best way to come off effexor

[mili]

as any one any info on how long it takes to come off effexor i have had enough of the terrible weight gain

[licquyd]

it took me 3 months to get off of it, with only 1 week of weak withdrawl

Your doctor would be the best to consult with but i'll tell you what i did

I lowered my dose to 75 mg slowly from 150....then after 2 weeks i started missing days until i couldn't take it and then eat one, and did that over and over again until i feel that i could handle the withdrawl....one of kinda bad brain zaps...then i felt great......with zaps happening maybe twice a day for 2 months....i didn't find it hard at all...

[licquyd]

one thing though.....i relapse ever 6 months and i have been a mess since......i should have never came off of it....

[Gabby]

Hi

the answer is reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally slowly. Apparently its one of the hardest ones to come off (according to my GP anyway).

I have been trying to reduce from 75mg. I spent 6 weeks taking 75 mg one day then 37.5mg the next and have just stepped down to 37.5 mg daily. my doc said you kinda have to do it by 'feel'. cut down a little then stay on that til you feel stable enough to try another drop.

have to say that I have icky withdrawals - nausea, light headedness, bit tearful and v vivid dreams/disturbed sleep. These all frightened me when I first tried to come off them so I went back to full dose but now im so determined to be pill-free that Im enduring them, knowing that they will gradually get better.

My Gp also recommended that because my withdrawals were troublesome, I take 80mg propanolol daily to try to mitigate that a bit. dont know if thats working but there must be a placebo effect if nothing else.

Good luck - speak to your dr and dont do anything faster than feels comfortable for you

G

PS in the nicest possible way, am so glad to hear that its the pills causing the weight gain! I thought I was just a fat piggy! Nice to know it could be the meds. I'll look fwd to shedding the 2 stone Ive put on whilst taking them!!!

[mili]

are you back on full dosage i dont know whether to carry on cutting down or to go back on them i raealy cant stand the panicky feelings i havent told the doctor i am cutting down as they just keep fobbing me off .

[andie73]

I came off effexor three years ago and had gone up to a size 16, now a size 10. Had never had problem with weight before and being that big made me feel really down as I wasn't naturally that size. I came off very slowly I think it took six months or so. I did have side effects every time I decreased the dose that lasted about four or five days. Because of this I would be very reluctant to return to meds and prefer to use relaxation and letting fear wash over me etc. But everyone's different. These sensations scared me so that prob increased my anx whereas the withdrawl might not bother others.
Your doctor will advise you but I would listen to your body and take it one step at a time. Don't be in a rush coz you want to lose the weight.
Hope this helps good luck

[karen34]

i have been on this 7 yrs and i have tried twice to come off it...always end up my dose going back up again tho cos i feel so sick and tearful....i have had a big weight gain too.

good luck in stopping it...as others say it has to be done very slowly x

[jo61]

I spent 18 months trying to get off it. Every time I got to 37.5mg I struggled and it made me really sick as the XL version isn't available in the UK. Eventually my psychiatrist replaced it with Prozac which has a much longer half life and I'm now going to come off that, I suspect with no problems. It's been 3 months since I took Effexor

[jonstar]

Open the capsules up, and remove a few of the beads.....progressively remove a few more each day, until you have given it up over about a week or two

[Anxious_gal]

would that be a good idea for me? who is afraid of side effects and would like to start on a lower dose than what you can get? I personally cannot see any harm, and i would be more willing to try effexor if i could start really small!
sorry for butting in! x