Everyone is talking about what their symptoms are...how about anyone who has gone through the withdrawl and lived to tell about it???? I need hope, and answers to get through this!

thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've never taken Effexor, but one of my coworkers took effexor for about 12 months before she discontinued. I remember her mentioning that she had some serious withdrawal effects; serious enough to warrant her taking 2 days off of work.

I remember her specifically complainging about having dizziness which lead to her throwing up on several occasions, during and outside of work. I believe this condition is called 'vertigo'. She also had some severe headaches over the course of several weeks. After she finally got off of the effexor and her withdrawal symptoms subsided, somewhere are 3 - 4 weeks, she mentioned that one of the biggest things she noticed was a near contstant state of anxiety and heightened stress levels.

I am not a doctor, but perhaps you should consider tapering off the drug instead of stopping cold turkey. Basically, slowly reduce your daily intake. This may help with the severity of side effects. Talk to your prescribing doctor before you do this though and get his/her opinion.

Something else you may consider is taking a natural sedative like valerian root to help your central nervous system relax. Again, talking to your doc is the best thing to do before adding this to your diet.

Good luck with getting off Effexor!

Steff

HI,
I HAVE BEEN OFF EFFEXOR NOW FOR 2 MONTHS. ALL I CAN SAY IS YOU NEED TO CUT THE DOSAGE DOWN VERY LITTLE AT A TIME, DOWN TO COUNTING THE BALLS IN THE CAPSULES. I AM VERY DEPRESSED AND HAVE ANXIETY AGAIN. I WAS ON THIS FOR 5 YRS AND DID NOT HELP ME. ALL THE DOCTORS DID WAS UP MY DOSAGE. THIS IS THE MOST DANGEROUS DRUG OUT THERE.
I AM DOING A BODY CLEANSE AND A TOXIN OUT PROGRAM, THEN I WANT TO TRY ALL NATURAL MEDICATION FOR DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY. SOMETHING HAS GOT TO HELP ME. NO ONE UNDERSTANDS UNLESS THEY ARE GOING THRU THIS. COMING OFF THE EFFEXOR, I WAS SO MEAN, I LOST MY BEST FRIEND. I DID THINGS THAT I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID NOW.
IT HAS RUINED MY LIFE.

Hey, I see why your name is Sparkles, no wonder...
I starting taking this nasty drug,(not by choice, but by WCBs doc choice) in October of last year, Week 1 was 37.5 mgs Week 2, double the dosage, Week 3 tripple the dosage , week 4 , 4 times the doasge, and good ole week 5 , Sitting at 187.5 mgs, which lasted for almost 3 weeks, then whoopy woop, The grand total of 225mgs...WELL my family doc, started to slowly take me off these , all because WCBs doc wouldnt help me get off these , and my LAST pill was Thursday of last week..
WELL Friday/Sat/Sun/Mon, and right now as I am sitting here, my head is snapping, and I wanna bawl, I have cramps in my belly, I am shaking, Concentration level is for the birds, the attitude is NASTY, One minute I wanna curl in a ball, and bawl, the next minute I wanna yell, kick and scream, and just DONT CARE
I have come to realization that only I can make this better and try to deal with it, and BOY is it hard, I dont want any pills,no chocolate,NO more junk that this body doesnt need...One thing I do want though is WCBs doc to go on this pill like I did, and go through the withdrawls......
I really hope your best friend will forgive you and understand what you have been going through, That is what friends are for, Too some people they think we are just being silly and bluffing this, but man oh man this is serious stuff, especially when we wasnt depressed or stressed, but yet put on this Shi*.....
These electric shocks that are going through my head are soon gonna drive me insane...
Let me know how the detoxification goes, cause I stand behind you 100%

effexor withdrawal is so rough. two months now and finally no brain zaps. i started taking liquid fish oil. 2000 mg a day (Joy by Genuine Health). it really help tone down the vertigo and level me out. I still take it everyday and feel it when I am off. the bad news is that I am depressed again and started smoking. I am going to try Wellbutrin for smoking and anti-depression. I am told it is not as painful to withdraw from Effexor. All the best to you both!