[miserableffectsor]

This is my first experience on a message board. I hope it arrives at the right place. I started efexor around 1997. My shrink tried every other anti depressant on me. The only one I could tolerate was efexor.

Turns out that my problem was chronic fatigue, not depression. Which would explain why none of the drugs worked. So, mistake number one.

I have tried to get off this drug three times. I have stopped trying because of all the reasons everyone else has. Sick, dizzy, brain zinggers or zaps or what ever you want to call them. Cant even move my eyes without getting all messed up.

So, new doctor said "why do you need to quit?" You are taking so much other stuff whats the difference." UGH. Well I finally convinced her I wanted to quit so she told me to taper down to 37.5 for two weeks and then if I get any withdrawl just go to bed with some xanax for three days. She said three days is how long withdrawl takes. Yea, right!

On day three I am having the worst symptoms of withdrawl. I am terrified that I will have these symptoms for two to four weeks to five years after having read through all the posts here.

I beleive my chronic fatigue is related to my leaky gut which is for sure related to years of antibiotic's and other medications that eat away at the body. So I must get off this drug.

Should I add back a few grains of efexor or should I try the benadryl or claritin d? I don't have much stamina for researching and shopping etc.

I would appreciate any advice from those that have successfully terminated the drug completely.

[abey042000]

I will say this, I myself am taking the max dose for effxor 225mg a day (for depression) and I feel wonderful with it, but BELIEVE me if I go 2 days without, I get all the withdrawal symptoms u did. Major brain zingers and dizziness. I thought maybe this was a feeling not anyone else has felt without Effexor. Good Luck! Sorry I'm not any help with getting off, just thought I'd share my experience.

[PoppyQueen]

Miserable, how can you taper off a drug you've used for 8 years in two weeks? That's absurd. I've been on Effexor 75mg for about 3 years. I wanted to wean off so my doc put me on 37.5mg for one month, then the next month take one every other day, then the third month 1 every few days.

I can't speak of the success as I started seeing another doc and am now on a new drug called Cymbalta for pain reduction. So far, not too bad. It's been 1-1/2 weeks. They do make me very sleepy and sweaty.

As your doc for about 90 Effexor 37.5 and do the wean as I suggested. Doesn't that make more sense to you?

Good Luck!
PQ

[dlgordin]

To those trying to get off Effexor. I feel so sorry for you. I know what you are going through. It is the most horrible thing to go through. I stopped cold turkey and about lost my mind. I was so mad at my doctor because he wouldn't listen to all my symptoms I was having and it turned out to be all caused by the Effexor. So I just quit. That didn't work. I started seeing a new doctor and he explained to me how Effexor works. What I was doing to myself was having a Melatonin melt down. I guess somehow it takes over the making of Melatonin for your body and when you quit all the sudden like i did your body doesn't have any to take its place until it start producing it again. So I went back on the full dosage and then very very gradually started weining off of it. I took 2 months to do it and didnt suffer any of the horrible side effects. I've been off of it for almost a year and feel wonderful. There is hope and you can get off of it, just take your time. Let your body start producing the Melatonin gradually while taking the Effexor away. It worked for me, hopefully I'll work for you.

[joesy35]

I have been on Efexor for the past two and a half years and have had them increased and decreased during this time. At present I am working myself off them again at he minute hopefully I have had my last one on Wednesday. Previous times were unsuccessful. My problem at the minute is that occassionally I am feeling dizzy but my main concern is the feeling in my face. It feels as if it has been frozen and is now thoughing out. Has anyone else ever experienced this sensation. I do not know how the doctors say they are not addictive as they are big style.

Please let me know


Joanne

[Kaye]

[:I]Hi, I have been efexlor for almost 2 years.
Treated for severe depression and high anxiety.
This medication has saved my life. I had tried many others that actually made me worse and hospitalized 3 times.
Side efects for me are fuzzy head, short term memory loss and
weoght gain. Weighed up I am very greatful.
My Physc has planned for me to slowly be weaned off in a few months. He said it can take about 12mths. I am on a large does of 300mgper day. Very scared to start comming off a medication, I feel has saved my life and my family from any more pain.

[Kaye]

[:I]Hi, I have been efexlor for almost 2 years.
Treated for severe depression and high anxiety.
This medication has saved my life. I had tried many others that actually made me worse and hospitalized 3 times.
Side efects for me are fuzzy head, short term memory loss and
weoght gain. Weighed up I am very greatful.
My Physc has planned for me to slowly be weaned off in a few months. He said it can take about 12mths. I am on a large does of 300mgper day. Very scared to start comming off a medication, I feel has saved my life and my family from any more pain.

[mailes]

hi

[Miles]

To those struggling with effexor:

You may wish to visit this site (http://www.petitiononline.com/effexor/) and sign the petition.

To: Effexor's manufacturer, Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories
Effexor Petition

We the individuals listed below have electronically signed this petition for the purpose of making it known that consumers treated with the SSNRI antidepressant Effexor have or are experiencing "often ignored" serious side effects of this medication. And that thousands of patients in the US and worldwide are unable to discontinue Effexor or even reduce dosage due to the rapid onset of severe withdrawal-like symptoms which often initiates before a patient begins dose reduction due to the short half-life of Effexor. Documentation of which the manufacturer, Wyeth-Ayerst has gradually disclosed now some 8 years after this drug was first licensed, being aware of these problems all along but failing to communicate this knowledge to the public and the medical community.

Wyeth-Ayerst misleadingly advertises through its Effexor labeling that only drug abusers are at risk of physical and psychological dependence, and withdrawal problems when tapering back or abruptly discontinuing Effexor usage. Wyeth-Ayerst knows such representations are false, and that all patients, including patients not having a history of drug abuse, are susceptible to withdrawal problems after tapering back or abruptly discontinuing Effexor.

Effexor as prescribed to us by our doctors resulted in anxiety and agitation, sexual dysfunction, hypomania, weight gain, and many other debilitating adverse reactions such as insomnia and bizarre vivid nightmares, deterioration in eyesight, high blood pressure, dehydrating night sweats, memory problems, thyroid disorders which can cause the very depression this medication was first prescribed to treat, among other serious side effects. These iatrogenic (medication induced) effects were ignored or underplayed by its manufacturer, which resulted in our overall inability to function normally for lengthy periods of time during usage and attempted dose reduction. Nor had proper disclosure been made that benzodiazepines had been co-prescribed during clinical trial in order to minimize the agitation that the manufacturer had recognized this medication could cause. Effexor in many cases is not the "stand alone" remedy that it has been advertised to be. Patient in accepting treatment with Effexor are not being forewarned that by their use of Effexor -- sleeping medication, blood pressure medication, and anti-anxiety medication might become a concurrent necessity. Thus the mis-informed consumer totally unexpectedly finds themselves being prescribed many more drugs than they ever anticipated needing.

We all know that taking prescription medication involves some risks and that with each medication some percentage of patients are likely to experience adverse results. We strongly feel however, that the risks involved with the usage of Effexor is greater than the medical community and the public realize, certainly greater than we were ever told, and that Wyeth-Ayerst knew of these risks but failed to communicate those risks to the consumer and their physicians.

Our lives have been negatively, unexpectedly, and undeservingly impacted by the antidepressant Effexor. We were not given full disclosure of this medication's known adverse effects, and many of us suffered greatly because of this failure to warn. Therefore, our purpose with this petition is to share information that we have gathered so that others will have adequate knowledge and be able to fully discuss options and risks of the use of Effexor with qualified medical professionals before they make any final choice regarding initiating these types of medications. Thereby being able to be a knowledgeable consumer and make the appropriate decisions together with their physicians in regards to their own medical treatment and might be spared the suffering we have experienced first hand.

By this petition let it be made clear that we are not advocating the non-use of Effexor because this medication's possible benefits to the public at large is beyond our scope of knowledge to the extent that each individual now considering the use of Effexor has informational benefits we did not, now that more medical information regarding Effexor has been released to the public. Now that others will have the benefit of this information where we did not, and the benefit of important public websites such as Steve Whiting's -- www.effexorfx.freeuk.com, each person must take responsibility to make their own decision regarding the use of these types of medications, assisted by proper advise from a qualified medical professional, fully knowledgeable of Effexor's profile and side effects.

But as individuals, and their are a significant number of us, we have found that the disclosure regarding the side effects and efficacy of Effexor that we were given and which is still being propagated, is significantly misleading to the consumer and the medical community at large. This cannot continue and we hope you will support us with our pleas to Wyeth-Ayerst for full and accurate disclosure.

[ross was his name]

I took effexor for a short period of time (couple months, plenty of time to get to maximum buildup). It made my pupils dialate, which gave me headaches and made me feel unnatural, for lack of a better word. I was at the highest dose availible from 1 pill... I belive it was 150 mg, ( it was a relatively large red capsule). One day, on a whim, I decided effexor wasnt for me, disregarding the "talk to your physician before dicontinuing this prescription" only because i'd stopped taking oxycontin and ativan cold turkey and figured a big shot like me would have no problem with a silly "anti-depressant". So I went to work. Started to feel a little dizzy and deoriented, no biggie. Woke up the next morning and had an intense rush of vertigo as I stood up that sat me on the bed. I couldn't focus my eyes, and when I went to work (dumb idea) I couldn't ring up anyone's groceries because whenever I moved my head I would feel like I was falling (hard to explain, but im sure a few of you know what im talking about). It was unnerving and I went home early. Not wanting to put any more of that devil drug in my system, I got loaded and smoked a few joints, which I repeated on my following day off. This worked great - ativan might be a more controlled way to do this, I'd say both are equally effective(and fun), if not equally legal.
good luck!

[Hutchison]

I was on Effexor for 3 year and took myself off of it for one i could not afford it when i changed my job. It was farily easy to come down off of it. I was on 75mg a day. When i could not afford it anymore i just stopped taking it and had not side effects. I have been off it for 5 years now with no side effects.

[abey042000]

Hutchison
your very fortunate! count ur blessings

[RobertAD]

Try this to get off Effexor:

I was on Effexor for 2-3 months before I decided it wasn't for me. I know the withdrawels you are refering to, as I missed a day or two sometimes. I switched over to Zoloft. When switching, I halfed my dose of Effexor (from 150 to 75mg), and started on Zoloft (100mg). I did this for 3 days, and then switched completely to Zoloft (200mg).
During this time, and a month later, I never had any withdrawel effects from Effexor. Zoloft has a much 'softer' effect than Effexor. When I miss a day or two of Zoloft the withdrawel is very minimal, and easy to handle.

Point being:

Try having your doctor switch you to Zoloft, and then gradually quit the Zoloft. I truly suspect this will make things much easier. I still take Zoloft, but I expect that when I quit it shouldn't be as hard to do as it was with Effexor. If this (works/doesn't work) please post back and let us know.

[noush]

Hi I am also new to message boards, but felt I had to considering the state I am in.

I have been on venlafaxine (efexor) for 5 years. This summer I decided I wanted to come off them. I had been on 150mg (slow release) for most of that time; since then have come down to 75mg (slow release). My doctor said take one when you feel you need to, so I did, expecting to take them only when I felt sick! But time has passed and I managed to go for about 3 weeks without one, however thinking that was too fast I am back taking one every 5 days. Nonetheless I really feel like I am losing my mind.

There are too many symptoms from the withdrawal to mention here, most of which have already been mentioned, but there are a few that are terrifying me. I too have had serious problems with memory loss. I also have an inability to concentrate, listen or retain information, cannot focus on anything that requires the slightest of mental effort, which is tough considering my job demands this.

I am disoriented, confused have problems with coordination - I think I am now a liability driving; and I am even finding it difficulty in structuring a sentence - I am really having problems communicating to people I work with. It's like my brain is somewhere else, a lack of reality, almost like I am going through the motions but not sure why.

I also have visual disturbance – I was recently sent to an eye hospital as I had lost some of my vision in one eye. Tests proved that my eyes were physiologically fine, so they suggested that I see my doctor and a neurologist. But still I am having trouble focusing.

Also in the last 4 weeks I have developed hives all over my body. What the hell is going on?

Please tell me that I will become normal again. These symptoms are making me depressed again.

noush

PS: I have signed the petition

[RockedByRequiem]

I have been on Effexor for about 3 months now. I take 150mg a day (which I plan on increasing since I get it free by the boxes). I take it for three purposes...Severe depression, anxiety attacks, and to control drug cravings (hasnt worked for that). I feel only slightly better now than I did before this med. Im curious as to what these "zingers" are. I missed one dose one time (so, I hadnt had it in 48 hours), and I woke up shaking, sweating, heart pounding out of my chest, total overwhelming anxiety, but no so-called "zingers". As far as Im concerned, I have absolutely NO plans of stopping this drug, unless after increasing the dosage, I still feel very minimul effect.

[noush]

it may take more than three months to any effect to kick in. It may be some time before you feel better.

Maybe remain on the 150mg for a little longer and see if it is just taking it's time to kick in.

When I tried Efexor, I had already tried Prozac and Seroxatine, neither of which helped, and the initial side effects for both were horrible. So when I tried Efexor it was fine, there were fewer problems with side effects, but I did wonder initially if they were having any effect at all. But then you start to realise that you almost feel slightly numb to emotional pain; it's not like a sudden big lift more a realisation that you are plodding along with things. So in that way I think it does help. Of course you don't get the highs either, but it just levels you out.

I have to say that they have helped me, but now I want to be free of them. I hope I am stronger now and the fear that it's these tabets that are keeping me going isn't a great feeling in itself.

I just hope that I will be clear of them one day.

[sweettooth]

You were experiencing withdrawal. Effexor does not stay in the body very long (referred to as it's half-life). Half-life is how long it will take the drug to leave your system once the blood concentration has reached half it's level in your body. Effexor's half life is anywhere from 5-10 hours.

Because it has such a short half-life, it requires careful tapering when discontinuing this drug. Abrupt discontinuation can lead to heart attacks and sometimes death.

Sweettooth

quote:Originally posted by RockedByRequiem

Im curious as to what these "zingers" are. I missed one dose one time (so, I hadnt had it in 48 hours), and I woke up shaking, sweating, heart pounding out of my chest, total overwhelming anxiety, but no so-called "zingers".