Effexor- The Last Stages Of Coming Off It?

[Benway]

Hiyaz,

I have been on this stuff at 225mg for a good while- (about 9mths- my time perception is very bad).

I know it is causing me many weird and not-so-wonderful side effects.

So i started coming down off it- 225, 150, 75-37.5, and im now on zilch for a couple of weeks.

However i have started getting these nasty twitches recently- in my legs, fingers and face- (eye and side of mouth).

I only take diazepam in emergencies as i was addicted to shedloads of it, and it does work- but i cant get it legally and do not want to go backwards by obtaining meds illegally over the net, or from clients at my clinic where i am offered them. I already take a low dose of xanax for anxirty, so no dr in his right mind would give me diazepam- a 2nd benzo to a recovering addict.

the term 'myclonic jerks' springs to mind as what they are called- the little spasms. But lying in bed spasming out trying to sleep is annoying, to put it mildly.

now a 2nd s/e from the side effexor has emerged- at night mostly having 'night sweats' or 'hot flushes'. and not being able to control my body temp. im too young to be menopausal, and have no other symptoms of that, so that ain't it.

its a s/effect i have never heard of, i have been totally off them now over 2 weeks. i dont feel i need them as i am not depressed, per se.

I know the difference between a bang of depression, and natural sadness, grief, loss and lonliness.

Has anyone else had this effect? I just took a few granules in a capsule a while ago as a 'test' and yip, its gone now- so are the twitches, so its def related to the effexor.

I dont want to be on a large dose of a med i am only on to stop me going into withdrawls from it!

(How much is that costing government health services- feeding ppl pills they are only on to stop the withdrawls i wonder?)

Any imput really appreciated- thanks,

Anne Marie

[Paris]

i dont really know how to help only that i came off 150mgs of the stuff at once and i felt rotten for 2 weeks, its got quite a long half life i think,

i hope you feel better soon just didnt want you to think you were alone cos you are not xx

Paris

[Shelley]

Yep been there, talking about Venlafaxine, right. I was on it for 6 months but It made me more suicidal, so I came off it a bit too fast, withdrawel symptoms: extreme irrability, depression, anger, shakes, electric shocks, I even punched my hubby, just because he wouldn't cook my children eggs on toast, it was really really awfull, I will never take that shit again.

What really pisses me off is the docs say, anti'deppressants are not addictive.....BULLSHIT!

Just try to come off it slowly, even opening the tablets and taking some granules, a little less every 3 days.

Good Luck!

[walker]

yes v v v v slow

i ended up taking the tabs, 37.5 mg and alternating 1 whole/1 half for a few days, - - - then half/half/ -------then half/ quarter------- it swas so complicated i had to write it all down,

but I was literaly breaking the tabs into quarters, and alternating day on day off, for the final few days

it worked for me -

ps

gp said breaing the tabs was no point - tough shit - it workd for me - glad i didnt tll them till afterwards !!!!!!!!!!!!

[Benway]

hi paris & shelley,

thanks for the replies-

shelley, i was so irritable and easily annoyed for a while - and i feel like im a different person than the one who would screech at my 13 yr old for 'making noise' (whats he supposed to do? not make noise- god help me i am looney). thats being ON the stuff.

Also i found that my friend p, when he would call, if he inferred the house was a little messy- id get defensive and narky.

now i can see that for coming off it totally - but last night after a w'end of hot flushes every hour, and entire 'bodyshocks' i was curious as to if it was benzo related, methadone related, or effexor related- at least i found the cause by taking a 'test dose'- which was around 15mg- a fifth of the inside of a 75mg capsule.

and yeah, it pisses me off no end that registrars- registrars!, give this muck out. and no warni ng etc about the s/effects.

so i guess i am looking at a couple of months of this... oh it ANNOYS ME!!!!!!!!!!

i am swapping psychs asap- i am going over to the one on the same team as my councellor / anti-drug workers, and staying well away from the local mh crew. i see a\ registrar for approx 2-3 minutes every 8 weeks. no point even saying to him how i am feeling, he is the drug guy and thats it. i always get a late appt, as i have agoraphobia and it takes me a while to push meself out the door, but cos i am usually last they say things like - 'well, we are closing for lunch now'- when i mention if i have thought about or done s/h.

they can shove it, im lucky to have this other option. i hear the new female consultant is lovely, so hopefuly she will give me the skinny on effexor. ive come off prozac and effexor before- but it was never this bad.

well its good not to be depressed for a change anyway. ill just keep taking decreasing granules daily- obv 37.5 is too big a jump...

oh it annoys me they dont tell people about this!!! if i was in my 40s i would think it was the menopause or something awful.

vivid dreaming is another s/effect im having. weird weird dreams. lovely.

take care all

thanks!

anne marie x

[wordsmithy]

coming off venlafaxine is bad idea (it stays in you're body for such a tiny period your body freaks out, and reacts awkwardly to it), but if you're gonna youre gonna. me i was hypomanic.... manic but lesser.

brace it.

[hummm_mabbe]

Hiya

Ive been on and off effexor about 6 times up to 300mg, and every time I have had to do what you said - break open the capsule and wean it down a couple of granules a day. The first time I ever came off no one told me, and I went cold turkey back in 2003. I wanted to kill!!

Using the granule method is the only way I could control the sides, which yes included those spasms, electirc shock sensations and the feeling as if I had just lost an entire 3 seconds out of reality, like my life had turned into a slideshow. Ive dont it 5 times now and no problems, even though the doc was like "oh no dont do that". He didnt have to experience the fucking shocks though, did he ....

[Benway]

Hiya

Thanks walker , wordsmith and ross for your imput.

I have to come off it. I mean, i don't NEED to be on it. F knows how much its costing to keep me on this crap. The shrinks never evaluate me on my meds, just hand them out and frown if i dare ask questions. They do need their lunchbreak after all, so what if im suicidal and homicidal?!

I think all the 'angry' part has gone, i was just left with the nasty physicalities- not sui or homicidal or even 'shouty' any more.

Feel really really good as it happens. My councellor thinks im doing really good too- she reckons im the best that i have been to date. Stopping smoking spliffs has defo cleared my head a lot - less panic, less paranoia.

Now why did'nt i take peoples word for that - I always have to find out myself- the hard way.

I quit my sleeping pills too, they made me too dopey, and my nightmares were getting more vivid and graphic daily.

So i take 25-50mg seroquel a day, depending, and .5mg xanax x 3 daily.

Now i have re-instated the effexor at 37.5mg daily, after this post, and the feedback i got (thanks you guys) & my councellors thoughts.

Also bought a book in borders this evening on coming off anti depressants- it deals specifically w ssri's, snri's.

Walker - im not telling them either. i really dont think they have my best interests at heart. Moving to a different team later this month yippee!

Wordsmithy- it has struck me i 'may' be hypomanic. (!) eek!

Ross- looks like i will be counting balls (fnaar fnaar) for a while. (personally id love my 'team' to have a good ol' dose of SEVERE akatasia ).

So thank you,

Good luck & take care everyone

Anne Marie x

[saphyreraine]

Hi, I was pretty much ok coming off it....until I got to 37.5mg. I felt ill before then, headshocks, nausea, exhaustion etc...but NOTHING compared to going from 37.5 to nothing. I was paranoid, sick, and totally delusional....the doctor wanted to admit me, and I couldn't even string enough of a sentence together to make her understand it was just the withdrawal making me like that. (Thankfully someone else did!).....

Being back on it now, I am very aware that coming off it again will be hard.

Best of luck though!

[mathew]

Effexor withdrawal officially called discontinuation syndrome is hellish.I was once succesful in coming of an ssri luvox very slowly,think that is the way to go,a grain at a time if needs be,i mean if u been on it for years and really plan to stop you have to minimise the discontinuation bit,hard to know where the discontinuation syndrome ends and the depression symptoms return,the docs usually tell u to do it too quickly,i wasnt succesful at remaining off them but had to try to see if it were the tablets causing problems.there are good websites out there like paxil progress where people are weaning and it usually is hard,there are some things that can help.5-htp helps me seems u done it pretty quick absinthephrenz,think thats a good sign also the fact u can even smoke dope is another good sign,some people go mad on it.think all thoses things u describe are discontinuation syndrome hold on it should clear if not it might be depression returning,also if it gets too bad take a small amount of effexor

[Benway]

Hi, thanks brokenwings & mathew for your experience with this,

after being on an anti-d since 1997 non stop i know i am ready to stop taking it.

i re-instated at a small dose- and its having even further reaching consequences than i thought - i have cfs, and A LOT of the joint pain i exp has gone since i started re-taking the stuff @ a small dose 3 days ago as a test. as i said, my councellor said i looked brite eyed & happy.

i have lost a few lbs- and any puffiness that was around my face is gone.

i have not been online in 24 hours as i was doing a total houseclean with my best mate, but i was doing it when he called- (he's great!) but for me to be up and cleaning @ 10am is freakish. its 5am again! my sleep is all over the shop.

brokenwings- sorry you went thru hell with it. that is terrible you got delusional coming off it, and thank you so for the good wishes.

mathew, i got a book on the subject of ssri/ni w/d, and it talks of this kind of syndrome- i had no idea that w/d was THIS difficult. i now realise it will take a while.

if it were my MH team taking me off it it would be down in 75mg increments -et voila- thats it. No clue... they dish it out for fecks sake - grrrrrrrrrrr.

since i have re-instated a tiny dose i am oh so much better on it- amazing.

thanks for the name of a forum to go to, i had no idea there was such a thing, i will defo check it out now.

oh, i have given up the cannabis(after yrs (15? - of smoking) - i was getting too paranoid & panicky.

Thanks all for your advice and suport,

much appreciated, take care,

anne marie

[marcluton]

Hi,

I remeber i was asked to trial Venafaxine Effexor ER, time release ones and signed the forms and off i went, they did work, but i remember i was immediatly withdrawn from the stuff due to possible suicide effects. I must admit its damm tough stuff to get off, but you are going the right way about it, it may sound mad, take this pill to help you come off that pill but its the lesser of the 2 evils.

You sound like you are getting there, so loads of luck

I do agree with doctors as such it is not addictive, but the withdrawl can be hell!

[wordsmithy]

Hi,

I remeber i was asked to trial Venafaxine Effexor ER, time release ones and signed the forms and off i went, they did work, but i remember i was immediatly withdrawn from the stuff due to possible suicide effects. I must admit its damm tough stuff to get off, but you are going the right way about it, it may sound mad, take this pill to help you come off that pill but its the lesser of the 2 evils.

You sound like you are getting there, so loads of luck

I do agree with doctors as such it is not addictive, but the withdrawl can be hell!

was pretty odd, but i also withdrew after two weeks on effexor xl because it made me self-harm (cut) for the first time and v. suicidal.

effexor is absolutely the worse ssri to come off.