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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by nana on November 21, 2005, at 21:37:38
In reply to scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by 3mom on November 20, 2005, at 20:41:47
Hi, I use mine to keep my self in control and enjoy my grandkids. I think being a responsible Mom and enjoying your kids is important. Even if it is only spilt milk to you it is a big thing on how you handle yourself when you deal with it. I think you are a wonderful Mom to realize you need some help and to keep your family happy and your kids not afraid to make a mistake. They will grow up better kids for your actions. Keep up the good work and ENJOY!!
Posted by spierson1253 on November 21, 2005, at 21:37:38
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by nana on November 21, 2005, at 11:27:01
Well said, Grandma. I am the grandmother of four, and they are the joy of my life. It is my children I have issues with. But with the med, I find that the cruel things they say or do (or don't do) can be handled. I know a lot of their problems were caused by me and the bad decisions I made while they were young. However, they are adults now, and responsible for their own behavior, and I will not accept fault or guilt for that. I cannot go back and undo what was done, and I have apologized all I am going to. They have to heal or come to terms with themselves now. I can't do it for them.
I am happy with the Effexor. I quite thoroughly believe that my "fall from grace" these past 4 days has been the effects of the Ambien. I also believe it is the cause of the heavy anxiety that sits on my chest like a house, as the two seemed to have occurred at the same time. Tonight I am going to forego the Ambien, and take a Xanax, which always helped me sleep before. Without side-effects, I might add. I'm just afraid of it's highly addictive properties. But as one of you said to me last week, if it works, use it for now and deal with any addiction issues when that time comes around. Good advice.
Posted by 3mom on November 21, 2005, at 21:37:38
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by nana on November 21, 2005, at 11:32:00
i'm so glad to hear of someone that is using the med for what i am using it for. i was never at the point where i was worried i was going to hurt my children or anything, i was just raising my voice all the time instead of calmly disciplining them and talking to them about what they are doing wrong. all my children are 19 months apart. when i only had the two, when they fought, it was no big deal. i made them hug and apologize, and that was it. when i had my third, i was so busy changing diapers for two, hand-feeding two of them, and feeding one a bottle, washing bottles, bathing them, ... i was just overwhelmed to say the least and didn't like the type of mother i was being. when they fought, i just yelled. now on effexor, i am just as busy, although my baby is now 13 months, so he's off bottles and eating real food, but i'm relaxed and just having a good time with them again. i can handle complete chaos with a smile!! i have 3 sweet, precious children that think i'm a good mom. thank you lord!!
Posted by apenname on November 22, 2005, at 19:42:28
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by 3mom on November 21, 2005, at 20:49:32
I took Effexor XR (225 mg was what was effective) for depression and anxiety. Yeah, maybe this is a situation a bit more severe than what a 75mg dose would treat.
The Effexor XR really made things easier to deal with, but it gave me high blood pressure(more probable at high doses) and as far as I could tell, no other symptoms. Remember: just because a symptom is listed on a pamphlet doesn't mean you're going to get it, people are not identical, and neither is their experience to medicine.
Going off the Effexor at first was awful, but I came here and followed the gradual withdrawal method, and that made it reasonable. My dose level and most others in these posts are high compared to your 75 mg. Living without the medicine helping is very difficult at this point, but I still consider the whole thing worth it. Definitely talk to your regular physician. Mine wanted me to have regular blood tests to check some sort of possible long term effect of Effexor - I forget what.
Posted by Kath on November 26, 2005, at 15:22:12
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal 3mom, posted by apenname on November 22, 2005, at 19:42:28
Hi Mom - just checked with my 29 year old daughter, who was on Effexor 37.5 (3 time release caps at once, once a day). When she went off it, she had a very difficult month. Her comment is to wait until you have fewer stressors in your life to cut back. Can't remember if you're on time-release. She said you might want to try a lower dose now, before your body has been on 75 for too long. If you open the time-release caps & remove the beads, unless they're different colours, you wouldn't know which one you were removing.
Best of luck to you. :-) Kath
Posted by sandra booth on February 3, 2006, at 20:33:58
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by Herbygirl on February 1, 2006, at 14:59:09
I have been on Effexor for 5 years and I am now slowly coming off it. I too have just lately noticed a difference in my vision. I wear glass varifocals and am now finding it difficult to focus sometimes. There seems to be a reflection and I find that I can see better without them for distance. My memory has gone down hill too but that is probably age.
Has anyone started to come off the drug after a long time like me? I now take a 37.5 mg every other day for the next 4 days and that is it. I missed one for the first time yesterday and felt dreadful by the afternoon. Very light-headed and felt sick all night. Had nightmares too. Took my tablet this morning and started to feel better by the afternoon. I am now dreading tomorrow as it is my miss one day.
Posted by tizza on February 3, 2006, at 20:33:59
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by sandra booth on February 3, 2006, at 15:28:26
> I have been on Effexor for 5 years and I am now slowly coming off it. I too have just lately noticed a difference in my vision. I wear glass varifocals and am now finding it difficult to focus sometimes. There seems to be a reflection and I find that I can see better without them for distance. My memory has gone down hill too but that is probably age.
>
> Has anyone started to come off the drug after a long time like me? I now take a 37.5 mg every other day for the next 4 days and that is it. I missed one for the first time yesterday and felt dreadful by the afternoon. Very light-headed and felt sick all night. Had nightmares too. Took my tablet this morning and started to feel better by the afternoon. I am now dreading tomorrow as it is my miss one day.I wasn't on effexor for as long as you but coming off it was horrendous. Eveyone reacts differently but I have found most people have a very nasty experience coming off effexor. Good luck and read the posts on the withdrawal board. You don't have to go through it alone, I took great comfort in reading everyone else's posts, they kept me going!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you do happen to have a bad time just remember that you are not alone and there are thousands of people around the world going through the same hell. I wish you all the best it was a very bumpy ride for me. Don't forget to put your seat belt on. And about the memory thing, mine got so much better after a month off it. I have been effexor free for 5 months now and I will never take another anti depressant ever again in my life. I have taken quite a few different flavors over the last 11 years. The best advice I can give you is find a really good psychologist and talk your problems through, discover your triggers and find out what sets them off so you can nip it in the bud before the next episode begins, learn to listen to your body and when you hear the warning bells get active about switching them off. All anti depressants just made me worse and masked the underlying problems by making me numb and not face up to things. My heart goes out to all who read this, I wish you all speedy recoveries, love Paul
Posted by 4WD on February 3, 2006, at 20:34:00
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by jacobs on February 3, 2006, at 6:12:09
> hi has anyone noticed a change in theyre eye sight sense being on effexor? i have noticed that sometimes it is hard to focus and it seems my eye sight has gotten worse. not sure if it is the med or if i have hit the age for bi focals. thanks, tonya
It's not unusual for you to have vision changes while starting or stopping Effexor. I had the same thing happen with Cymbalta. I thought I was crazy. But after I adjusted to the medication my eyesight returned to normal.Marsha
Posted by crxsi on February 4, 2006, at 12:34:35
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal » jacobs, posted by 4WD on February 3, 2006, at 20:01:23
Hi I am new to this site and I have spent the last few weeks reading every thread there was. It was very helpfull and insightfull. I have been on 75mg for two months now and it has been very successfull for me although I have noticed the dose is not as effective as a month ago.
I suffered from GAD for four and half years with just the ocaassional ativan for panic attacks. I became mildly depressed six months ago which led to a depressive episode in december. Effexor has been very helpfull in controlling my daily anxiety which was the underlying cause of my depressive reaction.
I had many side effects the first three weeks but stuck them out as I had tried Lexapro a metabolite of celexa and it caused extreme anxiety the first two weeks. It seemed a lot stronger. I have had no visual disturbances. My sister-in-law recently came off effexor because she wanted to become pregnant and did it extremely slowly and had very minimal side effects. Overall it was not a bad experience, she had been on 150mg for several years.
Posted by 4WD on February 5, 2006, at 21:06:37
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by Sandra Booth on February 5, 2006, at 5:45:45
> Now on my second day of withdrawal from Effexor. Now down to 37.5 mg. Miss a day, then next day take one. I have enough left until Thursday then thats it. Don't know what to do now as I feel so awful when I miss the dosage, light-headed, nauseous, worse when I am walking about. As soon as I take my next dose I begin to feel better. Wondering how long the withdrawal feelings last, or would I be better just taking 37.5 mg forever?
>
> I might add that after 5 years of taking this medication and 6 months of counselling my depression has gone, thank goodness, its just this withdrawal problem. While I was coming down from 150 mg daily, I felt fine, no problems. Anyone any thoughts please.
Hi,If I were you, instead of taking it every other day and going through withdrawal every time, I'd take half of a 37.5 every day for a few days. Then for the next few days, I'd take a quarter of a 37.5. Then I'd go down to just a few pellets every day. Or since you've already been doing 37.5 every other day, you could take maybe a third of a 37.5 for a few days, then half of a third. It's fairly easy to pour the pellets out in your hand and estimate about a third of them.
I know they are different sizes but if you just kind of scoop some up at random, you will generally get a few of each size. That's how I've always tapered Effexor. Just try to stetch out what you have over the next two weeks or so. That should really minimize withdrawal. Remember, getting from 37.5 to 0 is the hardest part.
Hope this helps.
Marsha
Posted by Sergeant on February 25, 2006, at 13:31:58
In reply to Anyone had success on Effexor XR? , posted by jp on October 24, 1999, at 14:59:14
I have been taking Effexor XR 75mg for over 2 years now.. I was started on them due to marital issues and work related stress (working in a prison). I was warned of sexual side effects with this med.
As stated above I have taken it for over 2 years, and it has helped me greatly. The only side effect I have suffered is sleeplessness. But my problem is now, that I have received a letter from Medco stating that they will no longer provide benefits for Effexor XR. I have talked to my doctor (who is new, since I just moved) and he has no clue of an alternative for this med. My local pharmacy has no clue either and stated that there are no alternatives!
I have gone 4 days one time without my med (due to a re-fill problem) and let me tell you they were 4 of the worst days of my life...anxeity, diziness, heart thumping... Now I cant even get a perscription for it filled at a lower dose to ween myself off this med.
I am about 8 pills away from going cold turkey and the effects are horrid. Has anyone ever just stop taking this med? If so what kind of effects did you have and how long did they last?
Posted by wifeofarmyguy on February 25, 2006, at 13:31:59
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR?, posted by Sergeant on February 24, 2006, at 19:36:16
A couple of us on this board have recently gone off it cold turkey, which is not recommended. Talk to a dr about what will happen when you go off, even if you wean, because from what I've read, the side effects are the same.
I won't sugar coat it at all, because I wish I had know what to expect ahead of time, imagine the 4 days without your meds. It's like that and worse. Each person is different. Just be prepared to take it easy for a week or two. Check out the Cold Turkey Effexor thread on the Withdrawl board. Goodluck.
Posted by Bets43 on February 25, 2006, at 13:31:59
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR?, posted by Sergeant on February 24, 2006, at 19:36:16
Hi Everyone...
I took effexor for about three months. I was up to 150m taken in am. What I found is it works great on my GAD but didn't do too much for my depression.
I am now weaning off of the effexor. I went down to 75m and am concurrently adding 10m of Lexapro.
I haven't had any noticeable side affects...Have been doing this for 5 days. My doc has me to 75m for two weeks and then I will drop off completely.
Posted by Graceneeded on March 7, 2006, at 6:59:05
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR?, posted by Sergeant on February 24, 2006, at 19:36:16
To get through getting off Effexor use Dramamine and Benedryl they really help. Danny
Posted by jiggityboo69 on March 19, 2006, at 8:23:31
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by sandra booth on February 3, 2006, at 15:28:26
I too have been on Effexor for the past 5 years (37.5mg) and have started weaning off it over the past 3 weeks. For 2 weeks I was taking a pill every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Nothing on the weekends. I was finding by Sunday afternoon I could barely function due to the side effects. I have been 5 days now without taking anything, and the side effects don't seem to be going away. I find that there's a lot of pressure in my head. I'm dizzy all the time (even when I'm sleeping if that makes sense). When I consulted my dr. about going off Effexor he told me that I wouldn't experience any side effects. I'm hoping that they go away soon. I was on a very small dose (37.5mg). I can't imagine what the effects are coming off of this medication on a higher dose.
Good luck to everyone who is coming off of this medication.
Posted by Graceneeded on March 19, 2006, at 8:46:04
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by jiggityboo69 on March 16, 2006, at 12:30:17
Use Benadrel and Dramamine to help with the withdrawls. I switch to Lexapro and Cymbalta and together they work like Effexor with very few side affects. Danny
Posted by dancingstar on March 19, 2006, at 8:57:28
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by jiggityboo69 on March 16, 2006, at 12:30:17
Hey jiggity,
I agree that the dramamine helps a lot. It might be all you need. If you don't start to feel better right away, though, I would consider taking small amounts of your 37.5 capsules, just enough to make the pain go away.
I quit cold turkey in September 2004 and, like you, my internist also didn't think it would be a big problem, but I'm still not 100 percent back to normal. Mostly I have a dreadful pain down the back of my neck that has never gone away, and my whole endocrine system has been completely wacky ever since I began to took Effexor.
I know it's no fun to go back to the nightmare drug again, but it might be worth it for the sake of your body. They say you can pour out the beads from the capsules and take smaller and smaller doses. Anyway, I hope you are feeling better very soon.
Posted by detroitpistons on March 21, 2006, at 17:10:22
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR? YES!, posted by jacobs on March 20, 2006, at 16:27:57
Tonya,
You should suggest to your doctor using Prozac (much longer half life) to help get you off of Effexor. A lot of people have done this successfully. Usually, once they get to about 37.5 mg, they take a small dose of Prozac for a week or two and then they're done. I heard it works pretty well.
> hi yes im trying without sucess to get off effexor, i dropped from 75 to 37.5 and it was horrible, scared me to death! i need to find out how to get off this the right way. thanks tonya
Posted by jacobs on March 21, 2006, at 17:10:24
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR? YES! » jacobs, posted by detroitpistons on March 20, 2006, at 16:34:12
hi cant do the prozac thing or zoloft made me postal for real. but thanks anyway!
Posted by Graceneeded on March 23, 2006, at 11:48:16
In reply to Redirect: getting off effexor, posted by Dr. Bob on March 21, 2006, at 17:13:14
Use Dramamine and Benedryel to take care of withdrawels. Danny
Posted by dancingstar on March 23, 2006, at 18:54:13
In reply to Re: Redirect: getting off effexor, posted by Graceneeded on March 21, 2006, at 21:01:08
I just saw that I mentioned Dramamine in an earlier post. It was actually a very small dose of Benadryl that I took that helped me with some of the symptoms. I found that a child's dose was all I needed to take the edge off the pain when it was outrageous.
Posted by SLS on March 27, 2006, at 7:36:54
In reply to Re: Redirect: getting off effexor, posted by dancingstar on March 23, 2006, at 18:54:13
> I just saw that I mentioned Dramamine in an earlier post. It was actually a very small dose of Benadryl that I took that helped me with some of the symptoms. I found that a child's dose was all I needed to take the edge off the pain when it was outrageous.
What symptoms of withdrawal did the Benadryl help with?What symptoms remained unchanged?
What is the amount of Benadryl contained in a child's dose?
Thanks.
- Scott
Posted by dancingstar on March 27, 2006, at 9:52:39
In reply to Re: Redirect: getting off effexor » dancingstar, posted by SLS on March 27, 2006, at 7:36:54
To answer your questions, I stopped taking Effexor in September '04. I was so sick in so many ways that it's hard to remember exactly what symtpoms were helped by taking Benadryl. I just know that when I couldn't function at all, the Benadryl helped me to get through the day.
After I had taken it, I read that there is the potential for heart problems when taking antihistamines in close proximity to having taken Effexor. I got the impression that this was less with Benadryl than with the newer ones, like Claritin...but there is no question that I had an arrythmia for quite a while after I stopped taking Effexor, and I was certainly taking Benadryl. Also, my potassium was way high for no good reason.
Ever since I took and stopped taking Effexor, my entire endocrine system has been severely out of balance. It began with my thyroid and progressed from there. My adrenals no longer function well at all, and I think it is safe to say that I was and am the most health conscious person that you can possibly imagine. I'm pretty athletic, and can no longer do the things that I was able to do before taking Effexor because now if I push too hard, I get a terrible migraine the next day.
I don't know what the dose is for children's Benadryl. You can get it at the drug store.
I guess while the Bendaryl made me generally more comfortable by taking the edge off the enormous amount of pain that I experienced, the symptoms or problems that remained unchanged involved my entire endocrine and autonomic nervous systems. I also know that nothing, including Benadryl, helped that horrible pain and stiffness in the back of my neck...which I have, but to a slightly lesser degree, to this day.
Posted by SLS on March 27, 2006, at 12:02:59
In reply to Re: Redirect: getting off effexor » SLS, posted by dancingstar on March 27, 2006, at 9:52:39
Hi.
Thanks for responding with such a detailed post.
How did you go about discontinuing Effexor? Gradual taper? Rapid taper? Cold turkey?
Thanks again.
- Scott
Posted by Toby on April 14, 2006, at 14:24:58
In reply to Re: Redirect: getting off effexor » dancingstar, posted by SLS on March 27, 2006, at 7:36:54
I'm now on my 10th day without taking a dose. I had been on 150mg of Effexor XR for about 11 months. Zaps were terrible for the second through the fifth day. Starting the sixth day, I started taking an Omega 3 pill(Wal-Mart, 90 caps $9) based on some internet readings and that seemed to help with the zaps. I think it helped but I also noticed that they had started lessening before I took the first pill. But, I would agree with everything I read online, withdrawal is very tough. I'm sure it's tougher for some and easier for others, but the medication works better for some than others as well. Overall, after my year on the medicine( and the year previous to that I was on zoloft) it is truy amazing to see how many people are on these medications unnecessarily. I'm certainly not a doctor but it seems like these meds are extremely overprescribed.
I wanted to write a post online because as I was reading them(during my toughest withdrawal symptoms), I was reading every post just waiting for a positive post and maybe a timeline of how long it would last. Today is the 10th day, I still have a few minor zaps every hour, but I'm better.
I wish everyone the best. Please try to stay as positive as you can. I realize it's very tough, especially when you feel like you are either dying or going crazy. Prayer is always an option and can certainly provide clarity in a time of extreme confusion.
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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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