Hello
I have read some of the articles on this page and I wanted to tell you about my experience on effexor. I'm a 23 year old male and took effexor for about three years. The reason I was on the drug was for depression. Throughout the time I took effexor, I really didn't see any signs of the drug helping me. The only thing I noticed was that I got a better nights sleep. Over the next year or so my depression decreased. I strongly believe that this is the cause of me talking more with my doctor and family about my situation. Also, I lost a very close friend of mine in an accident. You would think this would cause me to be more depressed, but actually, it helped me. It helped me realize that the things I was being depressed over was just petty stuff, and that "life" is simply more important. Around six months ago I decided that I was going to stop taking effexor. So I stopped effexor cold turkey. I can't actually describe what I felt like when I did this. To make it short...my ears started ringing, I had trouble concentrating, my mouth got very dry, my vision was blurred at times, and the thing I hated the most...I had trouble sleeping and I had terrible nightmares. Coming from a person that can fall asleep at the drop of a hat and someone that hardly ever dreams, this was quite scary. It was so bad that I would go for 3 or 4 days without sleep! Simply because I could not fall asleep. Whenever I did finally get some sleep, it would be for just 3 or 4 hours and I would wake up very scared. And I would wake up not knowing that I had fallen asleep. I went on without effexor for a full week then I notified my doctor. He told me to get back on the effexor, and the next time I seen him he would start cutting my dosages. Within two days or so, all of my withdrawls stopped. I started sleeping and the other side effects were gone. This goes to show you that effexor was the cause. To make a long story short, my doctor cut my dosages for a period of a month or more until I was finally off of effexor. Some of the side effects came back for a short amount of time, but finally got better. When you go through the withdrawls, you start to think that they will never go away. But if you do it the right way, they will.
If you have any questions, fill free to email me.
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I was on 225 mg of Effexor. I have been taking this for over two years and the doctor has put me on Wellbutrin SR 150 mg. I had to take the wellbutrin 150 with the effexor 3 75 mg tabs for 1 week then wellbutrin 150 with effexor 2 75 mg tabs for 2 weeks then wellbutrin 150 with 1 75 mg tabs for 2 weeks then wellbutrin 150 alone no effexor. I have had the worse case of withdrawls in my life, dizziness, lost feeling, cant think, weird strange dissconnected feeling.Effexor is not supposed to be addictive but ot gives you these f***ed up feelings. It feels like back when I was addicted to Xanex and I came off them which is a true narcottic which wasn't near this bad. I wish the medical department and the gov. would get their stuff straight. I can smoke pot for years and have the same effects and better controll of my life than on this medicine but the gov. wants to have controll over us. Also you can quit pot and not have all these withdrawls!!!!!!
i have been on effexor for about 2 yrs and i have noticed a 30-40 lb. weight gain. the medicine works but it seems like i am gaining weight and fat never burns off. i am as active as i used to be before i started taking the medicine, my diets the same, so i dont know what the deal is. it seems like this is a popular med, and i feel pretty good but want to try something else though.
Please, PLEASE, check my post on jennjenn's thread "Effexor XR and pregnancy" before you even THINK about coming off of Effexor. I truly think that even if I grew as large as Fat ******* (from the "Austin Powers" movies) I would NEVER AGAIN consider stopping Effexor. It is a very, very strange drug that is unlike any other SSRI produced to date. . .the withdrawals almost make it seem like the Effexor itself (or maybe the drug manufacturer) doesn't WANT you to stop. . .not to sound too paranoid, but please read my post and search the Internet. You may be very surprised by what you find.
peace,
Kurt
there are a number of questions. Let's see if we can deal with them one at a time. Most doctors would agree with your internist that if you have regulated your thyroid to a normal level, you should not increase your dose in order to get more rapid weight loss. It is dangerous to your health.
If you have gained weight you can only lose it by diet and exercise. Going of of effexor is not sufficient.
If you are going to go off Effexor, it should be over a 3-4 week period. You should check with your doctor, but currently there is no reason you can't be on wellbutrin while going off of effexor, so using both in lower doses might be your answer.
The specialist you should be seeing is a psychopharmacologist, who is a psychiatrist with special training in medication management. Under all circumstances, any changes should be made under the supervision of a doctor.