I have spent the last month withdrawing from Effexor (225 mg daily) by using prozac (20 mg daily) under the supervision of a pchyciatrist. I was on Effexor for 8 years. It was getting to the point that I was suicidal, paranoid and extremely anxious while on the Effexor over the last couple of years. I feel better now. How long this will last - who knows? One thing I do know - I would never take any form of venlafaxine, including Pristiq, because of the difficulty of getting off of it. While it isn't addictive in the same way cocaine is, the withdrawal symptoms are just as brutal.
- Thread starter Angry Me
- Start date
I was on 287.5 mg of Effexor and gradually dropped it to 150 under my Psychiatrists supervision.
The discontinue effects I had were an upset stomach, headache and a bit dizzy upon standing.
Mine seemed to last only until the next dosage drop. So for about two weeks.
Everyone is different, I had read horror stories about Effexor. To be honest, my discontinue symptoms were not like most had discribed.
My personal opinion, and I am not a professional at all, is I believe some folks mistaken discontinue effects of medication when it is actually relapse. (symptoms of the condition returning)
I also had to lower my dosage as I was having many side effects of the high dosage.
What discontinuation symptoms were/are you having?
The discontinue effects I had were an upset stomach, headache and a bit dizzy upon standing.
Mine seemed to last only until the next dosage drop. So for about two weeks.
Everyone is different, I had read horror stories about Effexor. To be honest, my discontinue symptoms were not like most had discribed.
My personal opinion, and I am not a professional at all, is I believe some folks mistaken discontinue effects of medication when it is actually relapse. (symptoms of the condition returning)
I also had to lower my dosage as I was having many side effects of the high dosage.
What discontinuation symptoms were/are you having?
David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
To clarify, while I don't dispute your experience with discontinuing Effexor (and I know those symptoms can be troublesome when they do occur), it's a disservice to generalize your experience to others.
- How individuals react to starting or stopping SSRIs and SNRIs varies.
- Not everyone experiences discontinuation symptoms with Effexor. It's almost impossible at present to predict which individuals will have a problem.
- Even if you did experience discontinuation symptoms with Effexor, you may not necessarily have that problem with Pristique or Cymbalta, or with other SSRIs.
Sorry to Dr. Baxter about the generalization. It was my first post and you are absolutely right. Still, I do feel better and I hope this continues. Sometimes I wonder if I just think too much about how I am feeling rather than just let things happen. it would be nice to go "drug free" for a while and see what happens.
In regard to withdrawal symptoms, I had nausea, extreme fatigue, sensory shocks in my hands and dizziness.
In regard to withdrawal symptoms, I had nausea, extreme fatigue, sensory shocks in my hands and dizziness.
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I thought of that once 10 years ago.....against my doctors wishes. Well, I was ok for about a month I think, and back then I was symptom free while on meds, for over three years.
Needless to say, when the symptoms did come back I felt like someone had tossed me head first into a wall.
I went into further panic mode and went to the doctors and tried to go back on the same meds, which this time didn't work.
I am not trying to scare you, but I strongly advise you to heed to what your doctors advise you to do. They know how to guide us. They can tell us when it is safe to try to lower the dosages and how to, if it is possable. They also monitor us more closly during this time to catch the relapse if/when it happens.
These are honestly not decisions we should be making on our own. Ofcourse, feel free to ask your doctors what they think of it. But please do not take it upon yourself.
When we are stabilized, sometimes we don't realize just how bad it was before we were stabilized, if that makes sense.
My theroy now is, "if it isn't broke, don't fix it" If you feel fine now, run with it and enjoy it.
In regard to withdrawal symptoms, I had naseau, extreme fatigue, sensory shocks in my hands and dizziness.
Sounds simular to mine, but I did not have the sensory shocks.
I get brain zaps, which are like small jolts in my head, but for me, that is a sign of my anxiety acting up usually.
STP said:
Out of curiosity, do you recall the maximum dose your doctor did not want to exceed?
You say the medication was working well, but your doctor could not increase the dose...why would the dose have to have been increased?
Was it losing effectiveness to relieve symptoms or were you experiencing unwanted adverse effects?
Was there a satisfactory replacement?
Hi TSOW,
I have been on so many medications that I don't always remember the dosage. I want to say three hundred and something point five? I don't know, that might be completely wrong.
I have problems with meds getting to high and then not working. I do remember it made me lose weight which is one reason I liked it and could have been another reason my Dr. took me off. I am also on other medication so that may have something to do with it as well.
I don't remember if it was losing effectiveness but I do know I was getting brain zaps while I was on it (and coming off) and the weight issue.
As for satisfactory replacement-still working on that. I have been on almost every anti-depressant minus some of the newer ones. For me it's working on the cocktail of meds to see which ones fit with the other to work well.
:beer2:
Hi there,
Thank you for the advice. I have an appt. with my psych. on Tuesday to discuss drug therapies, and I still would like to go drug free for a month or so just to see what happens. Watch for my posts.
I am so glad I found this forum of people who really seem to understand these problems.
David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
STP said:
Some of my clients have reported the same for Paxil. My belief is that it has to do partly with the drugs, partly with the short half-life (Effexor has an XR - extended release - version but that doesn't always improve things), and perhaps partly with differences in metabolism (some people may "process" the drugs more quickly than others. I suspect what's happening is that a small percentage of people are actually experiencing discontinuation symptoms while still on the medication.
That makes sense. They weren't exactly the same as when I was coming off because it was worse coming off obviously. On the med anytime I turned my head quickly I got a zap. I have heard people have trouble with Paxil. Paxil didn't work for me at all nor was it difficult coming off.
Everyone is definitely different
Everyone is definitely different
David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
Yes, that's exactly my point. Based on experiences with clients, I'd say that it's the worst for these kinds of side-effects and discontinuation effects and yet I have clients who take Paxil and don't experience anything like that at all.
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