Effexor

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Hello all! So I've been taking Effexor for a while now, and I have felt withdrawl from it the few times when I forgot to take it. The twitching of the tongue/fingers and jolting of the brain doesn't seem to bother me (as I once had it for four to five months straight on another medication) but I was wondering how all of you who are on and have taken Effexor have coped with the expiriences you had on it.

There seem to be a lot of horror stories associated with Effexor, when I first got on it I had a lot of side effects and my stepmother/auntie/cousin said I should get off it immediately, but after the first few days the side effects disappeared and now I only get them mildly when my doc ups my dosage. So far, Effexor is the only thing that has worked for me but it tends to plateau a lot with it's "effects" (ha-ha).

I had those withdrawl effects. Every time I moved I would get the zaps. It was endless, and I absolutely hated it.

Well, when I got off of Effexor, the first time I dropped a dosage (for two weeks, I think), I had the zaps right up until the final day or so when I got used to that dosage. Then I had to drop it again two more times and went through that every single time. It was a nightmare! If you are just missing dosages and then taking them the next day, perhaps that is why it didn't bother you much. Or maybe mine were just worse anyway. Or maybe you simply tolerate them more than me. After basically more than a month straight of those zaps every time you move, it is enough to drive a person (or at least me!) insane! My psych is suggesting I go on anti-depressants again, but after that experience, I don't know if I could. I am too nervous too, and never want withdrawls like those Effexor gave me again.

If I remember correctly Effexor got me out of my hellish depression into a soothed numb state wherein I was sleeping literally 19-20 hours a day, spent all my time on the couch downstairs in the living room cause I was too sleepy to sleep in my bed upstairs cause that would have required the effort of going up and down stairs every time I needed food so I was basically on this couch sleeping or in a half-awake daze all the time for a few months until I quit. Then when I quit I got horrible brain zaps (which don't seem to be bothering you) and dizziness and depression returned.

So, kept me in hibernation pretty much though it was summer. No long-term benefit. Can't do much when you're hibernating. I recommend Luvox + an anti-anxiety med but everyone's different.

The biggest thing that I have talked with my doc about is this: never quit cold turkey, and always up the dosage only in tiny increments. The one mistake a lot of doctors make is putting the person on a large dosage too early which causes havoc.

I had more of a tolerance towards the zapping and twitching because I'd expirienced it before with another medication. It didn't bother me as much, I only remembered that I needed to take my medication so I got up immediately and did so. My symptoms were not less than other people's, I just dealt with it differently. I wonder if your doctor slowly worked you up on the Effexor, or if he just gave you a big dosage to begin with.

If you can't exist without antidepressants, I say try another one. There are few medications that are as bad with the side effects as Effexor.

I took my Effexor originally late afternoon, early evening. I was up all night that way. Slept during the day when I could. Now, I take it in the morning and I have semi-normal sleep patterns and it has helped my depression and anxiety immensely. When they put me on Seroquel, that only helped more. The Seroquel worked awesome with the Effexor I must say. Just wish we would have found this drug combo ages ago.

My trick is taking it as I should. I had to get a pillbox with the days on each pill slot.

I used to be on Paxil and that was the devil getting off. Just terrible, even in weaning off it super slowly. So glad I'm off that medication though. Didn't even work well.

I had a lot of side effects from Effexor. It was almost ten years ago, so I am "starting" to forget, but I know I had the electric jolt feeling in my fingers, toes and brain. It gave me vertigo, I frequently felt like the floor was moving beneath me, or that it would suddenly drop away. I remember feeling very sleepy and drugged, and it actually DID seem to help my depression. I think it was just because I was in such a calmed state, whether that is a good, or a bad thing, I don't know lol. But it was not good on my body.

When I went off the meds, I was violently ill. I am not a stranger to the world of illicit drugs, and let me tell you...the withdrawal from Effexor was so much WORSE than anything I have ever experienced. I had hallucinations, and the walls and floors appeared to be liquid and wavy. I was vomiting almost uncontrollably for the first day. The next two days, I couldn't move around or even keep my eyes open or I would vomit. It was like the worst drug trip and the worst flu that I could imagine, combined.
The "best" part of it was that I was in a psych ward at the time. The nurses didn't believe me that I was as sick as I was. They taunted me with meds, telling me that if I "really was going through withdrawal" then I knew how to make myself feel better. On the third day, I was so sick and weak, that I broke and asked for my Effexor and they gave it to me. That was the last one I took though, it seemed to help ease me through the end of withdrawal.

Hmmm....I am not too sure about that. I was on them about 8 years ago, so it has been awhile. I don't remember what my highest dosage was, but I know I was on one dosage, and was then put on a higher one. Don't know the numbers though.



Maybe I will ask my family doctor next week and see what he says about it. He is new for me (only 3 or 4 appts so far), so it has never been brought yet.

Hello, all. My name is Lit_Reflex and I am here to show you the truth.

I was given Mirtazapine ( Remeron ) but it made me very sluggish and sleepy and was not helping with anxiety & depression but it did help me sleep although I still had suicidal ideation. The Dr's then prescribed Effexor as well to counter the drowsiness of the Mirtazapine and to also help the depression ( interestingly it's a combination known as Californian Rocket Fuel ).

It bizarrely had an almost instant effect and a dark cloud lifted but it didn't stay away long and the Effexor was sending my blood pressure through the roof , giving me heart palpitations and I started to have panic attacks ( never had them before ). I knew this drug was bad for me and decided to taper off it ( didn't tell my Dr's ) and finally go cold turkey , it sent me manic for around a week and it was the most productive I have ever been ( fixed everything in the house ), I physically felt on top of the world but I wasn't sleeping so it was only a matter of time before I crashed. I self medicated ( Valium ) to bring me down and eventually came back to a state that wasn't manic.

I have been on numerous anti-depressants for decades now and nothing seems to help , if a drug does help , it usually plateaus and becomes ineffective. I have taken drastic measures and have stopped all medication ( cold turkey ) as I don't believe they help me , they only numb me.

Everyday is an upwards struggle but at least I'm not damaging myself with drugs ( I don't advise this to anyone without proper medical guidance , it was very stupid of me ).

I was given Effexor while in hospital in 2005/6. Like SaveFerris I suffered from panic attacks (which I had never had before) and really high blood pressure (also never had before).

The doctors put me back on escitalopram.

Effexor raised my blood pressure to extremely dangerous level. Currently I'm using Escilatopram + Wellbutrin and Mirtazapin due to insomnia and I'm feeling perfect in any way.

Good ole Side-Effexor. I've never been on it... a lot of people say it works on their mood very well but it gives them physical symptoms of something else (usually harmless tho). Getting off it I hear is hard. But I wanted it because it hits 3 types of neurotransmitters. I still want it.

Just the name sounds horrible! All of these pharmaceuticals have awful side effects and I don't want to take them!