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Tips on minimizing withdrawal symptoms from Effexor (aka Venlafaxine)
Depression & Anxiety | Last Active: 4 days ago | Replies (6363)Comment receiving replies
I've been on Effexor 150xr for about two years, after many other drugs failed. Before taking it, I had pretty bad OCD, slept only a few hours a night, and had severe anger and anxiety. I am now so sensitive to this drug that if I'm off by a few hours taking it, I start reverting back to my old self (which is very unpleasant for everyone involved). I once went four days without it and after two days of vomiting and dizziness, I spent the next two days doing random things with no caring, empathy, or remorse. It was awful. I have almost no signs of OCD now and I can finally go to a store by myself without sweating profusely and being very irritable. I want off of this but I still want to function!
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I’ve talked to my doctor about reading about the difficulty and symptoms of this medicine. His feeling if it’s working for someone then they probably need it and it’s working for them. He said he’s had people quit cold turkey and have no problems. But I think some people (like us on this site) have a sensitive system and these are side effects.
I was on 20 mg of Lexapro that didn’t seems to be working for severe anxiety, fear of being alone, crying, panic attacks in the middle of the night, turning all of this into depression and difficultly getting out of the bed. I was so worried about changing medication but knew something had to happen in hopes of feeling better he put me on Xanax morning and night and taking 150mg of Effexor once a day for 2 weeks. After one week I felt so much better. It was a huge turn around for me and I was able to actually think about other things I could do to make changes. I have done CBT and regular therapy. Exercise makes an amazing difference in how I feel. No sugar makes a big difference as well. I think the Xanax helping me sleep initially was huge. If I don’t sleep I am very emotional the day after so now I know that sleep is very important which I didn’t realize before.
So in realizing that this medication definitely helped me in the beginning I’ve been taking it for eight years I would like to go off of it completely or at least reduce the dosage. I didn’t realize this medication is hard on the liver which I guess all medications are but my doctor said he doesn’t worry about this medication and it’s long-term use. I only started having severe anxiety after having children. This is not been a lifelong struggle for me. Only since my 30s.
My struggle is trying to figure out if I should switch to a different medication or just know that this one works and continue taking yet. But I have also had side effects when I do miss it one time I feel like I’m in a bubble. Even though I have made great strides and even though I have made great strides and learned a lot and that’s why feel like I could manage without medication but really wondering if it’s a brain change and I’ll need the medication like any other disorder or disease. No other health conditions at all. Opinions??