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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by TinMan on September 7, 2005, at 7:53:25
In reply to Off of Effexor as of Yesterday, posted by graceneeded on September 5, 2005, at 7:10:16
Hey Danny, thanks for the words of encouragement. Congratulations on getting off of the Effexor.
Honestly, I haven't experienced any side effects going from 225 mg to 150 mg. I don't get sea sick either, so maybe that has something to do with it? Don't know.
I DO know that for me, it really helps with the anxiety (GAD), panic attacks, OCD, and depression. Also, it helps to focus my mind so I can think. I am not afraid to try different things now and if they work for me, I can learn the behavior because I can actually think clearly about it with focus.
The side effects that I still have after being on it for a few months are; sleepiness, hunger all the time, and absolutely no sex desire. I hate that part.
I hope I make sense. Anyway, Effexor is not for everyone. - TinMan
Posted by Kodie on September 7, 2005, at 9:37:23
In reply to Re: Help for withdrawal symptoms, posted by kim79 on September 7, 2005, at 0:18:40
I went off of Effexor XR 75mg 4 days ago. I've been taking it for a little over a year. In fact I went off of ALL my medication, except tramadol 50mg and Ambien 10mg. So far, I can't tell ANY difference in the way I feel than I did when I was taking all of my medicine. Most of it was not mind bending, just BP meds, Plavix, Furosemide, Spironolactone and Potassium Chlor.
I'm uninsured too, and the cost has been running 453.00 per month. I just can't afford it any more.
So far, so good. Wish me luck.
Posted by 3mom on November 21, 2005, at 21:37:37
In reply to Withdrawal from Effexor to Pacil, posted by HollyQuest on November 19, 2005, at 8:29:40
Hi. i'm a mom of three small kids. i was a relaxed, great mom of two, and a mom that yelled a lot of three. i started effexor 75 and have been a relaxed mom of three and very pleased with the med. i have never been depressed or taken any other ad. i was just getting a little too upset about the little things kids do, and i didn't want that for my family. my obgyn put me on this like it was no big deal. i have been on it about 5 months now with really no side effects. i was bored tonight and started surfing the web and found this sight. now i am petrified that i am going to become addicted to effexor and scared that when i decide to come off of it, it will be terrible. can't you take one little bead out of the capsule everyday until you get down to no beads and thus have little or no withdrawals? it seems like you could ween yourself off of slow enough, but I haven't read that anyone has been able to come off of it without being nonfunctional and terribly sick. Has anyone come off of this with a good experience? does anyone use this drug for just a little anxiety? it seems that everything i have read has been stuff more severe than me just getting a little upset about kids spilling milk. is this medicine too serious for me? help!!
Posted by spierson1253 on November 21, 2005, at 21:37:37
In reply to scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by 3mom on November 20, 2005, at 20:41:47
You'll need to talk to your doctor. There is probably something you can take that will help you thru getting off the Effexor.
From what I've been able to gather, this drug was first touted as side-effect free. My doctor still swears up and down that there are no side-effects and it's "all in my head." I have the printout from the pharmacy that lists all the side-effects and I'm going to give it to him.
Good luck. What you did to be a good mom was selfless and so full of love.
Posted by 3mom on November 21, 2005, at 21:37:37
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal » 3mom, posted by spierson1253 on November 20, 2005, at 23:05:56
should i be scared to continue taking this for just having a little too much on my plate? it has worked wonderfully, but after reading this website, it seems that maybe it is a more serious drug than i thought. i don't have depression, i just needed to be to handle a 4,2, and 1 year old a little better. is this the drug for me? if it isn't dangerous, i would like to stay on it.
Posted by spierson1253 on November 21, 2005, at 21:37:37
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by 3mom on November 21, 2005, at 9:10:17
I don't know about being afraid. If it's working for you, and life with your babies is better, then I wouldn't worry about it. If your concern is that high, discuss it with your doctor. With these kinds of meds, it's hard to find one that works perfectly. If it ain't broke -- don't fix it. Please, do discuss it with your doctor but do NOT stress over it. Just go play with your babies and enjoy it.
Posted by nana on November 21, 2005, at 21:37:38
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by 3mom on November 21, 2005, at 9:10:17
Hi, I would say if it has made you have more fun with your kids and you feel wonderful that your kids are enjoying having you around more. You are relaxed, want to play and your kids will just eat it up. Dont throw away a good thing. My story is I have a Granddaugter that is 4 and has many health problems which affect her behavior. She acts out and you never know when she will have a meltdown. I started on this because I was turning in to a screaming maniac since she came to live with me and her brother. Two children with problems from their parents and one with a major medical problem (brain tumor ) was more than I could take. I still have anger moments but I REAllY enjoy life now. Be happy you deserve that and so do you kids. The med effects everybody different. We all have some side affects BUT the change in me has made it so I can look myself in the mirror and not feel guilty for being a bad Grandma. Good luck and enjoy you kids they are only small for a short time and they grow up and have kids of their own. Be happy!!
Posted by nana on November 21, 2005, at 21:37:38
In reply to scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by 3mom on November 20, 2005, at 20:41:47
Hi, I use mine to keep my self in control and enjoy my grandkids. I think being a responsible Mom and enjoying your kids is important. Even if it is only spilt milk to you it is a big thing on how you handle yourself when you deal with it. I think you are a wonderful Mom to realize you need some help and to keep your family happy and your kids not afraid to make a mistake. They will grow up better kids for your actions. Keep up the good work and ENJOY!!
Posted by spierson1253 on November 21, 2005, at 21:37:38
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by nana on November 21, 2005, at 11:27:01
Well said, Grandma. I am the grandmother of four, and they are the joy of my life. It is my children I have issues with. But with the med, I find that the cruel things they say or do (or don't do) can be handled. I know a lot of their problems were caused by me and the bad decisions I made while they were young. However, they are adults now, and responsible for their own behavior, and I will not accept fault or guilt for that. I cannot go back and undo what was done, and I have apologized all I am going to. They have to heal or come to terms with themselves now. I can't do it for them.
I am happy with the Effexor. I quite thoroughly believe that my "fall from grace" these past 4 days has been the effects of the Ambien. I also believe it is the cause of the heavy anxiety that sits on my chest like a house, as the two seemed to have occurred at the same time. Tonight I am going to forego the Ambien, and take a Xanax, which always helped me sleep before. Without side-effects, I might add. I'm just afraid of it's highly addictive properties. But as one of you said to me last week, if it works, use it for now and deal with any addiction issues when that time comes around. Good advice.
Posted by 3mom on November 21, 2005, at 21:37:38
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by nana on November 21, 2005, at 11:32:00
i'm so glad to hear of someone that is using the med for what i am using it for. i was never at the point where i was worried i was going to hurt my children or anything, i was just raising my voice all the time instead of calmly disciplining them and talking to them about what they are doing wrong. all my children are 19 months apart. when i only had the two, when they fought, it was no big deal. i made them hug and apologize, and that was it. when i had my third, i was so busy changing diapers for two, hand-feeding two of them, and feeding one a bottle, washing bottles, bathing them, ... i was just overwhelmed to say the least and didn't like the type of mother i was being. when they fought, i just yelled. now on effexor, i am just as busy, although my baby is now 13 months, so he's off bottles and eating real food, but i'm relaxed and just having a good time with them again. i can handle complete chaos with a smile!! i have 3 sweet, precious children that think i'm a good mom. thank you lord!!
Posted by apenname on November 22, 2005, at 19:42:28
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by 3mom on November 21, 2005, at 20:49:32
I took Effexor XR (225 mg was what was effective) for depression and anxiety. Yeah, maybe this is a situation a bit more severe than what a 75mg dose would treat.
The Effexor XR really made things easier to deal with, but it gave me high blood pressure(more probable at high doses) and as far as I could tell, no other symptoms. Remember: just because a symptom is listed on a pamphlet doesn't mean you're going to get it, people are not identical, and neither is their experience to medicine.
Going off the Effexor at first was awful, but I came here and followed the gradual withdrawal method, and that made it reasonable. My dose level and most others in these posts are high compared to your 75 mg. Living without the medicine helping is very difficult at this point, but I still consider the whole thing worth it. Definitely talk to your regular physician. Mine wanted me to have regular blood tests to check some sort of possible long term effect of Effexor - I forget what.
Posted by Kath on November 26, 2005, at 15:22:12
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal 3mom, posted by apenname on November 22, 2005, at 19:42:28
Hi Mom - just checked with my 29 year old daughter, who was on Effexor 37.5 (3 time release caps at once, once a day). When she went off it, she had a very difficult month. Her comment is to wait until you have fewer stressors in your life to cut back. Can't remember if you're on time-release. She said you might want to try a lower dose now, before your body has been on 75 for too long. If you open the time-release caps & remove the beads, unless they're different colours, you wouldn't know which one you were removing.
Best of luck to you. :-) Kath
Posted by sandra booth on February 3, 2006, at 20:33:58
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by Herbygirl on February 1, 2006, at 14:59:09
I have been on Effexor for 5 years and I am now slowly coming off it. I too have just lately noticed a difference in my vision. I wear glass varifocals and am now finding it difficult to focus sometimes. There seems to be a reflection and I find that I can see better without them for distance. My memory has gone down hill too but that is probably age.
Has anyone started to come off the drug after a long time like me? I now take a 37.5 mg every other day for the next 4 days and that is it. I missed one for the first time yesterday and felt dreadful by the afternoon. Very light-headed and felt sick all night. Had nightmares too. Took my tablet this morning and started to feel better by the afternoon. I am now dreading tomorrow as it is my miss one day.
Posted by tizza on February 3, 2006, at 20:33:59
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by sandra booth on February 3, 2006, at 15:28:26
> I have been on Effexor for 5 years and I am now slowly coming off it. I too have just lately noticed a difference in my vision. I wear glass varifocals and am now finding it difficult to focus sometimes. There seems to be a reflection and I find that I can see better without them for distance. My memory has gone down hill too but that is probably age.
>
> Has anyone started to come off the drug after a long time like me? I now take a 37.5 mg every other day for the next 4 days and that is it. I missed one for the first time yesterday and felt dreadful by the afternoon. Very light-headed and felt sick all night. Had nightmares too. Took my tablet this morning and started to feel better by the afternoon. I am now dreading tomorrow as it is my miss one day.I wasn't on effexor for as long as you but coming off it was horrendous. Eveyone reacts differently but I have found most people have a very nasty experience coming off effexor. Good luck and read the posts on the withdrawal board. You don't have to go through it alone, I took great comfort in reading everyone else's posts, they kept me going!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you do happen to have a bad time just remember that you are not alone and there are thousands of people around the world going through the same hell. I wish you all the best it was a very bumpy ride for me. Don't forget to put your seat belt on. And about the memory thing, mine got so much better after a month off it. I have been effexor free for 5 months now and I will never take another anti depressant ever again in my life. I have taken quite a few different flavors over the last 11 years. The best advice I can give you is find a really good psychologist and talk your problems through, discover your triggers and find out what sets them off so you can nip it in the bud before the next episode begins, learn to listen to your body and when you hear the warning bells get active about switching them off. All anti depressants just made me worse and masked the underlying problems by making me numb and not face up to things. My heart goes out to all who read this, I wish you all speedy recoveries, love Paul
Posted by 4WD on February 3, 2006, at 20:34:00
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by jacobs on February 3, 2006, at 6:12:09
> hi has anyone noticed a change in theyre eye sight sense being on effexor? i have noticed that sometimes it is hard to focus and it seems my eye sight has gotten worse. not sure if it is the med or if i have hit the age for bi focals. thanks, tonya
It's not unusual for you to have vision changes while starting or stopping Effexor. I had the same thing happen with Cymbalta. I thought I was crazy. But after I adjusted to the medication my eyesight returned to normal.Marsha
Posted by crxsi on February 4, 2006, at 12:34:35
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal » jacobs, posted by 4WD on February 3, 2006, at 20:01:23
Hi I am new to this site and I have spent the last few weeks reading every thread there was. It was very helpfull and insightfull. I have been on 75mg for two months now and it has been very successfull for me although I have noticed the dose is not as effective as a month ago.
I suffered from GAD for four and half years with just the ocaassional ativan for panic attacks. I became mildly depressed six months ago which led to a depressive episode in december. Effexor has been very helpfull in controlling my daily anxiety which was the underlying cause of my depressive reaction.
I had many side effects the first three weeks but stuck them out as I had tried Lexapro a metabolite of celexa and it caused extreme anxiety the first two weeks. It seemed a lot stronger. I have had no visual disturbances. My sister-in-law recently came off effexor because she wanted to become pregnant and did it extremely slowly and had very minimal side effects. Overall it was not a bad experience, she had been on 150mg for several years.
Posted by 4WD on February 5, 2006, at 21:06:37
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by Sandra Booth on February 5, 2006, at 5:45:45
> Now on my second day of withdrawal from Effexor. Now down to 37.5 mg. Miss a day, then next day take one. I have enough left until Thursday then thats it. Don't know what to do now as I feel so awful when I miss the dosage, light-headed, nauseous, worse when I am walking about. As soon as I take my next dose I begin to feel better. Wondering how long the withdrawal feelings last, or would I be better just taking 37.5 mg forever?
>
> I might add that after 5 years of taking this medication and 6 months of counselling my depression has gone, thank goodness, its just this withdrawal problem. While I was coming down from 150 mg daily, I felt fine, no problems. Anyone any thoughts please.
Hi,If I were you, instead of taking it every other day and going through withdrawal every time, I'd take half of a 37.5 every day for a few days. Then for the next few days, I'd take a quarter of a 37.5. Then I'd go down to just a few pellets every day. Or since you've already been doing 37.5 every other day, you could take maybe a third of a 37.5 for a few days, then half of a third. It's fairly easy to pour the pellets out in your hand and estimate about a third of them.
I know they are different sizes but if you just kind of scoop some up at random, you will generally get a few of each size. That's how I've always tapered Effexor. Just try to stetch out what you have over the next two weeks or so. That should really minimize withdrawal. Remember, getting from 37.5 to 0 is the hardest part.
Hope this helps.
Marsha
Posted by Sergeant on February 25, 2006, at 13:31:58
In reply to Anyone had success on Effexor XR? , posted by jp on October 24, 1999, at 14:59:14
I have been taking Effexor XR 75mg for over 2 years now.. I was started on them due to marital issues and work related stress (working in a prison). I was warned of sexual side effects with this med.
As stated above I have taken it for over 2 years, and it has helped me greatly. The only side effect I have suffered is sleeplessness. But my problem is now, that I have received a letter from Medco stating that they will no longer provide benefits for Effexor XR. I have talked to my doctor (who is new, since I just moved) and he has no clue of an alternative for this med. My local pharmacy has no clue either and stated that there are no alternatives!
I have gone 4 days one time without my med (due to a re-fill problem) and let me tell you they were 4 of the worst days of my life...anxeity, diziness, heart thumping... Now I cant even get a perscription for it filled at a lower dose to ween myself off this med.
I am about 8 pills away from going cold turkey and the effects are horrid. Has anyone ever just stop taking this med? If so what kind of effects did you have and how long did they last?
Posted by wifeofarmyguy on February 25, 2006, at 13:31:59
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR?, posted by Sergeant on February 24, 2006, at 19:36:16
A couple of us on this board have recently gone off it cold turkey, which is not recommended. Talk to a dr about what will happen when you go off, even if you wean, because from what I've read, the side effects are the same.
I won't sugar coat it at all, because I wish I had know what to expect ahead of time, imagine the 4 days without your meds. It's like that and worse. Each person is different. Just be prepared to take it easy for a week or two. Check out the Cold Turkey Effexor thread on the Withdrawl board. Goodluck.
Posted by Bets43 on February 25, 2006, at 13:31:59
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR?, posted by Sergeant on February 24, 2006, at 19:36:16
Hi Everyone...
I took effexor for about three months. I was up to 150m taken in am. What I found is it works great on my GAD but didn't do too much for my depression.
I am now weaning off of the effexor. I went down to 75m and am concurrently adding 10m of Lexapro.
I haven't had any noticeable side affects...Have been doing this for 5 days. My doc has me to 75m for two weeks and then I will drop off completely.
Posted by Graceneeded on March 7, 2006, at 6:59:05
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR?, posted by Sergeant on February 24, 2006, at 19:36:16
To get through getting off Effexor use Dramamine and Benedryl they really help. Danny
Posted by jiggityboo69 on March 19, 2006, at 8:23:31
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by sandra booth on February 3, 2006, at 15:28:26
I too have been on Effexor for the past 5 years (37.5mg) and have started weaning off it over the past 3 weeks. For 2 weeks I was taking a pill every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Nothing on the weekends. I was finding by Sunday afternoon I could barely function due to the side effects. I have been 5 days now without taking anything, and the side effects don't seem to be going away. I find that there's a lot of pressure in my head. I'm dizzy all the time (even when I'm sleeping if that makes sense). When I consulted my dr. about going off Effexor he told me that I wouldn't experience any side effects. I'm hoping that they go away soon. I was on a very small dose (37.5mg). I can't imagine what the effects are coming off of this medication on a higher dose.
Good luck to everyone who is coming off of this medication.
Posted by Graceneeded on March 19, 2006, at 8:46:04
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by jiggityboo69 on March 16, 2006, at 12:30:17
Use Benadrel and Dramamine to help with the withdrawls. I switch to Lexapro and Cymbalta and together they work like Effexor with very few side affects. Danny
Posted by dancingstar on March 19, 2006, at 8:57:28
In reply to Re: scared of effexor and withdrawal, posted by jiggityboo69 on March 16, 2006, at 12:30:17
Hey jiggity,
I agree that the dramamine helps a lot. It might be all you need. If you don't start to feel better right away, though, I would consider taking small amounts of your 37.5 capsules, just enough to make the pain go away.
I quit cold turkey in September 2004 and, like you, my internist also didn't think it would be a big problem, but I'm still not 100 percent back to normal. Mostly I have a dreadful pain down the back of my neck that has never gone away, and my whole endocrine system has been completely wacky ever since I began to took Effexor.
I know it's no fun to go back to the nightmare drug again, but it might be worth it for the sake of your body. They say you can pour out the beads from the capsules and take smaller and smaller doses. Anyway, I hope you are feeling better very soon.
Posted by detroitpistons on March 21, 2006, at 17:10:22
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR? YES!, posted by jacobs on March 20, 2006, at 16:27:57
Tonya,
You should suggest to your doctor using Prozac (much longer half life) to help get you off of Effexor. A lot of people have done this successfully. Usually, once they get to about 37.5 mg, they take a small dose of Prozac for a week or two and then they're done. I heard it works pretty well.
> hi yes im trying without sucess to get off effexor, i dropped from 75 to 37.5 and it was horrible, scared me to death! i need to find out how to get off this the right way. thanks tonya
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