How long is Effexor withdrawal supposed to last?

[7essa]

A little over two months ago I stopped taking Effexor after slowly weaning off of it.  I had horrible withdrawal symptoms: nausea, fatigue, and dizziness.  After two months I don't feel any better.  Needless to say, I'm really scared.  I can hardly function at my job and am very frustrated and angry.  This medication has ruined my life.  Waking up in the morning is the worst part of my day.  All I have to look forward to is dizziness, fatigue, and attempting  to function.

How long did you symptoms last?  Are they supposed to last this long?

[snoozyn]

This is to no one in particular, just found this forum tonight while searching  to see if the hot flashes I've been having could be related or is it a returne of menopause I thought i was done with a year or 2 ago.  and am seeing that this can be an effexor withdrawal, along with the dizziness and heart palipations and even the itchy eyes and crampy stomache and aching jjoints and feeling slow and underwater and dumb and idiotic.
I was only on effexor a couple of weeks at .75 mg.  I was trying it as a substitute for Pristiq which I'd been on for years but seems to have stopped working and then the cost was going to go up because insurance will no longer pay for pristiq.  afraid of going to no antidepressants at all I tried effexor which is said to be chemically similar.  But, while taking this drug I'm feeling sort of 'vibrat-ey'.  Like a tight yet shaky feeling, unstable and uncomfortable.  Takes me a long time to get going.  This started as I was in the last few weeks of a temporary job (3 months) and my irritability and memory problems contributed a lot to the fact that it ended on a bad note.  I can't use that job as  areference, ever and they will be able to report on how spacy and yet irritable and critical I am.  And I don't blame them.  So, since this being ON effexor was so pathetically bad, I am trying to go OFF.  I still have pristiq quich I've been breaking in 2 but then the last 2 days quiet the 75. mg effexor entirely, and woke up next day wihtout the dizzy, tight, buzzy snaky feeling, which was a relief. but now 2 days without any effextor am getting intense hot flashes and ache all over.  Sounds like I'm lucky that the wavea of dizzyiness and shaky feeling are not worse than they are since luckily now that i'm essentially fired from work, i have the luxury of moving slowly through the day.  Nor do I feel too weepy (yet)  Based on this forum I decided maybe I could go a little slower than just 75 to 0 overnight, and take a couple grains from the capsule tonight in hopes of being less of a wreck tomorrow.  We shall see.  Appreciate the reminders about omega 3's and green t and drinking lots of water, will try.  interestingly I have more cravings for fruits and veggies than usual.  If I get the weepy self hatred that caused me t be on antidepressents in the 1st place I'll becme willing to try something else but effexor had NO improvement on the self hatred and just added a layer of wierd side effects and now I get to deal with the even wierder withdrawal.  what a waste of time.

[kelstra]

Thank you! Your comment was what i was looking for, i am on day five now completely off Effexor, my pharmacist and doctor, informed me only when i was to come off them that it was not going to easy, noone mentioned how hard it would be when they prescribed them to me 6 years ago,  I was originally on 225mg for depression and anxiety, then reduced a year ago to 150mg, then to 75mg i am  told there are many other depressants that DON'T cause these side effects when trying to come off them..My doctor did inform me after i was taking 37.5 one day then 75 the day after then 37.5 again, was messing with my brain too much and the best way was to just go cold turkey, i wish now that i had read this and tried removing granules like others have, but then i suppose it only prolongs the horrible feeling longer. I hope tomorrow is better, as the last 4 days have been awful, brain zaps dizziness vomiting, diarrhea, irritability and headaches.. Today just a mild brain zaps. I pray for myself and all others suffering it will be better tomorrow. Its been a hard 12 months!. Thankyou everyone, i wish i had found this 12 months ago, or better 6 years ago

[leashfree]

hello there, if you consider the number of people who benifit from this 'entrapment', I wonder why it took so long before one of them roared it's way up here denying the government, big pharma and al are involved in this!  Don't even bother trying to convince anyone of this; deep inside we all know this is a fact.  They just want you to have doubts about it. next thing you know, you'll doubt about yourself and then about pretty much everything including the decision you took by getting rid of the leash they have put around your neck years ago without givingyou all the facts upfront. I am a newbie at this but after years on it, I decided it's do or die....literally! todayis day 5 of what I hope will numbered in the thousands. If I fail i'll die a free man, if I succeed I stand achance to be myself again...and feel it! Whatever happen There's a thing that won't change: My conviction that what look, smell and taste like a fact is a fact nothing else. By the way there's one side effect I realy like: It's tough to describe but I feel no presure on my troat anymore...guess it's the leash I trew away;)  

[sweetp73]

Hi! As I read through the threads memories of my withdrawal from Effexor XR come to mind.  I was on 37.5 for 5 years.  I can empathize with each of you.  It took me two years to taper off the 37.5 (call me hyper - sensitive).  I managed to dodge the brain zaps that I have heard so much about... I did manage to experience weight gain, cognitive function issues (word recall, short term memory) and had the opposite effect of most - within a few weeks of being off of it so went my "internal spark".  Irony is that prior to being on it and during the time I was on it the "internal spark" was alive and well.  It has been almost 15 months that I have been off if it and it has certainly not been the smoothest transition.  There is not doubt in my mind that having been on it for an extended # of years it affected the chemical make up and had to accept this by adjusting my life accordingly.   My humble advice to those of you going through the experience... Be patient, positive and proactive.  Taper at the slowest pace - don't be in a rush. Each body and brain is made differently and "cookie cutter" recipes for tapering don't work.  Be aware of your own system. Keep a journal of your experiences, feelings, discontinuing symptoms.  Speak to an ND for complimentary treatments/supplements/methods to help.  Also there is a FANTASTIC book called the MOOD CURE by Julia Ross.  It has some fabulous suggestions for withdrawing from antidepressants.  I wish each you success with your journey to freedom from Effexor or Effexor XR.

[lkmw]

Hi all,
I can so much relate to what everyone is saying about symptoms. As I read, I noticed there are no magic numbers as to how long you can feel awful.It does seem that the first week is the worst...i hope.
I was on effexor for about 11 yrs. was up to 225mg for a while but the past year on 150mg. Dr. had me go 1 month of 75, then a month of 37.5. this is day 6 without any. feel so miserable most of the time but i do have windows of time where i feel "normal". it's usually when I'm with friends and/or family and not focused on myself. I've had the stomach issues-gas, bloating, diarreah. Omega 3 seems to help with the brain zaps or waves.
Also, good nutrition and lots of water. as others have said, my eyes can't keep up with my body and I have bouts of anger, meanness, and screaming. Couldn't work on Thursday. Crying a lot. Thought about getting rid of not only my beloved pets, but my kids too! Humor helps! I want so badly to feel healthy and well-adjusted. I think the symptoms have gotten slightly better in the past two days.if down the road i need to try another anti-depressant, I will but I do not want this drug to have a hold on me that I can't let go of. So I'm gonna keep going. Thanks to all for sharing your experiences. It is comforting to know I'm not crazy and others experience the same things. Best wishes to all.  

[christar6]

Had been on 150mg daily for 18months, then 1 month on 75mg and 1 month on 37.5mg. Day 6 now without any efexor in my system. Day 3 it hit me like a ton of bricks, brain 'waves' , nausea, the sweats, tremors and crazy dreams. On day four I had an acupuncture session which helped heaps. Would highly recommend it if you know a good one. Today all symptoms are still there but very mild and was close to feeling 'normal'. Here's hoping tomorrow is even brighter. Seriously try some alternate therapies people to help with the transition..seems to have made a huge difference for me. Good luck everyone on your journey to be efexor free....and a happy life.