Question about Effexor...?

Question

I have been taking it for almost two years now. The doctor switched me to it when Zoloft quit working. It was great at first, but now I feel like it isn't working as well. I also feel like it is making me feel too drained and all I wanna do is sleep. I know I shouldn't, but I have tried to go off of it several times. I did some research online and some people report some terrible withdrawl symptoms when stopping the medication, which I noticed when tried to quit taking it.
Have you had withdrawl symptoms and if so, what were they? How hard is it to come off the medication? Any info would be helpful. Thank you!

Answer 1

Poor little thing !! The Doctors had me on Zyban, an antipsychotic, for about 12 months for the misdiagnosis of bipolar / schizophrenia!! I simply wasn't functioning on it and pulled the plug on taking it myself ............. virtually, i walked around like a zombie all the time and doubled my weight in as little as 2 months !! After that, thinking i still had bipolar / schizophrenia they put me on Effexor......... they started at 150mg per day and within 6 months had increased it to 600 mg per day !! The trouble's i had with my health while I was on that tablet were nothing short of astounding ........ i had constant insomnia, irritability, moodiness, dizzy spells, constipation headaches .......... and I was constantly exhausted ...... when I finally started researching the side effects of Effexor on your digestion and neural functioning i was totally amazed. Virtually all my health problems were a result of the Effexor ........... however, at the same time i was a functioning alcoholic (haven't had a drink in 5 years) and therein lay the anomaly ......... no Doctor had ever thought to ask me how much i drank and had misdiagnosed alcholic poisoning (wanting to throw tantrums and smash things all the time, horrible itchy crawling skin, sleepness, hideous nightmares etc.etc.) for bipolar / schizophrenia !! All up i was on Effexor for 5 years and finally weaned myself off it 10 months ago ............... antidepressants rob you of your essential B complex of vitamins, sooooo essential for healthy neural, immune and digestive functioning and you do tend to become immune to their effects over time so some Doctors who are too lazy to do their jobs properly (as mine were) simply up the prescription level. What you need to do to get off these revolting mind altering chemicals is as the other poster said. i was taking 4 x 150mg tablets per day and simply cut it back and had 3 per day for the first week, took 2 per day the second week, 1 per day the third week .......... the fourth week I went to see my general practitioner and he said that i should stay on the 150mg per day for a while before i stopped taking them. however, as I had already been reassessed by a psychiatric nurse and he had told me about the misdiagnosis and that he thought there was nothing wrong with me except for the fact that i had had an alcohol addiction, I saw red when the Doctor said this. I reasoned that if there was nothing wrong with me why waste another 5 years of my life on this rubbish !! Foolishly, i stopped taking the last tablet altogether and suffered some wild tantrums during the withdrawal ............. I don't recommend you do that, do it slower and gradually. i was just totally appalled and incensed at the lack of professionalism i had been subjected to and the fact that nobody really seemed to care, they even admitted that I had just fallen through the cracks into the too hard basket!!

Reduce your intake very slowly, don't worry, eventually you will wean yourself off them. Cut back on alcohol, caffeine containing beverages, sodas and soft drinks, tinned foods too as all these things do a brilliant job of robbing you of your B complex of vitamins (soooo important for healthy brain functioning). Diuretics and oral contraceptives are also good vitamin B thiefs so try to find a more natural alternative if you can.

i sincerely believe it's all about nourishing your body and focusing on being the healthiest and most vital you that you possibly can.............. Try to eat more lean meats and fish, loadds of fresh fruit and vegies, wholegrains and cereals, nuts and seeds, skimmed milks and low fat dairy (main source of vitamin B12 which is important for maintaining a healthy nervous system and increasing energy and iron absorption just to name a few!!) and loads of fresh filtered water to bolster your vitality and health.

Please don't try to do it all at once though, slow and steady wins the race.

Take a good quality multi B complex vitamin as well to replace what you are losing through the antidepressant you are on and to bolster your immune, neural and digestive system............. Most of all be nice to you and just be the best you that you ever possibly can♥

Take care of you♥

GOOD LUCK

Answer 2

Effexor is very difficult to stop using. Withdrawal hits hard. What you have read and researched is true.

You must wean yourself very slowly and even with that, there is still a chance you will feel uncomfortable. But, you can get through it.

You must be patient and again do it slowly - cutting a tablet and staying on the reduced dose for at least a week before you lower it again. This will lessen the symptoms of withdrawal.

To set the record straight, Effexor is not an SSRI like Zoloft. It is an SNRI as is Wellbutrin. Both are energizing antidepressants.

Talk to your doctor. This is a time to reevaluate your medication regimen. I wish you good health and best of luck. Hang in there.

Answer 3

As a member of the mental health profession, I cannot stress enough the need for medication compliance. Your meds need to be taken as prescribed in order for them to work as intended. When a patient does not follow the doctor's orders for a certain medication and does not take it regularly, that medication will not work as well. As in each time you stop taking the Effexor, it may have less positive effects when you begin taking it again. And by quitting the medication so frequently, you are not giving the meds a chance to stay in your system and work appropriately.
You need to see your psychiatrist and be honest about your symptoms and your pattern with taking the Effexor. He/she should discuss different anti-depressants and their methods of action with you. This should help the two of you decide what will be best to do from here.

Answer 4

Hello Dana.
I was on Effexor about 8 years ago and it worked great for me for about 18 months so I came off it. I was on a very high dosage at the time and even though I knew I should have gone to my Dr's first I just came off them and luckily I had no side effects at all.
I did have terrible side effects when I started to take them, really bad sickness and sweats, it was horrible but over time I got used to them and I had to take them with food or I would get sick again.
When I did go to the Dr's and he asked me why I was not taking them any more he told me that patients on these meds need to be monitored, especially as you are meant to come off them gradually. I got a bit of a telling off so if I was you I would speak to your Dr and tell them how you feel and of your fears. If you want to come off Effexor then they may be able to lower your dosage or give you alternative meds, such as Prozac. But do talk to your Dr, if only to put your mind at rest.
Good luck.

Answer 5

I only took 1/2 of the lowest dosage daily (I think 37.5). When I stopped, I would get sort of dizzy..when I moved my head to the left or right I felt lightheaded and dizzy at the same time...nothing too drastic. I had checked it out on-line and some folks had described feeling kind of drunk for a while...not the worst thing in the world to deal with. The side effects lasted just over 1 month for me. I've heard that with higher doses, you need to taper off. Your system will need to readjust.

Answer 6

Absolute?

Answer 7

Try switching to a new one. My mom has been on antidepressants for years and often has to switch when one quits working. If you have depression I would not recommend quitting taking them.

Answer 8

My friend got off Effexor by taking small amounts whenever he felt withdrawal. By small amounts I mean he broke up the pill and took like 1/5 of the little balls inside. This seems to work well, I used that same method (took tiny fractions of a pill) to get off Celexa. We both noticed the same withdrawal symptoms while we were doing this, which was just weird periods of feeling spacey/dazed. As soon as we felt this weird feeling, we would take our tiny little bits of pills, and it would go away in just a few minutes. This was happening less and less frequently over about two or three weeks. Then, we were off!

Also, we both had cut our dose to half for about a week or two before doing this, which probably helped smooth the process. He (again) did this by breaking open the Zyban pill and splitting up the little balls...

All in all it wasn't very difficult for either of us to get off, I'm guessing most people go cold turkey and that's why they have trouble.

And you should really try Wellbutrin/Zyban. It seems to work better for most people, and it's a bit of a stimulant so it doesn't make you sleepy! It's a different type of drug altogether than the SSRIs like Zoloft and Effexor. It's less common because apparently that company didn't put half as much money into promoting it to doctors as the companies that make SSRIs did...