[Serja]

Hey everyone,
Well I went through the forums and read everyones praises and complaints on this drug but still didnt find an answer to my issue.
I am on my 4th day of being effexor free after being weened off. I was on 75mg for 9 months for post traumatic stress disorder. It worked WONDERS for me, but now getting off has been an issue. I don't have some of the really harsh withdrawals but I have one that is just driving me nuts.
Anytime I look around, move my eyes around or anything, I get this zoom feeling, not quite a dizzy feeling, it's so hard to put into words. It gets worse in the sun and sound gets enhanced in certain situations (Fan noises to be exact). I read about brain zaps but I don't feel like its a shock feeling, just a horribly annoying thing.
I did try benedryl as some people mentioned but all that did was put me to sleep, still had the issues.

Has anyone had this issue? If so, how long can I expect it to last or is there anything I can take to subside it. Thanks.

[mizG]

How did you ween from the Effexor? I too stopped taking it and after a few days had heart palpitations, dizziness, shocking jolts, sweating like crazy, and just feeling sick. I decided to go back on it but I take half of a pill 37 1/2 mg )I thought I could just suffer through, but Iam no match for those crazy side effects!!!!! I thought I lost my mind and was going crazy, but , unfortunately after becoming a slave to those pills again, I feel better. I hope to get off them completely in about a month to two. I hope your side effects last a short time or aren't bothered enough to go back on the meds

[Serja]

quote:Originally posted by mizG

How did you ween from the Effexor? I too stopped taking it and after a few days had heart palpitations, dizziness, shocking jolts, sweating like crazy, and just feeling sick. I decided to go back on it but I take half of a pill 37 1/2 mg )I thought I could just suffer through, but Iam no match for those crazy side effects!!!!! I thought I lost my mind and was going crazy, but , unfortunately after becoming a slave to those pills again, I feel better. I hope to get off them completely in about a month to two. I hope your side effects last a short time or aren't bothered enough to go back on the meds

Hi MizG
Well my doctor put me from 75 to 37.5 for one week then said to stop them all together. But instead of stopping them all together, I broke open the 37.5's I had and split the medicine in half from that point for another week. After that I stopped all together but when it got really bad I would take out like 15-20 balls of the medicine and just eat those. Sounds weird I guess, but since it isn't time released, it worked great. Make sure you keep me updated when you try again.

[AS410]

We also did that when getting my husband off of Effexor. The doctor lowered him to 37.5 for one week and expected him to stop. I felt this was too fast, so we extended the 37.5 a few more days, then emptied the pill of half contents for another week.

Unfortunately he hasn't done too well being off the drugs for 2 months. He is constantly dizzy, foggy-headed, sleepy, depressed and anxious (anxiety is very high recently).

I almost feel like for some people, once you start the drugs, your brain is hooked and can't adjust to being without!

[metalcrystal]

I stopped the Effexor about a month ago and still have the wierd vision and head feelings. I think they take quite a while to go away, from what I have read on other boards.