I could take besides the Effexor that I’m on the 450 mg . I have started to use my Dragon program to see if I can interact more efficiently will with this group and any other group I choose to participate with I am hoping for big results.

REPORT ABUSE

[Author]

Posts