***how to get off effexor symptom free***

Getting off effexor is the worst. I've done it 4 times...and have found that the easiest way is to count out the beads. I reduce the beads by 20 every week to two weeks, depending on how I feel. You may notice that you feel different with 20 less beads, but there shouldn't be brain zaps or flu symptoms. good luck!!!

Hi Vicky,
Thinking of you today. All my best wishes that all goes well during your operation.
Love
Lucy xx

LSC wrote:

Hi Vicky,
Thinking of you today. All my best wishes that all goes well during your operation.
Love
Lucy xx

HI Lucy
The operatin went well. Now I am on crutchers for 2 weeks the 1 crutch for 2 week then I should be 100%. I was a little more anxious before the surgury but, I feel much better now. Thanks for all the prayers. Hey, I also forgot to tell you that my Mom's name is LUCY too.CAn you beleive it. If you ever wnat to e0mail ne my address is vthorp@heartlandtile.com
Love
Vicky

I've tried several times to get off of Effexor and the effects are unreal, I was so sick on the 3rd day, could not lift my head off the pillow, horrible nighmares, extreme dizziness, now I'm afraid to be be even 1 hr. late on taking my dose ( 75 ) If I had known it was going to be this bad on getting off I would never had started this stuff!!

Linda T Spring Texas wrote:

I've tried several times to get off of Effexor and the effects are unreal, I was so sick on the 3rd day, could not lift my head off the pillow, horrible nighmares, extreme dizziness, now I'm afraid to be be even 1 hr. late on taking my dose ( 75 ) If I had known it was going to be this bad on getting off I would never had started this stuff!!

I had the same experience. I tried to quit cold turkey and the side effects started on day 3. But I've been weaning off -- taking 3 granules out per day -- and it's been 2 weeks with no side effects. I'm thrilled and amazed this is working. Good luck!

Linda Sydney Austg wrote:

Hi guys
I want to go off efexor I have been on it since last July I am on 35mg and am now working as a bookkeeper. I still get a bit teary and anxious on the 35mg I dont want to take this tablet anymore I have put on a lot of weight around 10 - 15 kg I dont want to loose my job because I try to get off this horrible drug, my doctor told me nothing about these side effects

hi Linda
I was just checking in to see how you were doing. I'm at 8 weeks off and I still have some tearfulness and some anxiety. I going to keep going though. I'll figure out some other way to deal with the anxiety. Keep strong you can do it. Vicky

LSC wrote:

Hi Vicky,
Thinking of you today. All my best wishes that all goes well during your operation.
Love
Lucy xx

Hi Lucy
i feel better everyday. Althought the tearfulness goes and comes. Maybe my anxiety was quite high because of the surgury on Tuesday.How are you doing? How long have you be off effexor? It was 8 weekks Tuesday. Hope to talk to you soon
love
Vicky

I am drug free for 11 days now and things are getting better, but it is ALL true---crying jags, very raw emotional state. I have some other extenuating circumstances in my life, but still I am not accustomed to crying over sentimental things. I was reading an email about a war hero this am and I was welling up to tears still---11 days free of effexor.

Luckily, the brainshocks have become completely manageable, albeit still annoying to experience. they don't have that big Wave of unsteadiness washing along with them now. they are milder and no real dizziness is experienced.

I used a modified pill method to taper from 150 to 0 over about a 21 - 30 day period. My doc told me to take one every other day for a week then just STOP taking the pills---Nice guy and I trust him with my life, but the MDs just either don't want to touch this or they really are ignorant of the MASSIVE side effects that occur from fluctuations in serotonin levels.

Partly, I feel it is unlikely any doctor would feel comfortable from a medico-legal (CYA) perspective advising a patient to count little pebbles that are all different sizes so they can taper the dosage of the med. So they opt for the lame every other day recommendation---Do not try this method it results in precipitous drops in dosage in your system and then the next dose takes you right back to the top. It makes no sense as a plan.

My big question is will the anxiety (low level) I am feeling right now persist after my body adapts to managing serotonin levels. I originally got onto med for anxiety , but some depression was part of the picture too. I am already loving the return of sexual sensations and the overall quality of orgasms after one week of being drug free. But if the anxiety returns I will probably try welbutrin--I hear there are fewer sexual side effects,

Nick 150 4 yrs wrote:

I am drug free for 11 days now and things are getting better, but it is ALL true---crying jags, very raw emotional state. I have some other extenuating circumstances in my life, but still I am not accustomed to crying over sentimental things. I was reading an email about a war hero this am and I was welling up to tears still---11 days free of effexor.
Luckily, the brainshocks have become completely manageable, albeit still annoying to experience. they don't have that big Wave of unsteadiness washing along with them now. they are milder and no real dizziness is experienced.
I used a modified pill method to taper from 150 to 0 over about a 21 - 30 day period. My doc told me to take one every other day for a week then just STOP taking the pills---Nice guy and I trust him with my life, but the MDs just either don't want to touch this or they really are ignorant of the MASSIVE side effects that occur from fluctuations in serotonin levels.
Partly, I feel it is unlikely any doctor would feel comfortable from a medico-legal (CYA) perspective advising a patient to count little pebbles that are all different sizes so they can taper the dosage of the med. So they opt for the lame every other day recommendation---Do not try this method it results in precipitous drops in dosage in your system and then the next dose takes you right back to the top. It makes no sense as a plan.
My big question is will the anxiety (low level) I am feeling right now persist after my body adapts to managing serotonin levels. I originally got onto med for anxiety , but some depression was part of the picture too. I am already loving the return of sexual sensations and the overall quality of orgasms after one week of being drug free. But if the anxiety returns I will probably try welbutrin--I hear there are fewer sexual side effects,

hi nick i totally agree with you. i don't think the doctors have any idea how to tell you to get off this medication. i too have anxiety from a diagnosis of cancer 5 years ago. I was immediately put on effexor for anxiety of my diagnosis and the surgical menapause i was about to go through. i made it through treatment of chemo and radiation and have been cancer free thank GOD for 4 years. now i just have anxiety. i weaned off from75 mgs to 37.5 for 3 weeks then following my doctors advice on the every other day for 1 week and had enough. i stopped cold turkey. i felt dizzy, nausea and agitated then that went away. then this tearfulness which is still lingering around. hopefully that to will go away soon. i will continue to be strong, because i never want to go back on this drug.it's been 8 weeks totally off effexor and i'm feeling better everyday. stay with it.you'll be fine just knowing others are feling the same way as you.i did take about 8000 mgs of (4 at a time) of omega 3.that really helped with the brain zaps and the depressions. it can't hurt
good luck
Vicky
vicky

prov wrote:

<quoted text>Hi Lucy
i feel better everyday. Althought the tearfulness goes and comes. Maybe my anxiety was quite high because of the surgury on Tuesday.How are you doing? How long have you be off effexor? It was 8 weekks Tuesday. Hope to talk to you soon
love
Vicky

I took my lastg 3 granules on April 25th. Almost 3 months now and I feel totally free of EFx. No more brain buzzes or horrible nightmares. No more tears for absolutely NO reason. I will never take that drug again!!

"Hi all,
Very informative post over the last 2 years for sure...I have been on Effexor XR 75mg for about 5 years. I began the weaning process a week ago by following my doctors advice and dropping from 75mg to 37.5mg for a week. Im going to stay on 37.5 for another week and then use the bead process.
Unlike many others on this forum, I have not experienced any significant withdrawal effects as of yet.. I did feel cloudy headed today but I also drank about 8 beers last night..I wouldnt recommend drinking while youre weaning!
I do suggest to take all the negative posts with the thought that most people who DONT have withdrawal effects are NOT going to come on here and post their success stories. When people are having withdrawal issues they seek solace in others who are feeling equally bad. So just because you are withdrawing, dont assume that you are going to have horrible side effects. Most of us have anxiety issues, so reading these old posts where there are specific symptoms cited is just going to exacerbate our own symptoms and make us more more worried. You know the cycle...
I will use the granule method going from 37.5 to 0 since many posts have showed success with this method. Good luck to everyone withdrawing you can do it, just try to keep an optimistic head and youll do fine. Ill post again if I end up getting withdrawal side effects.
Best of luck,
Dan "
+1

Thanks in advance to all who have posted such useful info here. I have created a spreadsheet that indicates to me how many beads/granules I need to remove from a capsule based on a 250 count from a 75mg....hopefully every capsule is the same...but with this evil drug who the h*ll knows. I have read on other sites that b12 might help, so I figured I would take a supplement of b12 during this adventure. I am going to start taking 4 beads out a day, and after 15 days I am going to up it to 5. I am doing this many because I only have one 30 day refill left, and my insurance wont cover it anymore :( So hopefully this goes well...not looking forward to it by any means.
Take out left in cap
7/23/2009 0 250
7/24/2009 4 246
7/25/2009 8 242
7/26/2009 12 238
7/27/2009 16 234
7/28/2009 20 230
7/29/2009 24 226
7/30/2009 28 222
7/31/2009 32 218
8/1/2009 36 214
8/2/2009 40 210
8/3/2009 44 206
8/4/2009 48 202
8/5/2009 52 198
8/6/2009 56 194
8/7/2009 61 189
8/8/2009 66 184
8/9/2009 71 179
8/10/2009 76 174
8/11/2009 81 169
8/12/2009 86 164
8/13/2009 91 159
8/14/2009 96 154
8/15/2009 101 149
8/16/2009 106 144
8/17/2009 111 139
8/18/2009 116 134
8/19/2009 121 129
8/20/2009 126 124
8/21/2009 131 119
8/22/2009 114
8/23/2009 109
8/24/2009 104
8/25/2009 99
8/26/2009 94
8/27/2009 89
8/28/2009 84
8/29/2009 79
8/30/2009 74
8/31/2009 69
9/1/2009 64
9/2/2009 59
9/3/2009 54
9/4/2009 49
9/5/2009 44
9/6/2009 39
9/7/2009 34
9/8/2009 29
9/9/2009 24
9/10/2009 19
9/11/2009 14
9/12/2009 9
9/13/2009 4
I can email this info to you if you want to get off this with the numbers if you don't really understand it. Wish me luck and I will keep you posted. You can email me at cheryljeananderson@gmail.com.
Best of luck to all!!!

The hopeful one wrote:

Thanks in advance to all who have posted such useful info here. I have created a spreadsheet that indicates to me how many beads/granules I need to remove from a capsule based on a 250 count from a 75mg....hopefully every capsule is the same...but with this evil drug who the h*ll knows. I have read on other sites that b12 might help, so I figured I would take a supplement of b12 during this adventure. I am going to start taking 4 beads out a day, and after 15 days I am going to up it to 5. I am doing this many because I only have one 30 day refill left, and my insurance wont cover it anymore :( So hopefully this goes well...not looking forward to it by any means.
Take out left in cap
7/23/2009 0 250
7/24/2009 4 246
7/25/2009 8 242
7/26/2009 12 238
7/27/2009 16 234
7/28/2009 20 230
7/29/2009 24 226
7/30/2009 28 222
7/31/2009 32 218
8/1/2009 36 214
8/2/2009 40 210
8/3/2009 44 206
8/4/2009 48 202
8/5/2009 52 198
8/6/2009 56 194
8/7/2009 61 189
8/8/2009 66 184
8/9/2009 71 179
8/10/2009 76 174
8/11/2009 81 169
8/12/2009 86 164
8/13/2009 91 159
8/14/2009 96 154
8/15/2009 101 149
8/16/2009 106 144
8/17/2009 111 139
8/18/2009 116 134
8/19/2009 121 129
8/20/2009 126 124
8/21/2009 131 119
8/22/2009 114
8/23/2009 109
8/24/2009 104
8/25/2009 99
8/26/2009 94
8/27/2009 89
8/28/2009 84
8/29/2009 79
8/30/2009 74
8/31/2009 69
9/1/2009 64
9/2/2009 59
9/3/2009 54
9/4/2009 49
9/5/2009 44
9/6/2009 39
9/7/2009 34
9/8/2009 29
9/9/2009 24
9/10/2009 19
9/11/2009 14
9/12/2009 9
9/13/2009 4
I can email this info to you if you want to get off this with the numbers if you don't really understand it. Wish me luck and I will keep you posted. You can email me at cheryljeananderson@gmail.com.
Best of luck to all!!!

Hi It looks like you have a great plan. I wish some one would have given me that plan when I started. I have been totally off effexor for 9 weeks. I feel great finally. Stey with it . You might want to try adding 4000 mg of omega 3 2x per day. It helps with brain zaps if you should get them. Stay strong
Vicky

prov wrote:

<quoted text>Hi It looks like you have a great plan. I wish some one would have given me that plan when I started. I have been totally off effexor for 9 weeks. I feel great finally. Stey with it . You might want to try adding 4000 mg of omega 3 2x per day. It helps with brain zaps if you should get them. Stay strong
Vicky

You can follow me here: http://quiteffexor.blogspot.com/

I was on 267.5 mg of effexor for 3 years now, i keep lowering the dose myself because its not affecting me , but i do it in 2 weeks process at a time , i am afraid to come off it completely because when I come off of it , it is literally hell , and Oh man it is ridiculous. i think the best way to wean urself off effexor xr is to switch to the generic venlafaxine hydrochloride because it is a capsule and you can wean urself off it better than u can the xr tablet. just a bit of info .. cause u can basically cut the 100 mg pill into 4 sections and wean urself off, hope this info is helpful for someone ...

I am in USA, visiting from Chile.(I hope everybody can understand my english) I take 75 mg of effexor at night.But I went out of it.And while here I need a prescription to buy it I thought, well let's see what happens. Yestarday I had to go to emergency room..I felt so bad, dizzy, like I was going to faint. I had this symthoms before when my blood pressure was low, but my blood pressure was fine. They gave me a prescription for the drug. I took it last night and I become "normal again". I feel much better, but to be honest I really don't feel good taking Effexor, I feel sleepy all day almost and with anxiety.I both 5-HTP and L-tyrosine to replace them for Effexor, but now that I am reading this I think I will inform myself about the effects of combining them. Also I am taking Valeriana Root 600 mg, and Peony root(600 mg) and Ravotril 0.5 mg, is my night cocktail...but I really want to gate out off Effexor, is becoming a nightmare to depend on a drug.I just feel like a drugaddict....
I wish I could fine a good doctor to help me in this transition....but WHERE?

I have found posts very helpful! I have been taking 450-300 Mg of Effexor XR for over 5 years. My therapist told me I needed it because,
" look what happens when you stop." Now I know it has been the withdrawal from this stuff.....I need not be a Effexor hostage! Two days ago I began reducing my dose of Effexor XR (currently 300MG) I opened a capsule, and divided the beads in half.(75 beads) The symptoms I have are nausea and I woke with a bad headache this morning,(it went away after 2 Excedrine) otherwise tolerable. I will stay with this dose of reducing until the nausea goes away. I told a friend and am now writing this post. If I lose my mind, at least a few people will know! That's how scared I am and dependent on this stuff! I feel that my life has been in neutral for 5 years, not good, not bad, just existing. I was diagnosed with depression 12 years ago and took Prozac for 7 years on and off. It helped, but seemed to stop working, so doc put me on Effexor. I perspire so profusely, that I needed to stop going to my exercise class. It was so embarrassing. My health has gone downhill, I gained 30 lbs, very discouraged. In need of hope and health

I hope I am on track. Feedback please, from those that have been here and back. Thanks

Wellagain (and all other ostages of this S****!)

I find you all so courageous!
I have been on Effexor and no Pristiq for 5 years.
My family doc prescribed it to me while I had a rough patch (loved one passed, fiance dumped me the day after).
I wish family practitioners and other docs prescribing this medication knew more about it!(and prescribed it only for extreme cases!)
Wellagain, the reason I am writing this post is because I suspect this medication to have negatively impacted my health as well.
I mostly eat veggies, yet my triglycerides and cholesterol are very high (first time occurrence in my life!), my Blood Pressure is up by 20 to 30 mmhg. I have chronic (but acutely painful) headaches, and seem to newly have issues with my blood sugar as well (never been a diabetic, just getting those drops in BS whenever I don't eat consistent meals every 4 hours!).
Of course I can't prove anything and most everybody I talk to about it just shrug their shoulder and swear I am nuts under their breath....
My husband fears when I am one hour late taking "my medication" because I become such a lunatic bitch until it kicks in!
I feel for him....but I feel even more for myself! I don't recognize the person I have become!
As soon as I can get a new family doc (or better yet, psychiatrist) I am switching back from Pristiq to Effexor and doing the beads dumping technique.
Stay strong all of you, you inspire me!

I am currently taking this medication at 600 mg per day and highly recommend you get professional help for detoxing from this drug. I have been trying to find the right drug for my mental issues for 9 years, unfortunately this drug with take you mind and it will be too late by the time you realize that you want your life back. Just last week I tried for a 5th time to see how long I could last before I actually without a doubt needed the drug to function.

The results = horror, I went from a hyper proactive state to a complete melt down. During the first 5 hours of this melt down stage included feelings of electrical shock from my spine to my body, a sensation of photo realistic reality meaning that I could only understand frames at a time not life like but photo like reality. Look one way and the frame is taken and frozen for portions of time that it is no longer in the present. This continuously progressed to a heightened dangerous state. After the peek of this sensation came the anchor of reality. What i mean is that my brain realized that I was only borrowing this feeling and the false firing of brain activity slowed to the point of sorrow and brain agitation that resulted in me thinking how much better I would feel if I scratched the Itch produced by this chemical with my old combat knife. Luckily for me I looked at my child before i got the knife out, and decided to take the meds and cried my self to sleep.

I know its different for everyone but please take my word for it, if you are desperate for release from this borrowed time, Seek help and admit yourself. The result with out it will be you facing the mirror, and the understanding that you are weaker then the chemical controlling your temporary ability to function correctly in society. I am still fighting myself and my worth on this drug. I have not tried to reduce or ween myself to sanity. The only thing that makes me function is this chemical. My side effects include weight gain 50+ lbs. loss of appetite, ill feeling when in the sun, paranoia, feelings of impending doom, major head aches, night tremors, violent speech in my sleep, violent actions in sleep, feelings of pain from actions taking upon me in my dreams. Excessive Sweating, laziness, feelings that people are against me, major mood swings, and much more please make sure that if you take this drug you ask your doctor that this is the right fit for you. Its not for me but I can't seem to act right without it at this point...

I mean fuck i am on them still and can't sleep. I don't want to take them anymore but I know I can't last the withdraw. I am not sure how long it last but i know 4 days is as long as I have made it and I feel like stabbing myself in the temple every time I try to get away from this drug...

Sorry to trouble anyone who's is reading this, I am not a bad person. I love my family and have served my country was discharged honorably and and have achieved many heights. The only problem is I never felt a since of achievement or happiness with my success. I am not sure how strangers view my presence but I don't like what I see in the mirror. I want to be better but I don't know how to go about getting the feelings I see everyone else around me getting.

To all my family and friends I love you and I am sorry I failed your expectations as a humanbeing. I gave everything I had and the world gave me this or maybe just a doctor or two got the wrong impression which resulted in me getting this in debt to this medication. Ill make it though and so will you just raise your head above the sorrow and guilt...

I will detox again this time in my room for as long as it takes, this medication is not for me.

Last Note:

You know as much as i tell people what is happening to me it seems like such a horrible state to live in that they think i am making this shit up. I am not my life is harder by the minute then it was for me to function in a combat zone on this medication.

I read about 50 post from this thread and most everyone has the same symptoms that I fight from weak to weak. I think I actually want to die more then now then when I first started take anti depressants only problem now is I got a little boy I have to take care of. This is the hardest thing I have ever endured, and my will is wearing thin. I feel for people who get these meds but can't afford impatient treatment to help with the pain of these withdraws and constant body / mind changes. I am not the man I was. I hope I can at least get back to 10% of what I was before I took my first serotonin uptake inhibitor.