Hi there.
I'm new to this forum and have not had a chance to look up the topics... (There are so many). I can see that this is a "good for people" web forum that certainly helps lots. I was wondering if there is anyone out there who has had any problems coming off the "nightmare drug", Effexor? I have had a very bad time and had only been on it for 6 months.

May I say that I have found this drug at least 10 times worse coming off than “Seroxat” was.
I was totally unaware of this and my psychiatrist must have been unaware also, because she told me to reduce the mg after a week and stop taking it”
In reality it has taken from April 2005 – July 2005 (3 months later) for me to finally reduce and stop the drug completely but to this day I am still suffering withdrawal symptoms.
I find the whole thing horrifying. Firstly that I was not warned about the possible side effects! And also that the psychiatrist did not seem to have a clue about the very bad withdrawals expected.
I have since checked the internet for forums and information and discovered that this is very disturbing and worrying problem that many thousands of people share!
I have signed a petition that more than 8000 people have signed Regarding:- Misleading the consumer and the medical community at large. This cannot continue.
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_pe...ed.cgi?effexor

Every time I tried to reduce it, miss a day, etc. All the symptoms returned with a vengeance.
Eventually I went to see my CPN (Community Psychiatric Nurse) and he was very sympathetic, told me to reduce from 150mg and take one 75mg one day then miss a day, to do this for about a week or so and then every 3rd day and do it very slowly. And then a half dose again (37.5) and told me to take as long as I wanted. I started to reduce them in April 2005
Now:-
I took my last dose 12 July 2005 I'm still having nightmares, sweats, agitation and Brain Zaps, but not as bad now. So that has been about 3 months, some people might get off them quicker or some might need longer...
I've taken Seroxat before and thought that was bad enough, but venlafaxine withdrawal was far far worse. I hate to think about the effect it was having on my body and mind, it certainly didn't help the depression - I feel better for not taking it because I’m so glad to have got off it, but physically drained. And some of the depression symptoms have come back. I was really worried that I could not cope with the withdrawals and might be forced to start taking it again!

“Fact of the matter is, if you stop taking Effexor, you will wish you were dead. But on an up-note, you'll be too sick to kill yourself”! (This is a quote from another web forum). Too true!


My problems coming off "Venlafaxine" and going back on to "Lofepramine". Were:-
Having all the symptoms... Sweats, anxiety, electric shocks, nightmares etc.
Tired just so tired all the time! When I’m off these I know I will be on the road to recovery... It just takes so long to finally be free of the horrible side effects... It's strange eh! We take the happy pills to get relief from depression... and then when we come off the pills we need other pills to help come off the first lot. Mmmm!

The problem is with the manufacturer’s (Wyeth) description of this drug’s side effects. They are not acknowledged because they are not so much side effects. “WHILE YOU ARE ON THE DRUG”. It’s when you’re coming off the damn thing that you mostly get all these problems and it is this that is not explained properly to either party, e.g. Your GP or Yourself!

The doctor's are not under the influence of venlafaxine and they have no idea how powerful it is. Brain shivers (shocks) run through your whole body right out to the tips of your fingers and toes. And back again. Very quickly!

Sorry for the rather large rant. But I do feel really angry with the medical profession and the drug companies who use people as guinea pigs, unknowingly!
Thanks for listening/reading...
Look forward to your comments

weesue
Born Ok The First Time!