Effexor xr

I have been on effexor xr for 30 days and I want to get off the medicine.  I know not to stop it abruptly.  My doctor wants me to stay on for another 30 days; to 6 months however, I don't want to.  I want to get off before too much builds in my body.  The doctor said he is not sure of the best way to get off the medicine.  What is the recommend course?

[LeftCoastChick]

First of all, why do you want to stop?
What was your diagnosis, and was this done by a psychiatrist?
How many other anti-depressants have you been on?
It can take 2-3 months to get off the drug, you have to wean slowly. If you stop cold turkey, you well get the shakes, vision disturbances, feel like you are being zapped all over, especially your head. I lost my balance for a bit.

I also had flu like symptoms. It still can happen with a slow wean,. Many folks move over to celexa. at a least to stop the worst of it when they are at lower doses.Because I was still really depressed and had hypomania, i had to get off the med as quickly as i could so i could switch to another med.. I was very sick feeling for 2 weeks or so.

It takes 6-8 weeks for fully kick in, so your doctor is right. I was only on cymbalta for a month, sister drug to Effexor, and I was only on it for a month, and had wicked withdrawal symptoms.( i was diangosed Bipolar and it made me extremely agtiated.)

Many depressions are because of a chemical imbalance. You will relapse at some point even worse then you were freeling before taking you meds.