Depression

any info would be of great help.I'm in my first week of weaning off,and its not good

I had a terrible time withdrawing from effexor xr - as bad as when I withdrew from xanax. It was the toughest antidepressant I have ever had to withdraw from and I (personally) would never take it again. It was like the flu and the worse anxiety attack ever and it lasted for weeks and weeks (subsiding a bit with each week). Hang in there. You will get over it.

I have been trying to get off effexor for a long time. I have been working with an accupuncturist and I can't seem to get completely off of it. It is terrible the dizziness and anxiety! Does anyone have any suggestions?

My wife has just started on Effexor XL on top of Wellbutrin. It has made a big difference. She has quickly gone from being a zombie to practically being herself (pre-severe depressed) in a week! It has been a miracle.

At what point would she need to worry about "withdrawing" from Effexor?

I have found the following very reasonable recipe of how to gradually withdraw from Effexor XR (suitable only for capsules formulation):

“Every capsules has grains inside of it. Each day count three grains less then the previous day and put them back in the capsule. The best way to do this is to write how many grains you took on a calendar. The next day you see how much you took the previous day and write a number that is three grains less. This way you can keep an organized schedule on your progress. The grains are fairly big and are easy to count. You just have to be careful because they tend to roll away. It is also a challenge to put them back into the capsule.

Putting 3 grains less each day will take two months to get of the 75mg (180/3=60days=2 months). If you start feeling some side effects then cut back to decreasing by 2 or even 1 grain for a day or two. Same can be done with people that take larger amounts of this medication.”

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quote:

Originally posted by Dr. Zapor:
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I have been withdrawing from Effexor XR over the past 30 days. After reading the above suggestion regarding the removal of three granules per day I have a greater appreciation of truly how difficult the process can be. I must say even my physician was caught off guard as to how my condition had deteriorated. It has been a living nightmare, but I am committed to moving on to a better treatment.

I am a little more interested in why people are withdrawing from this medicine? Is it not working?

I have been on Effexor XR for many years and I found this to be the best medicine that I could tolerate and actually works for me.

However, I have recently noticed that with the bad econonmy and major events happening in my life, the dose I am taking may not be enough to really help me get through this. I am taking the lowest dose so there is room for adjustment, but I guess I am curious as to what others are switching to??

My mother's recent close brush with death emotionally caught me off guard and I went into shock. Needless to say, I started having panick attacks soon after and was not able to visit her in the hospital while she was there. After her release I went to see my doctor to get some help. He gave me Lorazapam to take when needed along with my regular dose of 150mg Effexor XR. I decided not to take it was hoping to work through it. Well, it didn't help to just do relaxation therapy, or pychotherapy or self help books. I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago to get my dosage increased from 150mg to 225mg of Effexor XR to see if perhaps that would help. Well, he decided to give me the generic version in the tablet form 225mg. After 10 days of taking the generic, I went into full anxiety, panick attacks and the worse side effects listed, I got them all. It was horrible. Immediatly I went back to my 150mg of Effexor XR. I have been seriously suffering from the withdrawals of the generic in the higher dose for the last week. Heart palpitations, vertigo, nausea, nightmare, night sweats, the list goes on. All of this while I have a full time job mind you. I went to CVS during lunch to see if there was something I could take to help my nerves because I was so anxious and sick I was debating on a trip to the ER. I found Calms Forte and believe it or not, 2 pills helped with my withdrawals symptoms. About 20 minutes later, I felt so much better. I now take 2 calms forte the minute I feel the Effexor wearing off during the day and my body is looking for that higher dose it had for about 1o days. I am on my 5th day of withdrawals and although I feel like I am at no mercy point of the symptoms, atleast the Calms Forte is pulling me through the day. I also take 2 at night before I got to sleep to rid of the nightmares and night sweats and vertigo. Hope this helps.