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Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)
Depression & Anxiety | Last Active: 10 hours ago | Replies (6411)Comment receiving replies
Hi @hopeful33250 and @linxy. Teresa, it's hard to know what the brain zaps are unless you have had them, but for anyone who has gone off of one of these anti-depressants, it's a common side effect. It feels like a slight electrical current that runs through your brain. They are usually not painful but they are very strange and disconcerting. (Some people also get them as a side effect of the meds or when increasing their dosage). In my case, I got them anytime I moved my head too sharply. The good news is that once you're fully off the meds, they usually go away within a few weeks. Mine did at least.
Replies to "Hi @hopeful33250 and @linxy. Teresa, it's hard to know what the brain zaps are unless you..."
I'm going through Effexor withdrawal right now, and I appreciate the accurate description of "brain zaps". When I tilt my head I almost feel like there is sand inside my skull, and I feel like I can feel and hear it moving. It's bizarre. My PCP at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in Manhattan put me on Effexor four years ago after meeting me once or twice and having me complete a short multiple choice quiz on his computer. I scored "mild depression".
General practitioners really should not be giving out psychiatric medications. In retrospect, I think the PCP was a dummy. I had him for one summer before I switched. My depression was more situational in nature, and I think ADD (that I was only recently diagnosed with) was a major contributing factor to it (among other variables). The PCP didn't take the time to learn about me at all before just prescribing me drugs.
Effexor withdrawal makes me so irritable and almost constantly hungry. I hope the symptoms will go away soon.
Hello, this is my first time here. I am Pat in Maryland. I will be speaking to my doctor this week and plan to tell her I want to get off Venlafaxine. I believe I am on 150mg. I also take 50 mg imipramine which I have been on for so long it has probably become part of my DNA. I may have to stay on it. Has anyone here read Kelly Brogan MD’s book on withdrawal from antidepressant drugs?
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I find brain zaps as coins jingling in my head. My head would feel like the coins were rolling around all areas of my brain. I would then get like head spasms. I would put my hands on my head as to try to stop the jingling. My daughter would know I did not take my antidepressant when I told her what was happening. Currently on am taking 37.5 Effexor and 50mg of Elavil at night to help with fibromyalgia and sleep. Has anyone been on 2 antidepressants at the same time? Summertime