My Experiences Coming Off Effexor XR
In Health | 17 comments | permalink
First, THIS IS NOT A GUIDE or a HOW-TO! I am not a doctor. This is simply my detailed account of what I am doing to stop using Effexor. There is a reason everyone on any medication was given a prescription and it is up to the doctors to take you off of it. Never use the postings of some random guy on the Internet (that’s me) to base your medical decisions on.
Now that is out of the way, here’s my story:
I started taking Effexor XR 37.5mg on Saturday, 13 May 2006. Yes, I remember. My doc put me on it because I was having some fairly serious anxiety/panic issues several months after starting a beta blocker to slow down my heart rate. (My heart has been too fast my whole life — now it is time to take medicine for it.) Anyway, I started the Effexor on the lowest dose and went through about two weeks of hell. Extreme nausea, dizziness, light-headedness, etc. It was not fun. But gradually these feelings subsided and my anxiety slowly got better.
I think now I’ve learned to deal with the anxiety issues and now my body is completely used to the beta blocker, so I thought maybe I don’t need the Effexor any more. That’s when I discovered the “discontinuation symptoms” that people were reporting. Call it what it is — your body goes into withdrawal from the levels of seratonin that used to be there, although technically the drug is non-habit-forming. OK whatever.
I think I am more sensitive than most to medicines and their effects on me seem to be worse than most people (i.e. my anxiety problems from the Toprol XL that 95% of people taking it do not have) so I know these discontinuation symptoms are going to hit me hard. Since I am already on the lowest dosage of the pill there is (37.5mg) I discovered some other folks online posting about the bead-counting method.
What this entails is actually twisting open the capsule and counting out a different number of beads periodically (every day or every few days). I am taking it very slowly. So far I have taken out 50+ beads and it has taken me just over 4 weeks. Usually I try to take out 2-3 more beads per day, but if I start noticing symptoms (dizziness, nausea, etc.) I hold steady for a few days or only take out 1.
This is taking me awhile to come off this medication, but so far I am doing very well, and I look at it like this: so what if it takes me several months. At the end I will be free of this mess!
Feel free to check out my progress below. The calendar lists how many beads I took out of the 37.5mg capsule. (There are about 90-100 in each pill.)
UPDATE 8/14/07: Apparently there are more than 90-100 in each pill in this batch, since I am currently at 81 beads taken out and I just rough-counted about 48 left. So it looks like I’ve got several more weeks to go, but still I’m doing OK with few problems and no brain zaps!
UPDATE #2: On Sept 7, 2007 I took my last bead. Sorry I forgot to update the page!! I was able to get off the Effexor without many of the really bad problems (mainly just a little dizziness and nausea). But now I have been off of this mess for several months now and it is very nice not to have to worry with this stuff any more. Good luck to any who are on this stuff!!
Mad props to 30boxes because you can do crazy cool things with their calendars!
Hi.
I’m sitting here reading up on the withdraw symptoms of effexor xr. That’s all I can do. I can’t drive, walk, etc. because of the withdraw symptons. I have been on 75 mg for about 3 years. No one bothered to tell me that it caused insomnia, whic is why I’m getting off of it, or that there would be severe withdrawal symptoms coming off of it. My Dr. reduced my dose to 35.7 for 4 days then none. He, of course, didn’t tell me what would come next. I’m on day 4 of no effexor xr and it sucks! I want this **** out of my system. I hope you are doind well and hope the tapering that you are doing is working for you. Good Luck!
LeAnn,
I am now completely off of the Effexor and it is such a great feeling! I am very glad to be rid of this drug. It took awhile to get off of it, but for me there is no question it was worth it.
Good Luck!
Greetings,
Good luck to all who are otr (on the road) to being off Effexor xr. I started counting beads, but then got tired of messing with it. I have been on 75mg, twice a day for many years. I went to one a day for several months before I got up the courage to take them apart and start bead counting.
I started by taking half the beads for two weeks, then 1/4 the beads for one week. Then (where I am currently) I just quit taking it. Of course I am having the usual ‘brain shivers’ and dizziness, and I know I could have continued with the bead counting and been more precise, but I really just wanted to be done with all this. Hope I don’t regret this move at some point.
I admire the patience of counting beads so precisely(sp) and knowing when to add a couple more or so. What is alarming to me (but really no surprise) is the fact that only a couple of little beads will make such a difference.
Good for you(!) that you are being so carefull and doing so well with it. I hope it continues to go well, and let us know if you succeed in getting completely off with little to no side effects.
Blessings, grace
Sorry I forgot to update. I took my last bead on Sept 7,2007 and I am still doing well. Good bye and good riddance to Effexor!
My husband was taking Effexor XR for just about 7 months, 75 mg per day. His doc gave him the startup pack (2 weeks of 75 mg then down to 1 week of 37.5 mg) for when he decided he was ready to go off. He has finished all of that up without any problems at all - no nausea or dizzyness while decreasing. He is on day 3 without any Effexor — day one (Saturday) no problems at all felt great. Day two a little dizzy and now we are on day 3 and he is still dizzy at times - swimmy feeling he says. He finds sitting around is actually worse than getting out and about a little tinkering around with things. He did stay home from work today to give it another day out of his system. He is planning on going back to work tomorrow, makes me a little worried but he knows his body. I am glad to see a fairly positive attitude about going off — there is so much terrible news about the withdrawals that I was scare of him going off. Thanks for posting!
Josh,
I googled “how many beads in Effexor” and your blog was the first hit. I have read several effexor withdrawal message boards and I am petrified about tapering off but I’m ready to try. I am going to use the bead count method and will take a year if I have to. Being at 225mg/day it could easily take that long.
Thanks Josh for posting your experience. I’ll post my progress from time to time.
Kristi
Hi! I was just put on the 37.5mg dose of effexor due to panic attacks that I got from taking the Yasmin birth control. I haven;t heard much about people staying on just the 37.5 dose and I was wondering how it worked for you because I really dont want to increase my dose ever. Anyway I’d like to chat sometime if you’re interested
let me know.
I am currently comming off exfexor and am currently down to one every second day for 3 weeks. I feel my anxiety levels are quite high at the moment and am seeing my husband in a very negative way again,. as I did before.
I am confused as I am not sure if I have a problem that needs exfexor or whether it is because of comming off exfexor. My three kids age 3 5 and 8 are also off school at the moment and maybe that has a lot to do with it. I just dont understand myself anymore. I just want to be normal I have done a lot of councelling and I just havn’t been right since my last child was born and my relationship with my husband is the main reason for my deep unhappiness. Help and suggestions or advice. I am a bitch to my husband and I cant take anymore and he cant eat crisps, nuts, sneeze, sniff etc etc etc. because the noise drives me mad mad mad.what is wrong with me ?????
feeling much more at ease today not as irritable and more relaxed in general. I wish all, if not most days could be like this. Dont understand it. wasnt bothered what my husband was or wasnt doing this morning and other days I find myself staring at him in a paranoid kind of way and am convinced at times it is him and not me. p.s. sorry for my incorrect spelling of effexor yesterday, wasn’t too bothered about checking it at the time.
what happens if you sniff effexor?
Were you soy infant formula or breast fed? I’ve read that soy formula can disrupt some things in people.
I have been on Exeffexor for 3.5 yrs as result of suffering clinical depression. I have been on 300mg daily for all this time and would dearly love to get off this medication. I am keen to hear from others with happenings of weaning off this medication, and how they did it. My doctor thinks the condition will only come back even worse next time if I go off it, and it will be harder to treat and the medication apparently doesnt work as well each subsequent illness. I look forward to hearing of others stories.
Hey…
Just thought I would share: Im coming off effexor after a year on 150mg. I recently got told that i had to go up to 225mg a day and though no way, im not doing this anymore i want to be happy. Hard, very hard but im doing it. I was so so scared to come off but once i made the decision i havent looked back. I go down half a capsule every 4 days. Tomorrow will be my first day coming off completely. Im scared. I start a new job in 3 days, i hope i can hold it to pay off my house. But i have faith and I know you can do it to. Just keep reminding yourself that its only temporary and you will be free of this drug forever soon enough.
Good luck to all of you, keep sharing your stories and believing in yourself.
Oh yeah.. just a side note. I have had no side effects so far… interesting because i am probably the first person that i know of to be coming off this easy. I have a feeling that being completely free tomorrow of this drug will be a punishment though. LOL wish me luck.
Thanks for all the posts…I have been taking 150 mg effexor for 10 years. About 5 that I needed it and the other 5, I try to stop but couldn’t b/c of the severe withdrawls. This time I did a lot of research and started the bead counting methode. I started 3 days ago. I’m tacking 3 beads every day so far so good. But what helps this time is that I’m more determine and MAD that doctors would prescribe this stuff for their own benefits ($$). Me too, I know it will take a long time but it’s only temporary cause I’ll be free after… And will dedicated my time to warn others about this poison…
It’s been two months today that I started coming off effexor. I’m not experiencing any side effects at all. I feel like my self but, I can’t miss a day. I was at 150 mg and now I’m down at 112.5 (75 mg+35.5 mg). I’m still doing the bead counting method, 3 beads more every day…Good luck to anyone who is thinking of coming off. It’s worth it
Hi,
I just wanted to say something positive since everything you read on these sites is so scary…..are we trying to scare each other???? My doctor put me on effexor 1 year ago. I was suffering from some mild anxiety due to a bad break up. I was started at 37.5 for two weeks. My doctor told me that there is NO therapeutic effects at this does. It simply gets your system used to the drug but will not help anxiety. Then I was bumped up to 75mg where I have been all year. Shortly after going on this drug I started reading this message boards and was ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED at the things I read about withdrawl. I went back to my doctor and was so upset that he did not tell me about these side effects. He assured me not to believe everything I read and that he absolutely disagrees that effexor is the hardest drig to come off. All year I have been so worried about coming off this drug. Reading these sites has caused me more anxiety than my inital problem! I just pictured myself unable to function and thought I would end up in a pschy unit!
Recently things in my life have been very good and I found out last month that I am pregnant. I obviously wanted off of effexor and fast. I went to my doctor and he told me to take 37.5mgs for two weeks and then stop. I did that and am now on my third day without any effexor in my system. I felt great the first day, a little dizzy on the second day and a little dizzy today. Its nothing bad. I’m still going to work and actually find it better if you get up and move around. When for a run last night and that helped alot. Planning to do the same tonight. And really - is being a little dizzy for a few days really that bad. Its not the end of the world. Just pretend you have the flu!
All I want to say is BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!!!! You can do this. Don’t believe all the horror stories you hear. For every person that writes on these posts about how miserable they are, there are probably 10 people doing fine and are out enjoying life. Effexor is one of the most prescribed anit-depressants/anti-anxiety meds today. Millions of people are on it each year. If it were impossible to come off - doctors would not put you on it in the first place.I wasted an entire year being afraid for nothing thanks to the negativity on these message boards! So here’s some positivity - if you’re ready to come off Effexor (mentally feeling well) than go for it. There’s a drug free world waiting for you out there -you can do it!!!!