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How long is Effexor withdrawal supposed to last?
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?
How long did you symptoms last? Are they supposed to last this long?
This is the second time I have withdrawn from Effexor. I was stupid to go on it a second time, and will never ever take it again. My sleep dr. blames Effexor for me developing restless leg syndrome and severe periodic limb movements during sleep.
The first time I withdrew I was pregnant, so went off cold turkey and was very ill for nearly 3 weeks. This time, I tapered down to 37.5 mg, and just ran out of that. I feel sick, but am semi-able to function. But I hate how short-tempered I am and how my personality, thoughts and emotions fluctuate severely throughout the day. I am not behaving like myself at all, and it is really scary.
I hope that it doesn't last 2+ weeks like it did the last time. I am taking ibuprofen, highly-absorbable multi-vitamin, b-12, 5-htp, st. john's wort, and passionflower. I am hoping the supplements help somewhat. The passionflower reduces the severe anxiety, and that one I can tell is helping. So far, jury is still out on st. john's wort and 5-htp.
The first time I withdrew I was pregnant, so went off cold turkey and was very ill for nearly 3 weeks. This time, I tapered down to 37.5 mg, and just ran out of that. I feel sick, but am semi-able to function. But I hate how short-tempered I am and how my personality, thoughts and emotions fluctuate severely throughout the day. I am not behaving like myself at all, and it is really scary.
I hope that it doesn't last 2+ weeks like it did the last time. I am taking ibuprofen, highly-absorbable multi-vitamin, b-12, 5-htp, st. john's wort, and passionflower. I am hoping the supplements help somewhat. The passionflower reduces the severe anxiety, and that one I can tell is helping. So far, jury is still out on st. john's wort and 5-htp.
you give me hope! i have been suffering this horrible withdrawal for almost a month and a half now. I started at 225 mg and am now down to 150 mg. i FEEL LIKE IM DYING. i used to be so smart and now i can hardly function. this has got to be one of the worst drugs out there. I would rather my kids smoke weed then ever be put on an anti-depressant as this. I am almost tempted to email Mr. Wyeth himself to take this thing off the market! i tell you they are in for our wallets rather then treating us. I get horrible heat flashes every second of the day, then within the hour it will switch to cold flashes. my eyes continue to go blurry and i feel as if i star at somEthing too long the light will brighten or my vision will go blurry. i feel like i have the flu, my ears will not stop ringing. I would never wish this upon another human being. my IQ im sure has dropped ! i am having major confusion throughout the day, then times i feel like crying randomly in the blink of an eye tears will come streaming down my face instantly and i wont know why! its very frustrating especially when im trying to have a conversation i will just be so rude and cry during a 5 minute period. its very unlike me. i honestly want to set everyone on fire including myself. this is pure misery. i think i have hit the point of pure insanity.
Im on day 3 of no effexor, 75mg. My head is so dizzy, and my stomach hurts, but I have to stop. I no longer have insurance and my script ran out. I've only been on it for a little over a yr, so I'm hoping the effects wear off soon. If I had known the side effects of coming off before I started taking them, I would have never started them! I'm always tired and all I want to do is sleep. So I'm hoping that once I'm finally done with the withdrawls I can go back to be a normal mom. I know I can function without it, I was only put on due to postpartum depression, and I was fine before. I just have to stay positive that I can make it past this withdrawl. I'm going to buy me some omega 3 and fish oil vitamins to help.
Write what you were going to say. Your advise is always valuable. If you were going to say that this mainline medicine withdrawal program of 75 mg everyother day for 4 days and then stop is just madness, then I'll back up.
Hei, Very interesting blog. Am tapering off at 5mg per 14 days and am now 2 months into it. Yes - that thought has struck me too. Does tapering mean you just prolong the side effects - but I also understand that the main reason for tapering is to reduce the chance of depression when you are completely off effexor.
Yep - agree there too. Exercise is very important. makes all the difference, so recommend regular relatively intense exercise to everyone.
More agreement there too - figuring out what is the depression and what are side effects is not easy. I read around the long term side effects of Effexor and that is a bit of a scary read. You maybe (like me) developed long term Effexor side effects which are as bad or worse than depression/withdrawl symproms.
Agree too, alternative medicine is well worth trying. I personnally believe and experience this as the best help we can get. I use a homeopathic doctor.
And finally - bit of advice. Effexor has a very long half life and it takes a long time to get it out of the system. A lot of people expereince side effects get worse for the first 2-3 weeks. So, don't despair if withdrawal symptoms get worse - its normal. And it will feel just like depression. So, don't go thinking that you are falling back into the old problems, as you most likely are not.
Yep - agree there too. Exercise is very important. makes all the difference, so recommend regular relatively intense exercise to everyone.
More agreement there too - figuring out what is the depression and what are side effects is not easy. I read around the long term side effects of Effexor and that is a bit of a scary read. You maybe (like me) developed long term Effexor side effects which are as bad or worse than depression/withdrawl symproms.
Agree too, alternative medicine is well worth trying. I personnally believe and experience this as the best help we can get. I use a homeopathic doctor.
And finally - bit of advice. Effexor has a very long half life and it takes a long time to get it out of the system. A lot of people expereince side effects get worse for the first 2-3 weeks. So, don't despair if withdrawal symptoms get worse - its normal. And it will feel just like depression. So, don't go thinking that you are falling back into the old problems, as you most likely are not.
Hi Randy,
I've actually been on Efexor (Aust sp) X-R for 15 years and for the last 7 (?) on 450mg. Now I know this is a huge dose, but I strongly suspect that my body disposes of drugs extremely efficiently and hence it as taken a large quantity of the drug for me to achieve a truly effective dose. This neutralised my GAD and booted the depression and, yes for those of your concerned out there for my liver, it is coping fine.
Although I have been into exercise for around 20 years now, over the last 2 I have prioritized it and other aspects of my personal well-being and the truly remarkable mental benefits have led me to decide to check out life without the AD.
Before doing so, I read various (extremely alarming) threads about the process of getting off this stuff (thanks to each and everyone of you for doing this) and decided to go Cold Turkey like you Randy. Now, first of all I would never suggest anyone else do this. It's a very personal choce. My reasons are two-fold. The first is that I lived through 30 years of debilitating anxiety and miserable depressive episodes before I finally, out of sheer desperation, succumbed to trying drugs, so I figured I could take whatever withdrawal threw at me; in addition, I had never experienced suicidal ideation and I also have Efexor on hand if I really need it. Secondly, I noticed that a lot of the reported withdrawal symptoms seemed like more extreme versions of symptoms I have experienced for 17 years now, off and on, but had attributed to Irritable Bowell Syndrome.
Qu: has anyone else struggled with IBS?
Anyway, in addition to the classic IBS symptoms of stomach cramps, diarrhea, constipation, I would get this low grade nausea accompanied by slight dizziness, terrible mud-brain, fatigue and this weird sensation in my head whereby it FELT like stuttering flashes were going off, almost like an inner-ear malfunction.
Anyway, interestingly since from what I've read these brain flashes are some kind of electrical phenomenon, what cured me of the worst of the (allegedly) IBS symptoms (at one point I was virtually dysfunctional and bedridden) was Chinese acupuncture involving an electrical current!
So, now I'm thinking what is what? Have I really just been struggling with symptoms brought on by the drug, or perhaps the IBS and Efexor interacted in some weird way. The gut is directly linked to the nervous system and is
one of the places Anxiety makes its home and, of course, the brain is the next stop along the train line, so it makes a kinda gruesome sense.
So, I am fascinated to see what symptoms are left (hopefully none) once the drug is completely out of my system. Also, from what I've read, tapering off doesn't lessen the severity of the symptoms once they hit, which they always seem to do, so I figure "Bring em on".
I'm well along Day 2 of going Cold Turkey and all I'm experiencing is the kind of fairly mild symptoms of : slight nausea, mud-brain, hyper-emotionalism (Come Home Lassie Weepies), tiredness and the brain flashes - none of which are fun, but they're not as bad as I've experienced in the past when I was also battling chronic IBS (I think). I should also mention that I'm only working 2 days a week temporarily, so I can minimize effort and contact with others, and maximize rest time if I need too. Definitely helps.
So Randy! Sorry I got a bit off track, but what I want to say to you is that these symptoms certainly are NOT what
you took the drug to address in the first place. They are chemical gremlins to be wary of. Since your reaction seems pretty mild compared to most, you should be able to stick it out by being mindful of them, avoiding situations that might inflame them eg I suggest you don't watch the news for a while, and see how you go. If it gets too much, check in with your doc and see if they will give you a low dose of Prozac which on good anecdotal evidence nullifies the withdrawal symptoms and has none of its own. There doesn't seem to be any universal rule on how long the symptoms last, so I guess it comes down to how bad they are and how long you can put up with them. A Pox on your House Pfizer Et Al!
One footnote to all of you brave people out there, I SWEAR by exercise as an invaluable tool in the battle for
mental health, particularly anything cardio. ANY kind of regular exercise is good, but the harder you work your heart the better. One of the best and GOOD side effects of a hard cardio workout is an endorphin high which sets you up for the day and can keep you on Cloud Nine for an hour or longer. And you did it all yourself :-)
Good Luck and remember everyone, you REALLY are not alone.
Kathryn
So Randy! Sorry I got a bit off track! I forgot to mention
I've actually been on Efexor (Aust sp) X-R for 15 years and for the last 7 (?) on 450mg. Now I know this is a huge dose, but I strongly suspect that my body disposes of drugs extremely efficiently and hence it as taken a large quantity of the drug for me to achieve a truly effective dose. This neutralised my GAD and booted the depression and, yes for those of your concerned out there for my liver, it is coping fine.
Although I have been into exercise for around 20 years now, over the last 2 I have prioritized it and other aspects of my personal well-being and the truly remarkable mental benefits have led me to decide to check out life without the AD.
Before doing so, I read various (extremely alarming) threads about the process of getting off this stuff (thanks to each and everyone of you for doing this) and decided to go Cold Turkey like you Randy. Now, first of all I would never suggest anyone else do this. It's a very personal choce. My reasons are two-fold. The first is that I lived through 30 years of debilitating anxiety and miserable depressive episodes before I finally, out of sheer desperation, succumbed to trying drugs, so I figured I could take whatever withdrawal threw at me; in addition, I had never experienced suicidal ideation and I also have Efexor on hand if I really need it. Secondly, I noticed that a lot of the reported withdrawal symptoms seemed like more extreme versions of symptoms I have experienced for 17 years now, off and on, but had attributed to Irritable Bowell Syndrome.
Qu: has anyone else struggled with IBS?
Anyway, in addition to the classic IBS symptoms of stomach cramps, diarrhea, constipation, I would get this low grade nausea accompanied by slight dizziness, terrible mud-brain, fatigue and this weird sensation in my head whereby it FELT like stuttering flashes were going off, almost like an inner-ear malfunction.
Anyway, interestingly since from what I've read these brain flashes are some kind of electrical phenomenon, what cured me of the worst of the (allegedly) IBS symptoms (at one point I was virtually dysfunctional and bedridden) was Chinese acupuncture involving an electrical current!
So, now I'm thinking what is what? Have I really just been struggling with symptoms brought on by the drug, or perhaps the IBS and Efexor interacted in some weird way. The gut is directly linked to the nervous system and is
one of the places Anxiety makes its home and, of course, the brain is the next stop along the train line, so it makes a kinda gruesome sense.
So, I am fascinated to see what symptoms are left (hopefully none) once the drug is completely out of my system. Also, from what I've read, tapering off doesn't lessen the severity of the symptoms once they hit, which they always seem to do, so I figure "Bring em on".
I'm well along Day 2 of going Cold Turkey and all I'm experiencing is the kind of fairly mild symptoms of : slight nausea, mud-brain, hyper-emotionalism (Come Home Lassie Weepies), tiredness and the brain flashes - none of which are fun, but they're not as bad as I've experienced in the past when I was also battling chronic IBS (I think). I should also mention that I'm only working 2 days a week temporarily, so I can minimize effort and contact with others, and maximize rest time if I need too. Definitely helps.
So Randy! Sorry I got a bit off track, but what I want to say to you is that these symptoms certainly are NOT what
you took the drug to address in the first place. They are chemical gremlins to be wary of. Since your reaction seems pretty mild compared to most, you should be able to stick it out by being mindful of them, avoiding situations that might inflame them eg I suggest you don't watch the news for a while, and see how you go. If it gets too much, check in with your doc and see if they will give you a low dose of Prozac which on good anecdotal evidence nullifies the withdrawal symptoms and has none of its own. There doesn't seem to be any universal rule on how long the symptoms last, so I guess it comes down to how bad they are and how long you can put up with them. A Pox on your House Pfizer Et Al!
One footnote to all of you brave people out there, I SWEAR by exercise as an invaluable tool in the battle for
mental health, particularly anything cardio. ANY kind of regular exercise is good, but the harder you work your heart the better. One of the best and GOOD side effects of a hard cardio workout is an endorphin high which sets you up for the day and can keep you on Cloud Nine for an hour or longer. And you did it all yourself :-)
Good Luck and remember everyone, you REALLY are not alone.
Kathryn
So Randy! Sorry I got a bit off track! I forgot to mention
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