Reinstating Effexor

I'm not a medical professional, but I speak from personal experience with Effexor, which I aptly termed The Devil Drug.
I've written extensively on this topic before on this site, so if interested you may want to do a search so you can read fuller reports on my horrid journey and those of other members, especially those who attempted to taper on their own, etc.
Succinctly put:
• Primary care physician (at that time) prescribed it and failed to inform me of potential of developing or exacerbating high blood pressure. Consequently, remained on this antidepressant for 15 years (possibly a bit longer but this is what I recall). Did develop problems with BP, which today in my mid seventies am on two BP meds. And BP not always "under control" due to other factors in my health life, but not important right now.
• Despite being on an antidepressant, I still felt depressed! When I came to terms with this, I had already experienced years of was horrifying, realistic nightmares and night terrors (both nightly). Those experiences would make Steven King novels seem tame.
• Asked help from trusted neurologist and she created a tapering schedule for me to wean off this Devil Drug. I did not do this alone, and will say once again that no one should taper off any drug, especially one like Effexor.
• It took MONTHS, and keeping in touch with my doctor, and suffering painful effects on my daily life. I was teaching full time on secondary and graduate levels, raising 3 kids, trying to cope with the needs of a senior-age mother living in another part of our country. Thank God for my incredibly supportive husband, who would gently "wake" me from those horrid nightly experiences and comfort me, assure me that those creatures were NOT in our bedroom. All of this affected him also, and with interrupted sleep would then rise predawn to drive into the city where he was an elementary school principal...
•Finally the last day of the carefully charted tapering schedule, which had been tweaked when and as needed but NEVER increasing to a higher dose. Things got bad for me (nervous twitching, whispers in my ear that were like a whooshing sound, confusion, mental blocks (really fun when trying to complete a graduate teaching degree -- mind would go BLANK when taking tests, writing essays in class). Other things also, but these suffice.
• The drug still lingered for months, possibly up to 2 years more, in various ways but thankfully no more nightly visits by demons, etc.

That was my personal experience with this med and I strongly agree with others who advocate having the FDA remove it from the market altogether. It's been years since that horrid episode in my journey of dealing with MDD and Anxiety Disorder.
There's more that I can share but this is all I have time for now.
The only advice I'll give to anyone asking for my help with the dosage, etc used during my tapering off this drug is this:
---Do NOT do it alone. Get the help of a trusted health professional, preferably your neurologist.
---Do NOT be tempted to follow the way that someone else has done for dealing with this drug. Everyone's journey is uniquely personal.
---Do NOT tinker with the dosage on your own.
---If staying with this medication, be prepared for the good chance that you WILL have side effects, maybe not as extreme as mine were, but you will have to prepare yourself so you can best deal with them.

My final words: If at all possible, don't start on the Effexor journey at all. Please read the contributions of other members. I sought and found much info in medical journals, etc., and the best were from the UK and Australia. And the consensus is overwhelmingly what I say: Effexor is indeed a dangerous drug that majority of doctors are clueless about.

Best of luck with whatever you decide.

Very bad drug for me. My BP became elevated. I become more anxious of effexor after about 6 months of taking it. I was taken off it and now take escitalopram 10mg. I have posted before about overprescribing before by psychiatry. I was one of them impacted in a negative way. I only take 3 othern Rxd besides this for hypothroidism BP and seizure prophylaxis. We are not here to be used for profit by big pharma. Lowest dose for the shortest period of time. My seizure prophylaxis drug dosage was reduced by 50mg daily due to GI side effects. I have been seizure free over 10 years. My eeg shows a breach rhythm which is not normal but non epileptic. Life style changes stress reduction and dealing with past or present trauma work..

And saying NO I cannot do this anymore Boundary setting works well too

Thank you for you candid report about getting off Effexor, aka the drug from Hell.
I have the help of psychiatrist (not the one who put me on it), and a compounding pharmacist, an even a consult with Mark Horowitz, one of the authors of Deprescribing Antidepressants.
I am 74 yrs old and was on Eff for about 7 months before I realized it was not helping me but giving me terrible side effects so decided to come off it. It’s been 7 months since I started my tapering and it’s been a nightmare.
I’ve been on 112.5 mg for a month now and determined NOT to go back up. Unfortunately, I had to go from 75 mg because anxiety was so horrible.
How long did it take you to totally get off it
I’m just so thrilled to hear that someone actually got off it.
Is there anyone else out there who actually got off it. I just would like to hear from others that they did get off it.
My main withdrawal symptoms at this point are headaches and body aches, trembling, especially of legs, extreme fatigue, insomnia and anxiety/nervousness, and weak legs.
Is there anyone else out there who can relate to these withdrawal symptoms? And did you ever get totally off it?
It also raises my BP, pulse, and cholesterol.
Someone from my support group gave up and decided he will have to stay on 75 mg for the rest of his life😢

I can certainly relate to the awful withdrawal symptoms. I am tapering faster than I would prefer, due to effexor-induced liver damage. I am down to 55mg (weighing beads) from 225mg. I haven't been able to function for 6 weeks. I, too, would also like to know if anyone got off this drug, without having protracted withdrawal.

I was on 75 mg. Effexor many years ago. Getting to a stable state was typical of most ssri's and snri's. When I decided I was ready to taper off. I had noooooo problems. Not everyone does. I went down by a few beads a week. Yup counted out every little one. When I was down to two beads left. I quit. Never had any withdrawal at all. Not all negative. My only negative was some weight gain.

Thanks everyone for the input. I did well with Effexor which put my anxiety under control. I work in the financial services which can be very stressful. Yes, I did gain weight and slightly elevated blood pressure.I did a slow taper at 5% harm reduction by counting beads and staying on it for 4 weeks. I did that for 3 years. Everything was going well until I stopped at 1 bead. I should have paid attention to my body and held on longer until I stabilized. The withdrawals symptoms started two days after my gallbladder surgery. Not sure if it delayed withdrawal or triggered by surgery.

Unfortunately, I had to go back to a low dose of 37.5 mgs to stabilize myself. I plan to slowly taper again when I am ready. I just need to take my time and not rush this time.

I am on my 3rd day of 37.5 mgs. Still not seeing any relief from anxiety. From what I have read here it takes about 2 weeks to fully kick in.

I have seen on some forums of people successfully weaning off Effexor. You have to do it real slow at 10% or lower harm reduction rate.

Yes, this is what I’ll be doing. However, I’d like hear from others how long it took before you were ready to do another lowering? A month, two months, 6 months?

Consider yourself fortunate. You don't say how long you had been on Effexor. The longer one has been on a drug such as this one, the more difficult it will be to taper, deal with the effects on every aspect of the human body as the person prays to make it to the end goal. That you had no effects is another fortunate aspect for you, because that is not the norm.
Understand that this is not a criticism, but counting the beads within the capsules is not supported by medical professionals and institutions. Yes, quite a few members on this site have posted of their successful attempts just by counting down on the beads. And just as many have told of the difficulties and hardships while on those journeys, some returning to the higher levels just to stop the harsh effects.
Wishing you a future without needing to take any antidepressants so that you will never have to chance having the challenging and draining effects that is part of the process of having your body struggle to adjust to not having the drug in your system. Because it is hell on earth.