Slave to Effexor, and Tired of It

Flora Says:

Good luck. I got off of Effexor recently, and it was pretty difficult for me.
But it’s definitely do-able.

Gianna Says:

I did effexor by taking out a couple of pellets at a time…literally just a couple…(opening the capsules and then closing them up again—rather painstaking process of counting pellets)

if you’re on a high dose you can start with bigger amounts of pellets, but as you get to lower doses it has to be smaller and smaller.

good luck…it can be done!

addie Says:

i can totally understand wanting to get off it. i was taking a relatively small dose and i still had wacky side effects if i missed one day. hysteria, space-case, dizzy. best of luck with weaning off it.

ls Says:

My husband’s weaning took at least 6 months of very slow downgrades in dosage. Up until the last little bit he got those vertigo side effects.

Still Dreaming Says:

i totally, totally, get that. I can’t go a single day without effexor. It’s the worst feeling I’ve ever felt, to be honest. And if I realize that’s why I’m sick, the craving is enormous, I once contemplated swallowing some pieces of the inside I found in the bottom of my purse where my crushed “emergency” effexor pill had been. I think that was the last time I missed it. I spent that day at practicum feeling like I was dieing. I contemplated ways to get a pill from our med room, although thankfully I didn’t get further then that stage.

I give you a lot of credit for wanting to come off… you’re braver then me! When I once went from 150 to 112.5 I was dizzy/sick for a week. Of course then after three months, I wound up putting it right back where it was. It works for me, but it scares me.

Alison Hymes Says:

If your heart is healthy, there is a study that says heavy coffee drinkers are less likely to commit suicide than non coffee drinkers. Now that’s a study I like Hope your doctor helps you out with your process.

a Says:

i had the same experience as many of the other commentors. i decided to go off because having no health insurance and being on this medication was a disaster. i once ran out, but could not go without them one day because of the side effects. i still have a big unpaid ER bill because that was the only way i could get a new script and stop the withdrawal effects as an uninsured patient. meaning i had to go to the ER to get more of the drug to get OFF of it.

i was frustrated when i decided to go off because my psychiatrist said she was unfamiliar with any warnings or patient complaints about going off the drug. i experienced terrible brain freezes, vertigo, shakes and cold sweats if i missed more than one dose, and that is why i decided to taper off. it took more than one year of reducing the dose, and in the end it was only by a few pellets a month.

doctors should warn patients of this problem before they prescribe effexor.
maybe it will help others if you can update us on how it goes for you? good luck liz!

Tom Says:

I quit Effexor cold turkey, without consulting my doctor. I wouldn’t recommend that approach. I was dizzy and nauseous for days. I hated the side effects more than the misery from the anxiety, so as soon as I felt able, I stopped. Best decision I made during that time of my life, definitely.

Merle Says:

I quit Effexor and several other meds in one day. I told my psychiatrist after the fact. The withdraw was hell. I experienced what I would later know as “brain zaps”. Life really sucked for a while! However, I do not regret my decision. I needed to find a baseline to start from in my recovery.

Sherry Says:

I was lucky. I had gall bladder surgery, couldn’t take pills the day of the surgery and just never took anything again. I was too preoccupied with recovering from the surgery to notice any withdrawal sxs, I guess. Effexor was perhaps the only antidepressant that ever worked for me, but it stopped working after a few months so I was glad to be rid of it. It was just something “extra” in my life that wasn’t doing anything. That I knew of. I’m sure it wasn’t helping my body.

Liz, you might want to consider getting a scale that measures grams. They cost about fifty bucks. You could weigh the contents of the capsule, then take out an incremental amount each day. It probably would be faster than counting all those wee pill-ettes, although that’s a really good idea too. You can also weigh the capsule itself. Once you get that tare weight nailed down you wouldn’t have to empty the entire capsule, just take out whatever tenth of a gram you need to that day. Just a thought. Jenny at lotioncrafter.com is very helpful in answering questions if you decide to go that way. (I’m a soap maker which is why I’m into scales. Soaping is done by weight, as is lotion making. The latter requires more accurate scales.) This may be a totally loopy idea, but I toss it out for perusal.

Jenny Says:

Good luck! Here are my two best tips for getting through this:
1) If it doesn’t conflict with anything else you take, maybe ask if you can temporarily add Prozac as you taper down. My shrink offered me that, I didn’t take him up on it, and in retrospect I wish I had tried it. Prozac stays in your system a looooong time so stopping it should be a relative walk in the park.
2) Think of strategies ahead of time–chocolates, yoga, massage, Rescue Remedy, lunches out with a friend, fancy-schmancy shower gel–whatever makes you feel cared for and well, and plan to treat yourself regularly.

erin Says:

i’m on effexor xr 150mg, after having been on celexa for almost a year. has anyone experienced uncontrollable weight gain & an inability to lose weight while on effexor? my diet has improved somewhat and i’ve increased working out from zero times/week to 3+ times/week and still can’t shed a pound. for this reason, i’m thinking of going off it, but don’t know what else is out there. HELP!!!!

Mari Says:

Good luck with tapering off Effexor. I’ve never taken that particular anti-depressant but have heard about the unpleasant side effects of withdrawal. Just out of curiosity, do you plan on switching to a another anti-depressant or do you feel like you can function without one?

Andy K Says:

I tapered myself off Effexor a few years ago and it was horrible. I’m now on Prestiq (which I’ve heard is the new Effexor) and missing a dose is equally as unpleasant. I’ve not had good luck with meds and am at a loss.

Tony Says:

I was “lucky” enough to be in an out-patient program during my withdrawl from Effexor. The pdoc there was very aware of withdrawl symptoms and sympathetic so I was tapered down slowly.For a couple of weeks; bad flu-like symptoms, but I made it thru.It is obviously different for everyone. I expected worse case scenario as per my MO. Not to horrible. Hope it goes well for you.

herb Says:

Dear Liz,

“It is obviously different for everyone.” — Tony

Therein lies the answer as Tony stated. As many of us well know most all psychotropic medications contain a cauldron of potential side-effects with some being extremely serious.

Obviously you already have a sense of those side-effects by simply missing a dosage to which I’d respond from my experiences as a support person and caregiver to consider first reducing the daily dosage rather than by skipping a day and tapering from there, etc.

An interesting aside from some of the previous postings was the fact that my spouse had been on and off Effexor a number of times through the years. In fact at one time she was mega-dosing Effexor XR to the tune of 950 mg a day, under doctor supervision. It worked almost for year where she was depression free and then the refractory issues raised its ugly head and once again she withdrew from the Effexor within a matter of weeks without any side-effects in her case.

Each individual is unique and so too their responses to medications and/or therapies.

I wish you well and that all goes uneventfully for you.

Warmly,
Herb
VNSdepression.com

Dan Says:

Serotonin Enhancing Psychotropic Pharmaceuticals
In the 1930s, physicians approached the mental illness of depression a bit differently that we do today.

While acknowledging typically the etiology for their patients is likely due to some great misfortune in their individual lives, the physician focused on what was known as a complex.

A complex is the disturbances of ideas and impulses that are the cause of consistent habitual patterns of thought, feelings, and behavior.

An example of this state of mind of one who is depressed is one who experiences an exaggerated or obsessive concern or fear. And the etiology for this mental disorder was often undefined.

People react differently to life stressors in their life, so depression cannot be empirically determined.

Also in the 1930s, at times, behavioral or cognitive therapy was recommended for treating the depressed patient, and not pharmacological treatment, overall.

Also considered for the depressed patient was positive lifestyle changes that may lessen the pain that the depression was causing them.

Try and be grateful, they would tell their patient, as well as thankful and appreciative for whatever good may be in their life, and normally the depressed patient would eventually recover.

Times have changed since then.

Presently, serotonin-enhancing drugs are the therapeutic regimens for those who are suspect of having a depressed state or mood disorder.

Patients believing they have such cognitive issues often ask for such medications. The drugs are known as SSRIs, or SRNIs.

What is remarkable is that the mood disorders which will be discussed are subject to debate that progresses in its intensity as the more of these certain types of drugs are used in others/

Such disorders, presuming they exist at all, have been brought to the attention to so many others through disease awareness campaigns by the makers of these classes of drugs.

So mental flaws claimed to be relieved by SSRI drugs may not be entirely accurate. Disease mongering takes many forms- including front groups wearing a mask.

With depression, the most severe cognitive and behavioral malfunctions are expressed in what is called a major depressive disorder, as well as clinical depression or major depression.

Depression is thought to affect twice as many women than men.

Symptoms of this type of depression, which is the most concerning to health care providers in particular due to its severity, contain several symptoms.

These include decreased or flat affect, decreased interest in activities once enjoyable, self perceptions of worthiness, guilt, regret, helplessness, and hopeless by the sufferer, to name a few of the diagnostic features that may be present with one who has such a major depressive disorder.

The disease has a vexing insistence on staying with the victim for a lengthy period of time- often continuing to progress symptomatically in severity and discomfort.

This disease is very disabling, and cannot be lifted by one’s will, so all health care professionals likely agree that depression is a potentially serious condition with their patients.

Suicidal ideation and attempts are associated with major depression.

Treatment, it appears, is reasonable and necessary for the depressed patient.

These SSRI drugs mentioned earlier are known by some health care providers as third generation anti-depressants. Such drugs, drugs that affect the mind, are called psychotropic medications.

SSRIs also include a few drugs in this class that include the addition of a norepinephrine uptake inhibitor added to the SSRI in one capsule, and these drugs are referred to as SNRI medications.

The combination of two different drugs has made them the top class of prescriptions for those suspected of some type of psychological misalignment.

There are several available SSRIs presently, and a few SRNIs. Both classes of medications are prescribed for similar mental conditions.

Some consider these classes of meds, the serotonin enhancers in these medications, to be the next generation mood enhancers- after the benzodiazepine hype decades ago, which was followed by what were called trycyclic drugs for depression for some time as well, it is believed.

Furthermore, regarding SNRIs, adding the additional agent of norepinepherine is presumed to increase the effectiveness of SSRIs by some, yet not everyone claims relief from these types of drugs included in the SRNI class.
Some Definitions:

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter thought to be associated with mood. The hypothesis was first suggested in the mid 1960s that this neurotransmitter may play a role in moods and emotions in humans. Yet to this day, the serotonin correlation with such behavioral and mental conditions is only theoretical.

In fact, the psychiatrist’s bible, which is known as the DSM, states that the definite etiology of depression remains a mystery and remains unknown with complete certainty. So a chemical imbalance in the brain is not proven to be the cause of mood disorders, it is only suspected as a result of limited scientific evidence.

Diagnosing mental diseases such as depression is based on subjective assessment only, as interpreted by the prescriber, so one can examine the accuracy of such diagnoses.

Then there is Norepinepherine, believed to be a stress hormone, which many believe help those who have such mood disorders as depression.

Basically, with the theory that by adding this hormone, the SSRI will be more efficacious for a patient prescribed such a med, as suggested earlier.

And the depressive state of a patient certainly can be aggravated by another mood disorder at the same time with some patients. Anxiety usually exists with one who has a major depressive disorder.

An objective diagnosis of such a mental condition is rather impossible to assess objectively.

Therefore any diagnosis made for a mental abnormality lacks complete accuracy and assurance.

So such speculated mental illnesses can only be assessed conceptually. As a result, the diagnosis or impression concluded by the patient’s health care provider is dependent on subjective criteria expressed by the suspected patient that is presumed to be not mentally sound.

At times, there have been screening programs that have been used for identifying depressed patients have proven to be largely ineffective.

A social patient history is uncertain and tricky as well, some have said, yet is obtained often from such patients.

There is no objective diagnostic testing for any mental malfunction to validate as to whether or not such a disease is present- just the perception of the health care provider, and survey questions related to a particular mental disorder.

A health care provider has to assess as to whether certain non-verbal or vocalized features are present with a patient in order to conclude confidently that one may have in fact some degree or level of depression or any other mental disorder.

To assess a suspected depressed patient is further complicated by the fact that the exact cause of major depression is unknown.

Research says that there is a strong genetic component to this illness, however.

The diagnosis of depression as well as mood disorders that may exist within patients has increased quite a bit over the past few decades.

Some have asked themselves, as well as others- actually how many people are really and actually depressed, or affected by any other mental disorder?

What is believed is that if one determined to be cognitively impaired from a mental paradigm, then this may be in fact major depression.

If this mental disorder is determined by a health care provider, it is possible that pharmacological therapy may be considered reasonable and necessary, as well as psychotherapy either suggested to be performed with or in place of medicinal therapy.

Studies show that both therapies working together may be of most benefit for the depressive patient, yet it is not a guaranteed protocol for treatment in this way.

It has been reported that around 10percent of the U.S. population will at some point be affected by an episode of what may be a major depressive disorder. This is much greater in number than just a few decades ago.

Perhaps media sources are to blame to some degree for the progressive increase in diagnosing mental disorders by suggesting to the public that they may have such disorders.

So the diagnosis and medicinal treatment have clearly increased in a relatively short period of time in the United States.

Of course, the expansion of those claimed and determined to be depressed does not sadden the makers of these drugs used to treat this mental disorder one bit, it is safe to say.

Some have said that so many more people seek treatment now for what they believe is a major depressive disorder they are experiencing, when in fact it may be possibly intense sadness, perhaps, due to a loss of some sort in their lives.

There is a difference, and health care providers should have the appropriate tools and knowledge to discriminate between the two states of mental conditions.

Sadness is not a medical problem.

Symptoms associated with an unfavorable mental state need to be excessive and chronic to be considered to have in fact the medical problem of a major depressive disorder, as stated by others.

In Time magazine’s June 16th 2008 cover story, it was reported that the military personnel in the Iraq war are pounding down SSRIs often.

Every time there is a new war, there is a new drug, it seems.

Yet the story may illustrate the frequent usage of these types of medications in a variety of different areas for different reasons.

Some reasons may be valid and appropriate, yet others perhaps may not be reasonable for such medicinal therapy.

However, as illustrated in this situation, they appear to be accepted as a treatment option without reservation.

In regards to those pharmaceutical companies who make and market such psychotropic drugs in the manner that their manufacturers do is largely unknown to others, such as with screenings performed essentially by front groups, and so forth.

However, what is known is that the psychiatry specialty, as they often treats and manages depressed patients, is the one specialty that receives the most monetary funding that is paid to them by these certain pharmaceutical companies for ultimately what they hope will be continued and additional support of the psychotropic meds that they currently promote to these doctors.

Needless to say, the desire and the aspect of the pharmaceutical industry clearly is primarily concerned with encouraging as much use out of their products as possible- with both doctors and patients being the route of that increased use they desperately hope will occur.

Regardless, SSRIs and SRNIs are the preferred treatment methods if depression or other mood disorders that are suspected and determined by the health care providers who treat such patients.

Yet these drugs discussed clearly are not the only treatments, medicinally or otherwise, for depression and other related and suspected mental disease states, moods, or disorders.

Patients should be aware of this fact as well as caregivers. And they may not be aware of the options available to them.

For example, tens of millions of prescriptions are written by health care providers for these types of medications for their patients.

These drugs are not inexpensive, either, as it is not unusual for a patient to pay greater than one hundred dollars to have their prescription filled for only a month’s worth of these particular drugs.

Presently, there are about ten different SSRI/SRNI meds available, many of which are now generic, yet essentially, they appear to be similar in regards to their efficacy and adverse events.

The newest one, a SNRI called Pristiq, was approved in 2008, and is believed to be launched as a treatment for menopause.

The first one of these SSRI meds was Prozac, which was available in 1988, and the drug was greatly praised for its ability to transform the lives of those who consumed this medication in the years that followed. Some termed Prozac, ‘the happy pill’.

In addition, as the years went by and more drugs in this class became available, Prozac was the one of preference for many doctors for children. A favorable book was published specifically regarding this medication soon after it became so popular with others.

Furthermore, these meds have received upon request of their makers to the FDA to have additional indications besides depression for these types of drugs they produce and market, and the indications they have received are for some really questionable conditions, such as social phobia and premenstrual syndrome.

Also included with indications that now exist with these types of medications are the quite devastating conditions of what may be mild anxiety and shyness, yet the makers of these drugs consider such patients as having chronic anxiety with severe anxiety disorder, which others have said is rather obsurd.

And it gets worse with the indications received for these types of drugs, which now include Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Bulimia, and any form of stress disorders in general.

I understand they are seeking indications for pain management as well with these SSRI or SRNI pharmaceuticals.

Likely, they will get the indication for their drugs to treat such creative cognitive states apparently others have in great numbers.

With some of these indications for these classes of drugs, I question as to whether or not they are actual and treatable disease states or medical problems.

Yet with additional indications for particular drugs in these classes of medications, one can be assured that the market for these drugs will continue to grow- as more are prescribed to those patients who are progressively asking for them specifically for relief they anticipate they will receive from taking these drugs.

What such patients are not aware of is that studies have shown that this class of medications is only effective in roughly half of those who take them.

And some of the indications granted to drugs in these classes of medications may be considered disease mongering tacitly performed by the makers and marketers of these drugs to again grow the market share for particular drugs of this type.

This is combined with drug companies who make these types of meds either forming or creating front groups in order to have more diagnosed with various medical problems that may not exist so their medication can be utilized more.

And as mentioned earlier, such pharmaceutical companies have been known to either create or support front groups to ultimately encourage who may be normal people to get evaluated for the diseases indicated with these medications.

Of course, such tactics implemented by such pharmaceutical companies are deceptive, inappropriate, unreasonable, unnecessary, and potentially if not actually dangerous to others.

Perhaps of greater concern and danger with these particular psychotropic medications involve the adverse effects associated with these types of drugs, which include suicidal thoughts and actions, violence- including acts of homicide, and aggression- and this is only to name a few.

Such events are devastating and have been demonstrated by those who have or are taking these types of drugs.

It has been reported that the makers of such drugs are suspected to have known about these toxic and dangerous effects of their drugs and did not share them with the public in a timely and critical manner until forced to do so.

While most SSRIs and SNRIs are approved for use in adults only, prescribing these meds to children and adolescents has drawn the most attention and debate with others for understandable reasons, which have included those in the medical profession as well as citizen watchdog groups.

The reasons for this attention are due to the potential off-label use of these meds in this population of children.

Yet what may be most shocking is the fact that some of the makers of these meds did not release clinical study information about the risks of suicide as well as the other adverse events related to such populations.

This, combined with the true decreased efficacy of SSRIs in general, which is believed to be only less than 10 percent more effective than a placebo.

The makers of Paxil caught the attention of the government regarding this issue of data suppression some time ago, this hiding of such important information- Elliot Spitzer specifically was the catalyst for this awareness, as I recall.

Furthermore, that drug is in the spotlight once again years later. Some believe the drug maker knew about possible risk to the youth as early as 1991. Yet did not disclose such danger associated with their drug to the public or the FDA, and this was done with intent.

And there are very serious questions about the use of SSRIs in children and adolescents regarding the possible damaging effects of these meds on them as they get older.

These children and teenagers who are prescribed these drugs.

Others are asking if this is really necessary- and are these drugs doing more harm than good for their children.

For example, do the SSRIs correct or create brain states considered not within normal limits, which in effect would possibly cause harm rather than benefit a patient on such a drug?

Are adolescents really depressed, or just experiencing what was once considered normal teenage angst?

Do SSRIs have an effect on the brain development and their self identity of such young people?

Do adolescents in particular become dangerous or bizarre due to SSRIs interfering with the myelination occurring within their still developing brains?

No one seems to know the correct answer to such questions, yet the danger associated with the use of SSRIs does in fact exist, as demonstrated by others. It is observed in some who take such drugs, but not all who take these drugs.

Yet health care providers possibly should be much more aware of these possibilities, possibly, along with the black box warning now on SSRI prescribing information for the youth that has existed since 1994.

There are other medications health care providers could prescribe for such patients that have no less benefit for them then the serotonin drugs discussed.

Finally, if SSRIs or SNRIs are discontinued by a patient rapidly, abruptly, and without medical supervision, withdrawals experienced by many of these patients are believed to be quite brutal that follow soon after this drug is not taken anymore by a former patient.

This in itself may be a catalyst for one to consider or attempt suicide, others have suggested.

Many are aware and understand that discontinuing these SSRIs and SSNIs leaves the brain in a state of neurochemical instability for some great length of time as the neurons need to recalibrate after existing in a brain over-saturated with serotonin and neuron alteration.
This occurs to some degree with any psychotropic medication, yet the withdrawals can reach a state of danger for the victim in some classes of meds such as SSRIs and SNRIs, it is believed. And this seems to concern many, yet does not inhibit health care providers for continuing to select such therapy with these drugs for their patients.
SSRIs and SRNIs have been claimed by doctors as well as patients to be extremely beneficial for the patient’s well -being regarding their apparent mental issues that resolve in time. Yet overall, the factors associated with this class of medications may outweigh any perceived benefit for the patient taking such a drug that can harm themselves and others.
Before these medications mentioned were developed, doctors praised trycyclics, another class of anti-depressants mentioned earlier, in a similar manner since their advent in the 1950.
Considering the lack of efficacy that has been demonstrated objectively with these new serotonin specific psychotropics, along with the deadly adverse events with these SSRI and SSNI meds only recently brought to the attention of others, other pharmacological and non- pharmacological treatment options should probably be considered, but that is up to the discretion of the prescriber.
And the perception of the benefits derived by these types of drugs may be flawed, as there has been no decrease in incidences of suicide or remission of depression since these drugs have been available, many have concluded.

Yet antidepressants in general have been considered by others to create amotivational syndrome, which is a lack of interest in various activities, as well as creating a state of flat affect of users of antidepressants.
Furthermore, recent studies have suggested that the supplement, St. John’s Wart, has shown to be as effective as medicine for major depression. Deficiencies in vitamins B12 and Folate have been suggested as a cause for depression as well. One study showed that a small jog performed by a depressed patient offered similar if not greater relief than a SSRI drug.

It is my hope that such a prescriber rules out possible other etiologies for their patients’ mental conditions before they conclude that such a patient is suffering from true mental illness requiring the medications mentioned earlier.

To rule out other conditions, the health care provider may consider asking their patients about life stressors and other medications these patients have taken or are presently taking.

Because at times, a doctor can in fact do harm without intent.

“I use to care, but now I take a pill for that.” —
Author unknown*

http://www.nmha.org

Dan Abshear

Lacy Says:

Good luck. I weaned myself off in two weeks (at the same time dosing up on a new Wellbutrin prescription, which turned out to be a big mistake because it shifted me into a hypomanic episode). I had dizziness, nausea, diarrhea, and major brain zaps. It’s been two years and I’ll never go back on that stuff. I will never be able to go medication-free, but at least I don’t have to take Effexor again.

Cheryl Says:

My experience with getting off Effexor was very difficult. I have never felt so sick in my life. It was like having the flu for about 4 months. Dizziness, nausea, brain zaps, ohmygod. I had to taper down very slowly and finally I was able to get off of it. My advice, take it slow.

lee Says:

I stopped taking Effexor quite abruptly and the effects were terrifying. I was driving to New Orleans and I began to have these “electric shocks” running through my body. This went on for weeks.

Carlotta Says:

I have been stepping down on prestiq for the past 2 months. Recently, I went on a trip and left my prestiq. It has bee 4.5 days since I’ve taken it and am having headaches and brain zaps. I was wondering if anyone can provide any information on the length of time before the brain zaps subsides? and if there are any medical risks associated with the brain zaps?

Sheryl Says:

Has anyone suffered memory loss while on/ after stopping Effexor?

Liz mecher Says:

I have been on Effexor for 6 yrs at 75 mg. I am now being removed from my position at my job of 12 yrs for “disrespectful, disruptive and unprofessional behavior.” These behaviors occurred during an annual training meeting when I had run out of my pills and experienced what is called ‘hypo mania’. I experienced vertigo, dizziness, elevated self esteem, abrupt interruptions during the lecture. I am accused of being drunk-which I was not. I have had this job for 12 yrs and now will be unemployed because of the side effects of stopping Effexor suddenly. The new Americans with Disability Act includes depression and its’ side effects. Hopefully, I can maintain employment with this argument.