Should I Give Up?

[Carolyn Morris]

Hi everyone-

Over the past 11 months I have been slowly weaning off venlafaxine (effexor). My doctor

suggested that I may have less fatigue if I was off the drug. Finally, I was down to 12.5mg (from 150mg)

and stopped it entirely this past Tuesday.

I FEEL HORRIBLE! Fatigue, confusion, dizziness, brain fog.... brain "zaps"... joint pain... Sounds potsy or

it may be from stopping the med... Which is it?! How do I know?!

The thought of going back on the med. to get rid of how crummy I feel sounds great, but it has been such an incredibly

long and difficult journey weaning to get this far.

I know I should just hang in there and stay off it to wait to see if I get better.... but I don't know if I can

hang on. I feel like an addict...I feel so sick. I want to give up. I just want to GIVE UP!

[EarthMother]

"I was down to 12.5mg (from 150mg) and stopped it entirely this past Tuesday."

I might wonder why you stopped entirely last Tuesday? A slow crawl of a taper sometimes feels best for our dysfunctional autonomic systems (as well as symptoms). Perhaps you could discuss with your Doctor about taking 12.5 every other day for a couple of weeks, then shaving pills if need be to 6 etc. Its not uncommon for folks coming off benzos to do just that, effexor is a whole different class of meds I know, but it might be worth a querry to your PCP.

Good luck getting the answers you need to feel better.

[Guest tearose]

Please, get frustrated, take a break but never give up!

I think EM has a great suggestion, try to cut the dose again in half and see if you are able to manage with 6 instead of zero or 12.5!

Hang in there.

tearose

[flop]

Your symptoms sound like "withdrawal" from the Effexor. The answer is to go back on the 12.5mg dose for a couple of weeks to stabilise again. Then have another go at coming off but more slowly. If you can cut the tablets, great - go for a smaller dose. If not you might be able to get a liquid preparation and measure out tiny doses with an oral syringe.

Taking doses every other day is also a good way of weanning off meds. I had a horrible time weaning off prednisolone but I did it eventually (eg took 2mg/day for 1 week, then 2mg and 1.5mg alternate days for a week, then 1.5mg/day for a week, then 1.5mg and 1mg alt days for a week etc until I was eventually off it completely). Many of us with POTS seem to be very sensitive to medications and have to start on small doses, exactly the same applies to coming off meds too. Don't worry about addicition - this is different, you are not psychologically dependant on the effexor but your body is finding it hard to adjust. Take things slow and you'll get there eventually!

Flop

[juliegee]

(((((Bshert)))))

[morgan617]

bshert,

My son was on effexor and went through the same withdrawals, including brain zaps. They were prescribed by someone other than his pcp, without his permission. He was infuriated. Effexor works really well for many people, but for others it's horrible. He refuses to prescribe it, but it is the most widely prescribed antidepressant right now. I have a friend who's never had a problem with it and has no intention of stopping it, ever. Jake was only on it a little over a month!

The doctor said it can take a year to get over all the withdrawal symptoms, but that isn't common. Jake just finally gave up and stopped it and had the worst 3-4 days of his life, he got it down, but got stuck. It took about 3 months before he felt back to himself. However the longest lingering one was the zapping. The rest of the really bad ones went away within a few days.

I don't have any personal experience of it, but it strikes me as a drug that if it works great, that's great, but don't ever plan on going off of it. Jake's doctor said it should not be provided without that warning.

I am so sorry you are going through this, but it's not your fault, it's not an addiction withdrawal, it's a physical one from a drug that you should be able to wean off easily. You should not feel like an addict. Antidepressants aren't supposed to do this, or at least be this hard to stop. My guess is it will be a med that is pulled at some point.

I hope you feel better soon. Jake is fine now with no lingering problems, no zaps for a long time. good luck sweetie! morgan

[Carolyn Morris]

You all are right. I don't know why I decided 12.5mg was low enough to jump to zero. I decided to go back to the 12.5 and slowly wean to 6.5, then even scrapping at the pill later. For right now, I continue to be on my 12.5 dose. I was "side-tracked" in May with a wonderful virus accompanied by a fever of 103 degrees. It has taken me a while to get my strength back.

When I continue my weaning (which I am still determined to do), all your posts will chime in my head and I will go slower!

Thank you all for your support. Where would I be without all of you!

B'shert

[Shimoda]

Hi everyone-

Over the past 11 months I have been slowly weaning off venlafaxine (effexor). My doctor

suggested that I may have less fatigue if I was off the drug. Finally, I was down to 12.5mg (from 150mg)

and stopped it entirely this past Tuesday.

I FEEL HORRIBLE! Fatigue, confusion, dizziness, brain fog.... brain "zaps"... joint pain... Sounds potsy or

it may be from stopping the med... Which is it?! How do I know?!

The thought of going back on the med. to get rid of how crummy I feel sounds great, but it has been such an incredibly

long and difficult journey weaning to get this far.

I know I should just hang in there and stay off it to wait to see if I get better.... but I don't know if I can

hang on. I feel like an addict...I feel so sick. I want to give up. I just want to GIVE UP!

I'm on Effexor and I can never ever get off, and I never will. It hurts SOOO bad to get off. It's the worst withdrawal ever....I dont know what to tell you...I think the effexor actually been helping my other non-fatigue POTS symptoms (ie: sleeping, focus) so i think it might not be worth the horrible pain I know youre in. Im never gonna try to get off....i guess i am an addict too so idk what to tell you. Its retarded these docs give us such painfully addicting drugs and then force US to suffer through the withdrawal. Eff them - YOU do it if youre so effin smart.

Take withdrawal slower Try to hang in there...I REALLY DONT KNOW HOW YOU CAN DO IT (bless you!)...Ill see if I can find some articles or somethin on Effexor withdrawal and Effexors relation to POTS symptoms - feel too out of it to doo so right now. Ill get back to youy - OK?