Return to Effexor XR

I'm unable to find it right now, but there was a study from 2015 that found antidepressants in general and Effexor in particular can, in a small but measurable number of bipolar 2 patients, cause flipping and rapid cycling. I was on it and spent five years dropping deeper and deeper into suicidal ideations, relentless depression, and uncontrollable rage. I was so deep into it that I couldn't even see that I could get out of it. I finally rage quit Effexor cold turkey in a fit of suicidal depression. I wouldn't recommend this, it wasn't easy, but within a week I began emerging from what had come to feel like a permanent state of being. My wife noticed differences, my psychiatrist noticed differences, my counselor noticed differences. I've gone from daily thoughts of suicide to wondering how I ever could have thought that way. I've gone from flying off the handle at the slightest provocation to not being easily rattled (which is how I used to be). I've gone from constant depression to being in a pretty even and generally pleasant mood most of the time. I am 100% convinced at this point that I was one of those people the study noted. When I read it (after I quit it), all I could think was, "This is me. This is the last five years of my life."

The study noted that it was a minority of cases where this happens, but it does happen. Given how my entire outlook has taken a Titanic shift, and that the change has lasted for months now, the one thing that I can point to is quitting Effexor. And the shift began within days of quitting the drug (Effexor washes out of your system in under 24 hours). I can see no other obvious cause for the depression and rage that took hold of me. I'd been on Effexor for a number of years, and initially it was helpful. But then it wasn't. My advice is be careful. And also be aware that if you decide to quit it, it can be a monster. There are a lot of threads on this forum discussing the topic of getting off of it. People really struggle. I would be very cautious, and make sure you're treatment is well managed.

I'd add that my psychiatrist started me on Lamictal, and I do think that has been part of my recovery from the depression. But the changes began before I even started it. One option might be to stay on that one and drop the Effexor and see what happens. When I rage quit, I was on both Effexor and Abilfy. I had seen a reduction in depressive episodes since the Abilify was introduced, but it kind of flattened me out emotionally. I think it kept the effects of the Effexor at bay for a while, but eventually the Effexor outstripped it. Or, at least, that's my theory about what happened. Because after about six months of Effexr plus Abilify, I was suicidal again. You might ask your physician if just taking Lamictal is an option.

I cannot stress enough how my entire outlook changed when I got off Effexor. It was night and day.

Thanks for your input. I always wondered if just the lamictal might be right for me, and I'd like to try it. I'm on a very low dose of Zoloft right now after weaning first off Effexor and then off Fetzima. My husband keeps encouraging me to "go off everything" to see how I do. Not sure about that, but maybe he's right. I talk to my psych PA in about 10 days, and perhaps her input will help.

I quit everything in a rage, honestly seeking a bad outcome at the time. I was deep in the pit and suicidal again, and I can honestly say that I did it in an attempt at self-harm. My thinking at the time was, "This is the most mentally ill thing I can do as a psych patients, and that's why I'm going to do it." I expected and wanted to get worse. That's where my head was. It's entirely accidental that I hit on what appears to have been a major driver in five year long downward spiral. That doesn't mean doing what I did is the right thing to do as a general rule. I need to stress this. I quit for the wrong reasons, it just by luck turned out well.

It took me over a week to contact my psychiatrist to inform her of my decision. By the time I went in to see her, the fog of despair that had driven me to that point had lifted, and because my bipolar 2 diagnosis was still fairly recent (I, too, was diagnosed well into middle age), and because I do feel, based on my overall life trajectory, that it's probably accurate, I told her I had decided it was in my interest to try something different. That's when she put me on lamotrigine, which is an active ingredient in lamictal. Because lamotrigine has to be eased onto, and because my mind started clearing out prior to being on it, and because lamotrigine has to be introduced slowly and I had seen almost immediate changes after quitting the Effexor, even before I began the new drug, I feel confident in saying that the Effexor had been key to what had driven me down.

I had been started on Effexor a number of years earlier for depression, amidst a period when my entire immediate family except for myself died. It was a difficult period to put it lightly, and all the deaths were expected because of the various medical conditions each was suffering. So for me it meant easing one family member through death and then immediately pivoting to the next, with no real time to process any of the losses. It was a family doc who put me on Effexor, and I held it together during that period of deaths, but after the final one, the spiral began. Over the ensuing period of five years, it got worse and worse, and my behavior went into places it had never been previously. I became very deceptive, developed a violent temper, and thought daily about suicide. And I couldn't see that there might be a way out. It feels like this long nightmare now, one that I'm only even beginning to grasp. I'm still wrapping my head around what sort of person I became. I'm starting to work with my counselor to kind of uncover all that happened. It's actually pretty scary in retrospect.

As I said, the depression began lifting almost immediately after I quit Effexor. And the study I found while tunneling through the internet supported my conclusion that the drug was a major component. That doesn't mean it's wrong for everyone, but based on my own experience, I do advise caution with it, especially with bipolar 2. I've landed in a much better place, but I wouldn't want to be med-free right now. I do think the lamotrigine is working, that it's not just quitting Effexor that started pulling me out of that fog. But quitting Effexor was the turning point for me. I will never take that drug again.

Thank you for sharing your story. Interestingly, we had three family deaths within 18 months also. I was on Effexor at the time, and it was working fine. For me, it's always worked fine and then it stopped working. I'm just tired of trying other meds, and I wonder if lamotrigine by itself might be the answer. We'll see...

By the way, when I went off Effexor, my dr helped me with a very slow wean, and I hardly had any withdrawal symptoms--just brain puffs.

Yeah, going cold turkey was miserable. The brain zaps were brutal. At first I was unsure if I'd stick to it, but when I started digging into the topic to see what I was in for quitting, I stumbled on the study. It was on PubMed, so definitely legitimate and peer reviewed. That's when I became determined to ride it out. And like I said, the changes were almost immediately apparent. It's been the single best thing I've done since I landed in the hospital last year, very suicidal, and got diagnosed.

I will stress, mine is a study sample of exactly one person, and it is filled with a lot of bias on my part, so it doesn't mean the same would happen to you or anyone else. I'm just offering up my story hoping you consult your doctor carefully and make the right decision. It could very well work for you, it does for many people. But according to the study, there is a small but statistically significant number of patients who flip like I did. I don't want that to happen to you. If you do go back on it, definitely pay attention to your mood swings, and if you find yourself headed downward, let your doctor know. That's something I didn't do until after I quit.

This is a really good tool for tracking your moods. I've recommended it elsewhere. It's been a huge help for me. It gives you a data base to see if there were any triggers you missed before stumbling into the depressive cycle. I've got several months of info now, I've been taking daily notes on top of tracking sleep and emotions, and the last time I went down, I had a record of the days leading up to it. Things I would have forgotten if I hadn't kept them logged with notes. So there was a broader context to the incident than I'd had before. Since then it's helped me really pay attention in ways I previously hadn't.
https://insights.emoodtracker.com/login

Thank you for the recommendation.

I was on 450 mg of Effexor for fifteen years. I titrated, with my provider's support, over four months. I crashed hard. I've been depressed and suicidal my whole life. Until age forty-five, I managed it with psychotherapy and lifestyle changes.

At age forty-five, my doctor said, "We have this great new drug called Effexor; I've had good luck with it." He started me at 375mg and moved it up to 450mg in two weeks. He also put me on 450mg of Welbutrin and 900mg of lithium. Even with all this medication, the depression never lifted. But the side effects kicked in right away.

I was a very high-functioning person with many responsibilities. However, my thinking became erratic and unsound, and I felt like I was living in a television show. Four years after starting these meds, I was in prison for a crime I committed while having a psychotic break.

I've been able to stop pretty much everything except Effexor/Venlafaxine and bupropion; bupropion doesn't seem to have any side effects for me. It doesn't make me less depressed, but it's not a problem either. In order to get out of the hospital, I had to restart the Effexor at a much lower level, 150mg. My provider and I have started reducing it very slowly. So far, so good. These two gentlemen, Anders Sørensen and Jørgen Kjønø, have posted a number of very helpful videos on YouTube.

The best therapist I ever worked with saw me weekly for nine years. His thesis was that, due to childhood trauma, I was susceptible to negative feelings and threats. With his guidance, I had the best twenty years of my now sixty-year-old life.

When he retired, I was referred to the doctor, who right away put me on drugs. I'd never been on psych drugs before. My life has been a nightmare since. In January of this year, I tried to kill myself three times, a first for me.

After the ER stay (I'll never do that again), I decided to try to go searching for myself. It would be nice to know who I am before I die. With the help of my three providers, I am working my way off as much medication as I can. I have been on them so long that I may never be free of them. But so far so good.

I am going much slower this time. Fortunately, I am starting from much lower doses. My health and mood keep improving. It's slower than I would like, but progress is progress. I've awakened each morning for fifty-four years, wishing I wasn't alive, sometimes planning to make it happen. I have learned how to live with this. I treat it like any chronic condition that requires daily attention.

None of the medications or other interventions have ever relieved the depression. Most of them have made things worse. I don't know where this ends, but I only want to kill myself about ninety minutes a day, a significant improvement from a few months ago. I do know I wish I had never taken Effexor/Venlafaxine.

It's a tough drug to get off of. The good news is that there is an entire industry cropping up to help people detox from psych meds. I've done a lot of drugs over my lifetime. None have been anywhere near as hard to stop. Even quitting smoking was easier.

Peace and good health to everyone.