@spec
You need to keep in mind you have been on this drug a very long time which is very important to understand especially being on a high dose too. You need to come off it slower. I wouldn't plan on stopping by February. You took this medication for 16 or 17 years, what's the big hurry to get off. Your going to have nitrate down on your others made too. I don't believe you're figuring that into the equation. Wouldn't it have been better to reduce much slower and uneventfully than to rely on even more drugs?
Just my 2 cents.
Jake

How's it been going this weekend, @spec, with your weaning process and side effects?

Hi there, I am currently weaning off Effexor right now. I was taking 75 mg once per day. I’ve been on it for about 2 yrs.
My Dr. prescribed me 25 mg tabs and basically left the decision up to me on how I chose to wean off. He said it all depends on what my body can handle. He recommended that with each drop in dose to stay on it for 1 week before dropping dose down again.

I thought, the quicker the better... so I started with dropping 25mg at a time. Well my second day, I had a severe migraine and was super tired and ended taking nap after nap. I realized that I had completely forgotten to take my meds that morning (which is when I take my Effexor) and I thought that I would just skip one day and start back again the third day since it was already late into the evening of the second day.

The third day I woke up feeling drunk. NOT a good/fun drunk feeling!! A “make it stop” drunk feeling! I couldn’t see straight, it was hard to walk without being clumsy, I was having brain zaps, I was so so tired, I had the worse migraine ever and I felt super nauseous.

My first thought was that it could be a withdrawal from the Effexor... so I quick took my meds including 50mg of Effexor.

Within a couple hours l, I slightly started to feel better and knew everything I was feeling was from the Effexor... so after experiencing a feeling I never wanted to feel again and not fully better, I decided to wean off the Effexor even slower than I had planned. So half way through the day I went and took another half a 25mg tab (aka = 12.5mg).

The third day that I started taking 62.5mg (2 1/2 tabs) I started over, so I stayed on that dose for 7 days.

I have been dropping down 12.5mg (1/2 of a 25mg tab) every 7 days.

My first week was the worst!! By the time I got to day 5-6 I was seriously contemplating staying on that 62.5mg dose for another week cause I felt so uncomfortable.

Daily I had, headaches, nausea, no appetite, felt tired, irritable and my head felt that annoyed feeling like something was crawling in my in my skull.

Day 7 came and I prayed that Jesus would help me pull through, cause I was going for it!

I went down another 12.5mg tab.

Again, week one was the worst! So remember that!

Each week that I drop down 12.5mg, the first and second day I have a bad headache, feel irritable off and on, I’m tired, I feel kind of spacey and mildly have that uncomfortable feeling in my head.

I am currently on my second day of taking 25mg. I can not wait to be off this medication! Antidepressants are one of the worst meds to wean off, but for me I felt like now is the time.

I am taking Gabapentin, Xanax, Adderall and Flexoril along with the Effexor.

I was hopeful that I wouldn’t be reliant on meds for the rest of my life. No matter what my family or friends would say, I have been dead set on “I need these meds” whether it is circumstantial or not. I felt very strongly that I was not ready to go off any of them even though deep down I knew God didn’t want me to be on them. He wanted me to rely on him, not on medications.. But hey, the one thing that these meds had helped me with was not drinking alcohol. I am too afraid of dying from interactions it may cause... so I felt like it was justified. I had been praying that when God wanted me to, that I would feel a desire to go off my meds.

One day, out of the blue, that feeling came. I was ready! Part of me was scared, but part of me was excited. I prayed that I would not lose that desire before my next psych appt. Well my appt came and I hesitated... but I finally said that to be honest, I don’t want to be on these meds forever and I would like to start weaning off them. My Dr. said okay and suggested we only do one at a time and asked which one I want to go off first. I chose Effexor because of the horrible experience I had going off Cymbalta!

This is only the first medication I have started to wean off, but I can’t tell you how excited and accomplished I am already feeling!

I honestly can’t wait until I don’t need to rely on meds! Even when I was adamant about staying on these meds... I still thought “what if I get stranded on an island and I don’t have these meds? Omgosh it would be unbearable!” Yeah, if you couldn’t tell I have a little bit of anxiety. Lol...

Well what I can say is this is only the beginning of my story! Obviously God gave me the desire to get off my meds now for a reason. I don’t know what that reason is yet, but I believe everything happens for a reason.

Hopefully my story helps someone on here!
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