Effexor XR, withdrawal & longterm use

[Lealyn66]

This is not so much a questions as a warning:
I have been taking a pretty high dose of Effexor Xr (300 mg daily) for about 14 years.  During all of this time I have been for the most part stable.  missing a dose has immediate side effects which I actually appreciated because it would remind me to take the drug.

Last week I began a new bottle.  It took me SEVEN days to figure out what was going on.  For the first time in my life, I got a bad batch of drugs.  I don't yet know where to send the pills or how to notify the company, but thanx to the pharmacist- who didn't think I was crazy and gave me 6 pills from a different batch- all withdrawal symptoms disappeared in less than 2 hours!!!  

What is frightening to me are the following two things:
1.  I am a very high functioning person.  It took me seven days to follow my gut, stick to my guns and demand replacement pills.  What would have happened to a less confident or less functional person?
2. The withdrawals are horrible!  I now have a deeper understanding of why a drug addict would stay a drug addict.  What started out as a weird flu became worse and worse;  supersensitive skin, hot/cold, sweats, headache, tingling tongue & face, extreme urges to cry lasting only minutes, inability to sleep, electric shock feelings all over, and the worst was "swishy" head!

I went to my doctor on the 5th day into this who said I just had a flu and was emotionally stressed, to take two (more) days off of work to rest and I would be better.  The next day I was visiting the pharmacist- and thank God I did.  I can only imagine how debilitated I would have been in two more days.  Come Monday, I have to call me Dr. and explain to him what was really wrong and get a prescription for more Effexor.

What's scary is that after looking on the internet, I see that the side effects I had are common.  he didn't recognize this.  I also notice my dose is VERY high.  No one else seems to be on 300 mg.  Also, who has been on this as long as i?  Can that explain the peripheral numbness I have been experiencing and periodically complaining about for YEARS????  I gave up going to the neurologist when they told me they thought I MIGHT have MS.... what do I do, if anything?

[mk1964]

I did it, it takes a long time but is well worth it to cut down or go off.I did it a few years ago after realizing what kind of med I was on......send me a message if interested!

[DWB484]

Thank you for your cautionary tale. I also spent a period on fairly high dose Venlafaxine XL (225mg) about ten years ago. I vividly remember the awful side-effects that would develop within a few hours of missing a dose and would evaporate rapidly when I took the medication. I used to get a 'swishy head' as well: it was as though i'd just gone over the top of a roller-coaster and begun to drop rapidly, except the sensation lasted hours instead of seconds and was crippling rather than exciting. Venlafaxine also has quite serios implications for the heart.

Were I in your shoes, I'd consider discussing alternative treatment regimes with my doctor. At the moment, I'm following the STAR*D protocol, taking 75mg Venlafaxine XL, 45mg Mirtazipine and 40mcg Liothyronine (as augmentation) each day. Mentally, I'm better than I've been in decades, but even that small dose of Venlafaxine makes my blood pressure brittle and I have a marked tremor. For me, these side-effects are a price well worth paying. I'm not suggesting that may be a suitable combination for you - just trying to demonstrate that there are effective alternatives out there.