Effexor - Life without i

[Theresa719]

I have been reading these posts that date back in 2005 - it is now 2008.  My daughter is on Effexor and has been for about 1 year and will state that is has helped her immensely.  But, she knows she is having some minor side effects and she desires to get off as doesn't like being so dependent on a pill, but is so terrified of the potential withdrawal.  She also doesn't want to go back to the way she was feeling before the Effexor, but she has gained almost 50 pounds since starting the meds.  One doctor was going to stop her cold turkey and switch her to Zolof, but she didn't do it for fear of a reaction.  Thus, it is not helping her emotionally to live with the fear of her meds.  She says she feels like an addict.  Has there been any new discoveries relative to withdrawals, procedures for reduction, etc for Effexor.

Thanks

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

The best way to get off his medication is to do it over three weeks.  The first week he reduce the dose to as low as possible.  The second week you take that does every other day.  The third week you take it every third day and then you quit.  You should not have any withdrawal effects after that.

[Eleison]

I was on efexor a year. It wasn't a medication suited to my body chemistry at all, and it worsened anorexic symptoms - far from gaining weight, I lost half a stone... Different meds effect different people in different ways.

Coming off it was hard, and I came off it in tandem with starting mirtazapine [no weight gain on this one either...!] It took me several months of going very slowly, as it did stir up a lot of murky symptoms from the lower depths. Not everyone has a hard time coming off it though. If start up was fairly unproblematic, then withdrawal shouldn't be too bad. At least that's my experience. Starting on efexor was turbulent for me, although it did help to some degree.

One thing my GP said to me that really really helped me when I was struggling with the withdrawal, and that was that at some point there will no longer be any of the venlafaxine in my system. There is an end to the withdrawal symptoms.

[TRwife]

I've been trying to get off Effexor for months now.  I tapered down over three weeks, but when I stopped completely, the withdrawal symptoms were terrible.  I didn't know what was happening to me until I found this website.  On the basis of something I read online, I had my doctor prescribe tablets instead of capsules.  I've been cutting these down slowly, not going to a lower dose until I don't feel the dizziness for over a day.  I'm down to 1/8 of a tablet, once a day. I hope to be able to stop sometime soon.  I also gained weight - 45 lbs.  And I had just lost all the weight from my first pregnancy when I started taking Effexor.  I've been nursing my twins (second pregnancy) for almost a year now, and even that has not helped me lose anything more than what I started the pregnancy with.  I've switched to Wellbutrin, which is not as helpful as the Effexor for me, but I am "depressed" by my weight.  :-)

[tafai]

HI,
I'm on effexor myself and have been for many years.
I do want to go off them one day, or at least try, but i am aware there is a chance i might need some kind of med. whether effexor or something else to help with chronic depression/anxiety problems.
Some people just lack certain things in their bodies they need medication for to help them function (but it took me quite a while to come to terms with that and still i would try to get off them first at some point).

anyway, i think it's probably a good idea to try how she does without but i do know effexor is known for having quite some withdrawal effects on many people (this doens't mean she is addicted, it just means the med. impacts the system in a way that changes the balance, and that has (side) effects, also when you go off them the balance changes again and there will be withdrawal, but this is temporary)
I would advise to go off it as slowly as possible and if she suffers withdrawal just stay on that lower level for a bit longer before going to the next, even lower level.

good luck