Effexor side effects and withdrawal effects

I'd be curious to know if any studies have been done on long term use of Effexor and the side effects that come from the drug, as well as the difficulties presented by trying to withdraw from it. It seems to show up on this forum at a higher rate than any other drugs, and people have a range of responses when they quit taking it or taper off. Some have a relatively smooth transition, some go through absolute hell (which is clearly your daughter’s case), and among those who have commented here, there generally seems to have been at least some degree of discomfort if not more severe symptoms (how many people never say anything because they never had problems stopping I cannot determine). I don't know if the issue of getting off the drug has been examined at length, but I feel it should be.

In my own case I was on it for a number of years and the side effect from the drug over time was a massive amplification of my depression, a rare but known reaction in older adults. It put me in a very scary place. I stopped cold at 37.5 after coming down pretty easily from 75 and had brain zaps for about six weeks. They were relentless for about the first two, then there was a slow reduction over time. Nausea and vertigo were problems for, I want to say, about two weeks (I've been off of Effexor for over two years now, so the timeline is fading from memory). Both were pretty severe for a while, and as someone who is physically active, I felt genuine fear of falling while biking or hiking. Still, based on what I've read here from others, I feel like I got off pretty easy. I rode it out because I'd discovered that the drug itself was what had driven my depression and the thought of going back into that place was worse for me than dealing with the withdrawal symptoms was.

I also experienced months of emotional rushes. Both a joy in living, something I hadn't felt for several years, and crying in grief over a rapid series of deaths in my immediate family, something I'd bulldozed right through without processing any of it. It had all been pent up and, in my opinion, suppressed by the drug. Finally experiencing both the joy and the grief was an emotional release that had me feeling centered for the first time in years. So that was a good side effect, even if I did cry a lot.

I do want to stress that what happened to me is quite uncommon. My psychiatrist, who I began seeing after being hospitalized, knew about the potential but had never seen it before despite many years of prescribing Effexor. I'm the one who found a lone study from around 2015 and realized that was what was going on with me. Despite being the one to figure it out, I told her I did not harbor any ill will towards her for initially missing it. And I honestly don't. Psychiatry is the hardest branch of medicine, and she simply made a bad call. She did put me on lamotrigine, which for me has been nothing short of a life saver after lifelong cyclic depression. So she got it right the second time.

I was never counseled by either the general practitioner who first prescribed it nor the pharmacist on how difficult quitting the drug could be, which I feel was a major shortcoming (although it's also possible that at the time I first began taking it this wasn't as well understood as it is now). In my opinion and following my experience, I think it should be absolutely required that patients be informed of this before having it prescribed. I might have declined it if I'd known. It's clear from this forum that a lot of people struggle to get off of Effexor. Other antidepressants don't seem to invite so many complaints from people on this site. It seems to be an outlier. Why this is, in my view, needs to be studied.

Best of luck for your daughter. Heart issues are very scary (my only other hospitalization was cardiac related, so I know that one well). I'd say if the prescribing physician is not able to provide medications that tamp the withdrawal symptoms down, it might be time to consult someone else. Perhaps a psychiatrist since they have more experience on the matter than general practitioners do.

I'd be curious to know if any studies have been done on long term use of Effexor and the side effects that come from the drug, as well as the difficulties presented by trying to withdraw from it. It seems to show up on this forum at a higher rate than any other drugs, and people have a range of responses when they quit taking it or taper off. Some have a relatively smooth transition, some go through absolute hell (which is clearly your daughter’s case), and among those who have commented here, there generally seems to have been at least some degree of discomfort if not more severe symptoms (how many people never say anything because they never had problems stopping I cannot determine). I don't know if the issue of getting off the drug has been examined at length, but I feel it should be.

In my own case I was on it for a number of years and the side effect from the drug over time was a massive amplification of my depression, a rare but known reaction in older adults. It put me in a very scary place. I stopped cold at 37.5 after coming down pretty easily from 75 and had brain zaps for about six weeks. They were relentless for about the first two, then there was a slow reduction over time. Nausea and vertigo were problems for, I want to say, about two weeks (I've been off of Effexor for over two years now, so the timeline is fading from memory). Both were pretty severe for a while, and as someone who is physically active, I felt genuine fear of falling while biking or hiking. Still, based on what I've read here from others, I feel like I got off pretty easy. I rode it out because I'd discovered that the drug itself was what had driven my depression and the thought of going back into that place was worse for me than dealing with the withdrawal symptoms was.

I also experienced months of emotional rushes. Both a joy in living, something I hadn't felt for several years, and crying in grief over a rapid series of deaths in my immediate family, something I'd bulldozed right through without processing any of it. It had all been pent up and, in my opinion, suppressed by the drug. Finally experiencing both the joy and the grief was an emotional release that had me feeling centered for the first time in years. So that was a good side effect, even if I did cry a lot.

I do want to stress that what happened to me is quite uncommon. My psychiatrist, who I began seeing after being hospitalized, knew about the potential but had never seen it before despite many years of prescribing Effexor. I'm the one who found a lone study from around 2015 and realized that was what was going on with me. Despite being the one to figure it out, I told her I did not harbor any ill will towards her for initially missing it. And I honestly don't. Psychiatry is the hardest branch of medicine, and she simply made a bad call. She did put me on lamotrigine, which for me has been nothing short of a life saver after lifelong cyclic depression. So she got it right the second time.

I was never counseled by either the general practitioner who first prescribed it nor the pharmacist on how difficult quitting the drug could be, which I feel was a major shortcoming (although it's also possible that at the time I first began taking it this wasn't as well understood as it is now). In my opinion and following my experience, I think it should be absolutely required that patients be informed of this before having it prescribed. I might have declined it if I'd known. It's clear from this forum that a lot of people struggle to get off of Effexor. Other antidepressants don't seem to invite so many complaints from people on this site. It seems to be an outlier. Why this is, in my view, needs to be studied.

Best of luck for your daughter. Heart issues are very scary (my only other hospitalization was cardiac related, so I know that one well). I'd say if the prescribing physician is not able to provide medications that tamp the withdrawal symptoms down, it might be time to consult someone else. Perhaps a psychiatrist since they have more experience on the matter than general practitioners do.