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Q. My best friend was on Effexor (venlafaxine) after going through a dreadful divorce. She’s young, strong and vibrant. After a period of time she realized she no longer wanted to take Effexor. Her doctor simply said, “Stop taking it.”
When she developed suicidal thoughts and hallucinations as part of the withdrawal, he did not return her calls. Luckily his nurse told my friend about her own experience going off an antidepressant suddenly. This helped her understand what she was dealing with. If she had killed herself, no one would have known that stopping the medication too abruptly was the trigger.
A. The maker of Effexor advises doctors that sudden discontinuation can result in many unpleasant symptoms including agitation, confusion, dizziness, insomnia, nausea and shock-like electrical sensations. A gradual reduction in dose is recommended.
When I decided to discontinue Prozac after being on it a number of years, I asked my HMO for a referral to a psychiatrist whom they knew to be an excellent pharmacologist as well (they don't all go hand-in-hand). He withdrew me from the drug slowly and carefully over a period of many weeks, all the while monitoring my symptoms. Medical supervision of this caliber is very important for drug withdrawal. Please don't be afraid to request a referral from your HMO, PPO or family doctor.
I also had the horrible experience of stopping Effexor. I was also told to simply stop taking the medication. I experienced feeling suicidal, and tons of other symptoms. I thought I was going to die. I think that doctors have the responsibility to know what medications they are prescribing before prescribing the drug.
re:stopping effexor, etc. suddenly. My father was placed on heavy doses of effexor after he became depressed because his spinal stenosis surgery did not stop his pain.
When he had to go into the nursing home, his dosages were changed. HIS symptoms were always electrical shocks and pains in his arms and hands. He would cry from all the feelings he was experiencing. I personally think that maybe his effexor and other antidepressants were stopped abruptly instead of tapering. (IF I knew then what I have learned reading peoplespharmacy.!!!)
By the way, after surgery he was on brand name pain meds. Mere days after being changed to generics(refills for home use) he began to complain that the pain meds were not working anymore or as if he were not taking enough.
I had similar experience when starting on Effexor. 3 days into the gradually-increasing loading phase, I was confused, indecisive, and very depressed, although not suicidal. I remember taking about 5 minutes to decide which sock to put on first. I stopped taking Effexor on my own, was fine in a couple of days, and never went back to that neurologist.
Thank you for continuing to publicize this problem! Most anti-depressants present this problem if they are stopped abruptly, so please, don't EVER just stop taking them! Your doctor can prescribe "bridge" drugs (tranquilizers, anti-anxiety) and/or a step-down program that will ease the problem. I have switched between several types of anti-depressants and have yet to not experience some of the issues but my last switch was from Effexor to Cymbalta.
My doctor had me actually take both for a while as I gradually increased the Cymbalta and decreased the Effexor. I did have some mild, shocky sensations from time to time but overall was successful. Please consult a physician if you are thinking about stopping, there is no need to suffer when help is available and your doctor needs to know so he/she can monitor your situation.
I've been taking effexor for 9 months (150 mg.) and wanted to stop on my own and now I'm having headaches, sweating and hate it. What do I do???
I'm experiencing the same awful symptoms coming off the Effexor (nausea, dizziness, brain zaps, shivers, headaches, lack of focus, etc) and it can be very scary if you don't know why it's happening. I'm so thankful for the people on the internet who have been sharing their experiences with this, otherwise I wouldn't know what was going on (my doctor is absolutely no help whatsoever.) I was on Effexor 150mg for about eight months, and while it did help my depression, I began gaining a lot of weight and I felt queasy a lot of the time.
I started dieting and exercising like crazy, but the weight wasn't coming off. I had no idea it had anything to do with the Effexor until my mother pointed it out that it all started when I started taking it. She is on Wellbutrin and doesn't have any problems at all. So I wanted to switch over from Effexor to Wellbutrin, and began to taper off the Effexor little by little as I began taking the wellbutrin.
First I went to 75mg every day for a week, then I tried taking one capsule of 75mg every other day, but I found I was experiencing the awful withdrawal effects on the day I didn't take it, so I split the capsule in half every day for a week, then I went to a quarter of a capsule for a few days. Four days ago was the last time I took any Effexor, and no it hasn't been fun, but I am SO GLAD I'm no longer on a pill that has this kind of effect on me.
It just can't be good. So now, I'm on the third day without Effexor and I'm home for the weekend. I told my boyfriend that I'm going to have to lay low for a few days until this is out of my system. That's what I'm doing. I've read from other people's experiences that it could take a few days, and some say a few weeks. I pray it's just a few days.
Honestly, I'd like to be off of depression medication altogether and go the natural route. That is my goal for the future. I'm not ready for that yet though because I don't know enough. I really appreciate everyone sharing, and Sheila, tell your dad that I sympathize with him and know exactly what he's talking about!
I was on Effexor for almost 2 years when I lost my job a few months ago. Since my insurance ran out I tapered my remaining pills down so I could slowly come off it. I literally took 10 days of pills and split them up to last 6 weeks. The whole time I was experiencing headaches, nausea, buzzing in my ears, the weird brain thing, dizziness, indecision and was extremely forgetful and spacey.
My mood wasn't too bad though so I had confidence that I was doing the right thing. I've been off completely for almost 2 weeks now and not only are the side effects worse, I'm an emotional wreck. Everything makes me either angry or sad and I cry at the drop of a hat. I spent 20 minutes at work today hiding in the handicapped stall bawling my eyes out for god knows why!
I'm so emotional that my boyfriend is avoiding me and I hate myself as well. I'm devastated because after all this time I've already put in I'm considering going back on because I don't know if I can take anymore of this. I don't know what to do or if this will stop. I'm so angry that I wasn't warned of this before I started taking this drug!
I have been on Effexor for over 10 years and am now in the process of coming off. My doctor (who also happens to be my adopted father) would not help me come off or even talk to me about how, so I am doing it myself. So far so good!!!! While I have some of the withdraw symptoms such as memory loss, heart palpitations, twitching, CRAZY dreams, irritable, etc. I haven't experienced any of those horrible brain zaps, which to me where the scariest part.
So here is what I'm doing. . . I started at 150mg a day. Every night before taking my pill I removed 5 grains. I am now on less then 37.5mgs and will be completely Effexor free by August 1 :) To anyone out there who is trying to come off this HORRIBLE drug, my advise is to go super slow and listen to your body. Do your research first, read everything you can about it. I have spent hours on the computer and visited every website I found. Knowing what to expect before going through it really helps.
I started effexor just about 2 yrs ago after separation and eventually divorce. I went as high as 150mg's. I have been on 75 for the past 1.5 yrs. When I went to a counselor initially after my separation she told me it would take 2 yrs to get back to normal. Today was the 2 yr mark of the day I separated. I stopped effexor Wed of last week.
That day we had a major catastrophe at work things have been stressful since then. I have been able to deal with the stress. I cried last night looking at a wedding video of a classmate who was married this past weekend. I cried tonight because of someone who I let treat me with disrespect. I am fine as far as depression coming off effexor cold turkey, because I know I am a strong good person.
My problem is with the brain jolts and feeling bad and having a short temper. I forewarned my coworkers and asked them to let me know if I get out of hand. I know it will get better everyday but last night when I was in bed and it felt like my brain was vibrating off my pillow, I know I can persevere and get this drug out of my system. I just hope it happens soon.
I started taking Effexor as a replacement for Zoloft. I was prescribed 300 mg. It's only been a few months. Right away I started getting some of the worse side effects (skin rash, ringing in ears, information processing problems, insomnia, bizarre dreams). My husband has said I've started talking (whole, aggressive conversations) in my sleep. I'm paranoid. I missed one dose and the withdrawal was nightmarish. Blinding, migraine type headaches, etc. I wanted to stop this medication, but it seemed impossible.
I started back at the full dose. Having not received the anticipated depression relief.
The same Doctor augmented my care by adding Wellbutrin at 150 mg. I've been on that combination for about a month or so.
Recently, blood tests uncovered another major medical issue. I needed several hospital procedures. I had one this Monday, the 9th. Here is the good news:
To prep. for the procedure, I needed to do a liquid fast for 24 hrs, then no food after midnight. I took both the Effector and the Wellbutrin the day I started the fast.
The day of the procedure, I skipped both. It may have helped that I had full anesthesia. I wouldn't suggest anyone come off these drugs unless you were in a hospital emergency room or under a competent Doctors care.
Today, I only took the Wellbutrin. No headaches, no nausea (yet). I'm making an appointment to see if I can taper down the Wellbutrin or stop it cold turkey. It seems to me that the fast and laxative purge may have been the key to get off the Effexor addiction without tapering off. That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
I'll keep you posted.