Off Effexor but still having symptoms

[Susan36]

I stopped Effexor after about six years on 150 mg daily. I tapered off over a period of several months, and in the final stage took a week of Prozac. But six weeks later I am still having the occassional reminders: what people usually call the "brain shivers." I also lost weight after stopping Effexor, which is good. But is it normal -- after so much time -- to still be having the withdrawal symptoms? I'm a bit worried ... and worried that the weight loss is a temporary manifestation and the pounds will suddenly come back on.

[Susan36]

Thank you both. I admit I have been worried about the symptoms I'm still having, after so many weeks of quiting Effexor. And, yes, Siamese123, it is good to remind oneself that being off the medication, regardless of the problems, is preferable to god-knows-what effects of staying on it! But I admit, also, that I'm not pleased the weight will probably come back. I've already spent a small fortune getting all my clothes taken in!

[Siamese123]

I recently went off my meds and I can honestly say it was the best decision of my life - it was like I woke up... i became alive. Why did you want to go off these pills? remind yourself of that and know that what u are feeling < shivers, depression, is all part of these pills and it is temporary and u need to be rational and strong.
I had the shivers, what I called zaps for around 2 months. They were what felt like electric shocks that traveled up my spine sometimes or I felt them in my tongue and my brain < make it a joke and know it will all go away soon. the weight will come back if u have not changed any eating habits.

[Soror]

Taking antidepressants for a lengthy amount of time does run the risk of long-term imprinting on your system.  It is not abnormal to continue having side effects, and you will continue to have them for a short period of time, but the good news is that it will eventually stop happening.

Remember that medication has a half-life.  It can take time for something to completely clear from your system.  Effexor has a relatively short half-life, from what I remember, but since it can take many weeks for the therapeutic effects to manifest, it seems equally likely that it will take time to cease functioning as well.