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

[MyNameIsntRich]

From my understanding after talking to several Dr's Effexor is relativly in effective at a low dose... i would talk to my doc before starting out on a low dose. If your scared of effexor dont take it..... unless your already taking it and then come off it with the help of your doc...

[Moogue]

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

Hey - I can't see any problems with coming off Prozac - i had forced withrdawl from it as couldn't get an appointemnt with the GP - ...get ready for rant......

The GP wants to see you every 4 weeks but you can't book an appointment 4 weeks in advance... you have to call on the day....combine that with the GP wont put you on repeat...in case you top your self...arrggghhhh!!!.....

rant over.....

This happened four times and in the end i went off travelling and came off them myself with no apparent side effects..... however when i came home had a relapse and put me back on double dose which made me artificially happy.....when combined with a drinking problem...... need i say more... so tried citalpram...ohhhh not good and now Venaflaxine which has worked wonders for 3 yrs now.

Am going to try to come off Venaflaxine now but need to speak to GP as if i miss just one day (300mg) the world starts falling apart!

Keep smiling Dudes

[jonesyclan1]

I am not just a person just come off effexor I am also a registered general nurse.Do not quit effexor due to weight gain the withdrawl is just not worth it (you may still need it).I was prescribed effexor 4 years ago during a nervous breakdown out of the blue (BANG) major panic attack about god knows what and i didnt know what i was doing,I was pacing around in blind panic convinced that something was about to happen to me it was so frightening.I work in general practice and was taken to work where my boss a GP put me straight on effexor 75mg and diazepam.I went through 1 month of hell settling on to it and was off work during this time.If I wasnt panicking I was sedated and completely crashed out.Finally the effects of starting effexor and mixed with the anxiety and panic subsided and I was able to work again after having to be increased to 150mg.over the last 4 years I have gained easily 3 stone,I am not happy about it I previously had a good figure and no woman wants to walk around looking like mr blobby without the costume but being able to function and be panic free meant more.I have still had panic episodes (few and far between) which I reach for the diazepam and take 4mg and asleep I go and wake 3 to 6 hours later feeling normal again.I have only ever been given 80 tablets of diazepam over the last 4 years (as we in the medical profession are more than aware it should be minimal use due to addiction of it)if I missed a dose or rather was a few hours late taking my effexor i began to feel very light headed and pretty ill (in fact it was the onset of these symptoms that reminded me that I hadnt taken one)so like the diazepam they were always carried in my handbag just in case.I always felt when this happened god I so have to stick with these tablets if I miss them then I will go fruit loop again WRONG! I started researching effexor,questioning medical collegues and drug reps that visit and even with wyeth myself (although I told them I was obtaining the information as a registered nurse for patients of ours who were taking it)wyeth are very cagey about any info they give.Anyway the basics of all this I realised that missing a tablet may not be me being ill as previous thought but the withdrawl symptoms masking my origional symptoms.So by the by I missed a tablet 3 weeks ago and wasnt ill at all,ziltch,nothing so I decided I want the hell off them.I have tried before 3 times and have been really ill so went straight back on them and never got further than 2 days looking back maybe I still needed to be on them or again was it withdrawl effect.I want off them,not for weight gain but because all people on them are in an unfortunate position of being trapped by symptom control and withdrawl effects.it is such a potent drug that can effect the kidneys (and GP's often fail to check bloods for this and also monitor bp whilst on them).The general advice general practice has been given is not to prescribe it at all, any patients on it already can remain on it but the general guidence now is that it should only be prescribed by consultant psychiatrists.I dont mean to scare anyone because this drug so helped me like you wouldnt believe but now i want to get back to a drug free me and its so very very hard.I want to be me before the breakdown without this potent drug controlling me.I took my effexor 75mg every other day for 2 weeks then stopped completely 6 days ago and have had a totally crap time due to feeling very light headed and brain shocks or zaps as they are known are sometimes thick and fast and are one of the most unpleasant things you can experience,i feel mildly anxious and a little depressed at not feeling well but am functioning,so I will plod on a day at a time.I regularly look on effexor withdrawl sites but the american one's are enough to scare the crap out of anyone (me included)so dont go there.I found this one today so have stated my case.yes they work,getting on them is hard due to effects and getting off is just as bad but i believe it can be done and needs to be done they are trying to ban this drug in the USA and years to come there will be some awful stat data on this and what people have had to endure and still do.good luck all if i can help or advise as a likewise sufferer or in my professional capacity i will:wacko:jonesyclan1@aol.com

[positiveness]

good post jonesyclan1. I have done the same as you recently, reduced to 75mg then I just opened the capsule and took a few of the grains for a week. I have taken nothing for 4 weeks now and, like you, have the brain zaps, light headedness, am tearful and mildly depressed, also have extreme diarrhoea (always had chronic constipation). BUT I also feel alive, the mental numbness has disappeared and I have regained my libido. Not bad eh! Notwithstanding, I owe so much to efexor, my depression could have had a fatal ending. The last 6 years have been a confinement but now I feel like a butterfly.

Good luck to all of you who are trying to quit efexor, I am sure that when the time is right for you, you will beat it.

[MyNameIsntRich]

Oh man, jonesyclan1 hit the nail on the head with that post. This leads me to a new comment. Ill make a new thread tho as it may be off topic of the op.