Effexor withdrawals

[denj973]

This is my first post to this forum. I have actually been coming to this site, as well as others, trying to find out as much as I can about the side effects I am experiencing from coming off Effexor xr.  I have been taking this since July of 2007. I was just a teenager at the time, and had always had bad anxiety, and a phobia of throwing up, which took over my life. I had been seeking therapy for months and going to my doctor, and finally they thought it would be best if I went on an antidepressant. Being 17 and very clueless about medications, I agreed to it.

The effexor did help me in the first number of years, during high school and college. But when I entered the work world in 2011, my anxiety and fears came back, and the 262.5 mg of effexor I was on didn't seem to be doing the trick anymore. My doctor refered me to a psychiatrist, who upped my dose to 300mg. I felt better about the increase at first, but then I was just tired for the entire summer of 2012. By the fall I decided to ask if I could decrease the dose I was taking and work towards coming off it.  The  psychiatrist gave me a hard time about it, and then finally agreed to lower my dose from 300 down to 225. I experienced a week of withdrawals, and they were unpleasant, but I balanced out on 225 mg.  I still had trouble dealing with my anxiety, though.

In early July of this year I found myself a new family doctor and she agreed to take me on.  I went to her with the same goal that I had in the fall, to get off effexor.  We lowered my dose from 225 to 187.5, and that week I experienced fairly minimal side effects. Two weeks later I went back again, and we lowered to 150. That was Tuesday, July 30th. By Friday, my withdrawals went into full swing. I wasn't so lucky on this decrease like I was with the last one.

I have been experiencing bad nausea, severe tiredness, aches and pains, the occasional brain zap. But the worst part this time has been the nausea :( I am trying to get in to see my doctor as soon as I can, as she told me to come in the minute I felt any side effects.  I had hoped that this would be easier, and that I could decrease every two weeks with minimal side effects. I kind of suspected that the drop to 150 would be hard though.... So I am just waiting balance out on this dose.

All I can think about is what the next decrease is going to be like.... All I want is for this nausea to go away as I just cannot deal with it. I had to stay home from work today, and the people I work with don't know that I am going through these withdrawals.  I just told them I was sick.  But now I have to figure out what I'm going to do if these withdrawals persist.  I am so stressed..... This morning just getting out of bed and getting in the shower was a chore for me, and then I had to force myself to eat breakfast. I called into work after that as the shower and breakfast didn't make me feel any better.  I just feel like this isn't going to get any easier.  But reading the posts on this site has made me very aware that I am not alone in this.

[denj973]

I had a great meeting with my doctor this morning, and she said that we will slow things down.  I am still going to go back and check in with her in another two weeks, but we won't necessarily do another decrease that soon.  I am still feeling weird, and have a bad stomach now at the moment.

I have a question though.... After I feel like I have balanced out and feel like myself again, how long do you think would be good to wait until the next decrease?  I know it really depends on the individual and that we know our bodies the best.  I was sortive thinking another two months after I start to feel better again.  I don't feel the need to rush this, as I know that anxiety is always going to be a part of my life.  If I did a decrease every two or three months and that meant I wouldn't have such bad stomachs, then that is what I want to do.

[remar]

I'm so glad to hear you're feeling a little better. Like Paxiled said, this can be a very hard med to taper off of. But, people can do it with little withdrawal if they take things very slowly. I was following Drs orders as far as tapering but got in a hurry and decided to try going faster myself. Big mistake.
It sounds like you have a really good Dr. Work with her tapering schedule and you should be just fine.
Yes, ginger does help with the stomach problems. I found that aloe vera juice does too.  

[denj973]

Thank you so much for your kind replies. :)

Remar - I am going to go slower now. Me and the doc thought that every two weeks would be a good time frame, but I think I want to stay at 150 for a while now.  I am actually going to see my doctor tomorrow morning at 9:00.

I went back to work today, and it was very hard getting up and eating breakfast. I was afraid to drive to work, but I did it, and I made it through the day. By the time lunch hour came I was actually hungry and ate my full lunch. And the same for dinner. I hope that I can continue to feel better now and hopefully balance out on this dose of 150.

Paxiled - ginger is soo great for helping with my stomach feeling bad.  I have the organic ginger gravol that doesn't make me sleepy during the day :)

My doctor is actually very understanding, so I am really looking forward to chatting with her tomorrow.  She actually thought that I might have a harder time with this decrease than I did with the last one, and she was right.  So I think we will both come to the agreement that I need to stay at 150 for a good while longer before we decide to lower again.

I actually when to a psychiatrist who was insistant on keeping me on effexor, telling me that I was "giving up" on a drug that had helped me for many years.  Then when I told him how unhappy I was, he was the one who decreased my dose by 75mg (from 300 down to 225). That was last November, and when I told my doctor this in July she was very shocked that anyone would decrease by such an amount.

[Paxiled]

Many people have reported that fish oil helps with the brain zaps.  Ginger might help with the nausea.  This is one of the hardest antidepressants to come off of, so go at the pace you feel suits you even if it seems painfully slow.  If it gets so bad you can't function, I've seen protocols that suggest going back on the last dose at which you felt fine and taper even more slowly.  You might go on Effexor withdrawal websites, skip the horror stories and go to the success stories and see what people did that helped.  And if you're seeing a GP who doesn't seem to understand this, you might look for a psychiatrist who does, but most of them are pretty clueless as well and it sounds as if your doctor is pretty understanding.  Just don't let them rush you.  

[remar]

Personally, I found Effexor a hard med to get off of. It should be done very slowly to help with withdrawal symptoms. In my opinion it sounds like you may be tapering too fast. Maybe you and your Dr can work on another tapering schedule. One that will go much more slowly. The nausea and brain zaps were the worst symptoms for me too. I do hope you can get in touch with your Dr very soon to discuss what to do next.