Today is day 4 without any effexor. Friday symptoms started and Saturday I was all day in bed. I did step out to buy some St. John's Wort Inositol and 5htp to help with the crying. I was crying all day Saturday. I also drank alot of coconut water which helped keep me hydrated. Today I woke up feeling normal. But only for a short while that the dizziness came back. But I noticed that I had to keep taking the Omega 3 n St John's Wort on a regular cycle that helped keep symptoms at Bay. I'll keep everyone posted and in my prayers. I thank God for finding this blog and all the support.

I am 76 yrs old..have been on Effexor 150 ER mg for 15 years. Dr. originally subscribed this drug to help me "get through an emotionally difficult divorce". Even through changes in doctors, due to changes in living locations, I never had a doctor ask me if I felt I needed to continue taking Effexor ER! So, like a "dummy", I just kept taking it. When I changed my "Medicare Part D" pharmacy provider at end of December last year, there was a mixup in refilling this drug; consequently, I ran out & missed 4 days this week. Yesterday & during night, I suffered a very loud & severe brain zap accompanied by severe shaking with loss of bladder control.I thought I was having a seizure! This happened twice in early morning hours. I finally was able to get through to my doctor (after leaving messages for past 6 days), & got my prescription filled finally! It's been about 2 hours since taking the drug & I can feel my body settling down. THIS IS A HORRIBLE DRUG! Until today, I never knew what an addiction was all about! After reading this blog (thankful I found it), and reading about all side effects of this drug, I am stunned to see so many of my side effects listed..what I thought, and my doctor concurred, were called specific illnesses that I have been dealing with all these past years! NOW, I realize they were "simply" side effects of this drug! Good grief...High BP, Skin rashes, Insomnia, Headaches, Back pain, Weight gain, etc..if I am able to get off this drug, by working with my doctor, I will probably be able to get off other drugs for "illnesses" caused by this medication. Thank you thank you for everyone's helpful information!

@mkmenge You can titrate off Effexor by first switching to the non-time release form. Then go down in dosage by no more than 10% a month. You should reduce the dosage by 10% of what you have already titrated down to. For example, if you are on 150MG per day, you would go down by 15 MG. Then you would be taking 135MG. The next month, you should go down by 13.5 MG. If done this way, you should experience no withdrawal effects. The important thing to remember during titration is your blood pressure. Going off any psychoactive drug is a stress to the body and can affect your blood pressure. It is best done under a physician's supervision. A good book on the subject is "Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal: A Guide for Prescribers, Therapists Patients, and their Families." by Dr. Peter Breggin. https://www.amazon.com/Psychiatric-Drug-Withdrawal-Prescribers-Therapists/dp/0826108431
I also highly recommend two things during the withdrawal process: Regular exercise and a good psychotherapist. The exercise will stimulate your body to produce natural chemicals that replace the ones supplied by the Effexor. A therapist is important because antidepressants suppress emotions. As you withdraw, it is helpful to have a guide to help you put the new emotions in perspective.

I too began taking a high dose of Pristiq during a contentious divorce. I was on it so long that it caused inflammation of my upper gastrointestinal tract. It is even more difficult to withdraw from Pristiq because they don't make it in a non-time release form. I managed to mitigate most of the withdrawal effects with regular exercise and sessions with a good clinical psychologist.

As you just experienced, you are not truly free if addicted to any psychoactive drug. I wish you the best of luck and have no doubts that you can do it.

@lisalucier hi, it's been a long time since my last post. I no longer have serious side effects from weaning off the effexor.

My adult son who is an alcoholic, which situation brought me to start taking antidepressants ie effexor, continues his battles.
I have been doing things for myself to make my life easier, but I would like to find a thread that would help me in my situation. Could you direct me to other pages or links?
Thanks,

Hi @lolita9,

I'm the moderator taking care of the groups this weekend, and just want to say that it is so good to hear you are feeling better. I admire your resilience – when one is depressed it isn't easy to do things for oneself. Everyday routines may come naturally to most people, but for someone who is depressed, they are much harder feats. So first, congratulate yourself because when dealing with depression there are no little victories – every accomplishment is a big victory.

When you click on the link for the Mental Health group, https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/mental-health/tab/discussions/ you can scroll down and see all the discussions in the group. Click on the title of a discussion that interests you. This will take you to the discussion thread where you can read all the messages. If you would like to post a comment or question and join the discussion, click REPLY and write your message.

Here are a few conversations that you might find interesting:
– https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/a-little-lighter/
– https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mother-of-special-need-children-losing-her-mind/
– https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/anxiety-panic-and-depression-disorders/

I'm tagging Mentors @jimhd and @hopeful33250 as they might have some suggestions too.

Not sure if you still on here, but your situation is me current day. Only been on low dose for past 4 months, and weaning off. Dr. has me starting with going it off it for the weekends for the first month, and then down to taking it M/W/F for a month.... Today was day 2 and just horrible. Please tell me it gets easier