Long term effects AFTER withdrawing from Effexor

Hi Jo Jo , I am having even worse issues with Effexor (venlafaxine here in UK). Can you list the books you state (titles / authors). I was on 75mg for 5 yrs hyper slow taper. Got 95% of side effects. Stopped Oct 2022. STILL get extreme lethargy, mental slowness , memory issues, sweating, giddy, rashes, leg weakness, it goes on & on. I am looking for ANY assurance symptoms will fade away. DR's here have no clue. I was told drug gets into body cells & fats & seeps out over time ! THIS is what causes the problems as it is STILL in your system, until it eventually flushes out. I have heard side effects going away & returning YEARS after stopping effexor.

Hi Metin, Same issues with me ref Memory, dizzyness, On Effexor 75 mg April 17 to Oct 22 hyper slow titration down from Oct 18 . Have you since got any long term recovery prognosis? from respondents?. I have read EFFEXOR gets absorbed into the bodies cells / fats / brain & effectively seeps out over time. So, until your body flushes it out, your are still "taking" the drug. This can take for YEARS.

Jaquline , like you I have the same fatigue issues. I was on effexor 75 mg April 2017 to Oct 2022 (hyper slow titration) . Still @ Aug 2023 get terrible side effects. I read drug gets absorbed into the body and seeps out. So you are drip fed the drug. I gather excercise + supplements can help.

Hi 4 Cat, I have had terrible issues both when on , and after stopping Effexor (on it April 2017 to Oct 2022 after a extreme taper from Oct 19. Got 95% of side effects. Like you, have read it takes years to subside = reason I understand it that it is STILL in your body. Gets absorbed into cells & fats. So, is seeping out! Thus , your body is "all at sea" coping with the imbalance , until it is naturally flushed out !

Effexor should never have been approved by the FDA. The side effects on it and the discontinuation syndrome are worse than what it treats, at least for me.

I have been on 450mg for 15 years. I am down to 375 and now I have both side effects and discontinuation effects…wonderful.

The only things that help are vigorous exercise and good clean food.

I’ll be thinking of you!

I have relatively gradually stopped Effexor over a few months. Since then I have recently developed severe lower back pain caused by tensions in the upper shoulder region that I can't seem to relax with either massages or osteopathy (which normally works). I am also sore in hip joints. But the osteopath had me notice that I seem to have chronic inflammation especially in the upper body and arms. Pressing anywhere on the skin leaves red marks for a few seconds. I am wondering if this could be part of withdrawl effects...?

Hi Betula, I have a litany of legacy effects. How long were you taking EFFEXOR? Like you, I have aches , inflammation & weakness attributable to the drug. In my case severe lower leg aches & arm aches. Some hip & lower back stiffness. NEVER had these issues before EFFXOR.
I am sure it is part & parcel of withdrawal. It would be useful if contributors to this site could say if their legacy side effects (after titration) corrolate - in duration of such issues- to how long they were on the drug in the first place . Regards

I only took this drug for 8weeks because the side effects were bad for me. .. Nausea, dizzy , ear pressure etc. My doctor was peeved when I quit and felt I had reached a “therapeutic” dose. I tapered pretty quickly and got off.
After reading these posts I’m glad I didn’t persist.
Has anyone tried, or considered fasting to allow your body to clear out some of this “junk” faster?
I have not researched fasting for drug purge, but might be worth exploring.

I see myself in all the comments related to pain after going off Effexor XR (for me just months shy of 20 years).

Within two months of going to zero by a weaning process over 8-10 weeks, I was slammed with unimaginable neck pain. Didn’t make a connection at the time. Almost 3 years later, I still suffer with it, went back to PT, take muscle relaxers (when it’s out of control and I’m losing sleep.). Shortly after, I found my white blood cells/neutrophils were quite low and went to hematologist who believes it’s autoimmune related. About one year and 4 months after zero on Effexor I started having bizarre pains/sensations that woke me in the night.

Here’s the first one: I was woken with what felt like nerves firing, started in my upper body, went through my arms, down my torso and legs and exited through my feet. As soon as that stopped, it felt like a host of butterfly wings were flapping inside my chest and when that stopped I felt the flap in the back of my throat open and close repeatedly. I laid frozen in my bed. Scared because it was more emotionally and mentally disturbing than painful and my mind could not make sense of it. Within weeks, I was awoke to my abdomen aorta beating like crazy, never felt anything like it before or again thank goodness. Now fast forward one and a half years since those episodes, I have so many ED visits with chronic unexplained pains and I was a walker (4-6 miles many days) and now find it difficult. I’ve gone to so many specialists and the most profound comment made my a neurologist is the hospital (I was admitted after getting Covid for the first time in February 2023 with long Covid of dizziness, vertigo and an enlarged right pupil. They thought maybe I had a stroke but I did not. I have gallbladder surgery scheduled for end of October 2023 because December of 2022 I started having panic attacks and terrible pains in the hollow below my chest and right side, episodes of chills where my body temp drops, bowel changes etc. I was in good health and no longer recognize my life. Back to neurologist in hospital- I told him everything and he said - you may need to go back on Effexor or another like drug because it could have altered your neuro transmitters and is causing many if not all your symptoms!!!???!!!

What is IOP?