Help with Effexor Withdrawal

And it needs to be done very, very slowly.

Sometimes MDs will prescribe a couple of doses of Prozac as part of the process. Effexor has a short-half life, so it gets out of your body really fast. That's why the withdrawl problems can kick in if you just miss a dose or two. Prozac, on the other hand, has a long half-life, so it stays in your system for a week or two. Because of that long half-life, your body sort of weans itself off of it and a little bit of it can help smooth out the withdrawl process from any of the short half-life SSRIs (like Paxil or Zoloft).

I have heard anecdoatal reports of it taking several weeks to a month to get over the withdrawl symptoms of SSRIs and Effexor is known as the worst. My suggestion would be to up the dose back to the point where you are not having any symptoms and then talk with your doc about strategies for weaning off.

I originally went on the effexor because of the hot flashes that were controlling my life. It has helped,but I know the few times I missed a pill, holy crap...I worry about how to get off it too. Good luck to you! 

Ugh, any doctor who prescribes Effexor needs to warn the patient: "If you ever get off this stuff, withdrawal is going to be HELL!!" (I still would have taken it... it brought me out of a deep depression that no other drug could touch... but it would have been nice to know about the awful withdrawal.)

I've weaned myself off it twice. The first time was a case study in how NOT to wean yourself off. I stopped fairly abruptly and went through several weeks of brain zaps (to the point that it was dangerous for me to drive -- every time I turned my head to check my blind spot, I'd get a major brain zap + dizziness and was kind of disoriented for a few seconds).

The second time I weaned off it, it was because I was newly pregnant and my doctor prescribed an antidepressant that was safe for pregnancy. This time, I went verrrry slowly as I transitioned. I think I was taking the 37.5 pills for weeks, then half of that for a few more weeks. I don't actually remember much withdrawal at all that time. I think transitioning with another antidepressant helped. And I bet having some low-dose valium as back-up would definitely help!

Hi, Kathy,

You sound so much better today.  YAY!!!!!!!!

Am sticking with the Prozac - it's my only drug and as long as I have the job I have and now this journey with BC, I'll take the Prozac. 

take care.

Liz

Kathy, the 37.5 comes in capsules right? Ask your pharmacist to be sure, but I think it would be ok to pour out part of the capsule to get a 15-20 dose and you could use that as an additional step down between every day at 37.5 and every other day. When I went off paxil years ago I was cutting pills in quarters by the end, just to give my brain a tiny bit before I went to days with none.

I'm so sorry this has been so hard for you. I really didn't want to go on Effexor for just this reason, but with tamoxifen it was the only thing my doc would prescribe. I'm not looking forward to ever coming off.

 Sunflower--

 Effexor is often prescribed because it is one of the few anti-depressants that doesn't interfere with tamoxifen metabolism, so a person who is diagnosed with depression while on tamoxifen has a difficult choice to make. 

 Also I think it is particularly effective against hot flashes.

I take effexor but only half a 75 mg tab a day, some days I forget ( hot flashes return) and I notice I'm much moodier and less tolerant in general. Overall with a big dose I imagine the med would be hell to break away from and would have to be done slowly over a long time.

At this point, I feel the benefits from the effexor outweigh the problems of wothdrawl as without the pills I just sweat and sweat like I have a fever, which is most uncomfortable and does not add any enjoyment to the chemo experience to be sweating like mad.

In anything sometimes there is no right or wrong but a matter of weighing the matter as to which choice will be of the most benefit.

For me its to take the effexor now and worry about weaning later. I hope my doasge does not need to increase as the half a 75 mg tab a day seems to keep the hot flashes at bay.

Glad I found this thread.  I am sitting here in a major funk and just can't get around it. 

Let me start with the timeline in 2004 (after Bob's Mom passed away, & one of my berther's decieded to eat his gun rather than live broke - and he tried to make it look like it was my fault!)  the doctors thought I was having heart problems, NO - stress from work.  Winter of 2004/05 we thought the Island we worked on was going to flood so we had to fill and stack sandbags.  Lucked out that time!

May of 2005 I had to have knee surgery - whooopeee.  A couple more of our friends from our Marina passed away.  November 2005 I was diagnosed with cancer.  Lumpectomy in November and Effexor was presecribed at 75mg (gradual ramp up from  37.5), and another in December. The Island flooded, our house flooded and we had to evacuate New Years Eve - just a few days before I started radiation. We moved back to our house a week or so later, it stank, stuff was damaged, it was damp - but the Effexor helped.  Another dear friend from the marina passed away.  Shoot I thought I was just tough!

May of 2006 new management took over the Marina - and hired a twit a third my age (who knew nothing about boats or marinas) to take over my job "to take some of the load off 'poor me'".   By June I'd been fired, had to move from our residence to a 200 sq ft. boat.  I guess the uptick in Effexor (for the hot flashes) to 150mg helped?????  The management at the Marina made it difficult to live there - and no other Marinas wanted liveaboards.

We sold the boat and moved to a house.  Our landlord lost that house and we had to move again.  Now we were closer to good friends, the house was nice.  I was there for the birth of my great granddaughter.  My doctors sucked big time.  But we were okay.  In 2009, just a few days a few days after my birthday I was in Washington - my Mother passed away.  My moods were ok, the hot flashes stank and the doctors didn't care.

A few weeks later my husband lost his job!  Well shucks, we'll take our friends up on the offer of a double wide mobile on their farm in North Dakota.  OMG - beautiful.   I expained to my Doc that I wanted off the Effexor - it wasn't doing any good - all the side effects from all the drugs over the years (arimidex and femara are history but the side effects they left will be with me always) were driving me nuts and I wanted to live "clean".  He wrote a script for 75mg Effexor - take the first 15 daily, then one every other day and you'll be done.  Oh, did I mention my best friend in the world passed away???  Just 3 days before we said goodbye to all the kids and moved 1700 miles.

The doublewide was a joke.  Every single water pipe underneath had to be replaced.  We flushed the toilets with buckets filled outside from a hose.  There was no running water in the house.  Birds had taken residence along with the mice - so there was bird and mouse droppings everywhere.  To wash dishes we had to boil pots of water - washing up was with cold water heated the same way - showers were not an option (the neighbors had some running water, but their drains didn't work.  They couldn't flush!  Then the insulation had to be dealt with.  Oh, did I mention cold and snow.  The hot flashes helped.  The cutdown in doseage on the Effexor didn't - I started getting cranky.

The last Effexor was last weekend.  Now here I sit, 2 days before Christmas - in tears.  We don't have a doctor here yet - the brain zaps are horrible, the hot flashes are miserable (never show up when I need them).   I just can't get my stuff together - I just want to launch the Christmas tree out the window and crawl away.

There has to be some alternative care available for hot flashes other than a drug that can destroy your mental health if you quit taking it.  I am so angry - Sometimes I think it would have been better to "deal" with the hot flashes and tough it out.  After the Holidays I'll try to get a Doctor's appointment and see what can be done - before I wind up owning stock in Kleenex and sending my husband to live in the neighbor's farmhouse.

I have to say one thing - the mobile is coming along, we're warm and cozy, have running water, and most of the critter stuff cleaned up.  Most importantly - this is the most beautiful place I've ever lived.  The quality of life, the integrity of the people who grow the food here, and the friendlyness of the people is outstanding.  Leaving here would NEVER be an option for me. Once I get my head squared away and my body cleaned out of all the chemical residue  this will be heaven!   (By the way camisoles and flannel shirts are my good friends here - I can always pull of the shirt as needed, and keep flip flops and fuzzy slippers handy - takes care of the hot flashes - along with big glasses of ice cold ?????????)

I have been taking 37.5mg since August - was never told to up the dose...works fine for me although my hot flashes started to get worse after three months. I just started Tamoxifen Dec 1st and have found my hot flashes DECREASING...my family always said I was strange! I am 38, in chemical menopause and the the person I was before Effexor was UNBEARABLE and just plain NASTY.  I have missed a dose here and there and haven't really noticed any SE's but I do thank all you ladies for your input! As we all know, things can change on a time with these treatments and the more informed I am the better I am able to process this stuff when it happens.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Harborwitch....I didn't know if I was to laugh or cry at your post!  With all that you have been through....you have maintained a wonderful sense of humor...in your writings at least! 

I started the Effexor after 2 months on tomoxifen because the hot flashes were getting bothersome.  I was told to up from 37.5 to 75 after 2 weeks, but I didn't just because....

 The hot flashes have decreased, but are not eliminated...I can live with it.  I was having a hard time sleeping well...was taking both drugs at night in the hopes that I would be fine in the day, not get groggy on the Effexor, and manage that way...but the sleep disturbances had me feeling quite tired.  So now I take my T in the AM and my E at night...and seem to be doing OK.

 I want to thank everyone who posted here...I know it is the drug of choice with T but was NOT aware of the withdrawal issues.  this will certainly help me when I get to that point!

Harborwitch...please keep your sense of humor....you are my hero of the day!

Merry Christmas and God Bless!

I originally went on Effexor for hot flashes....after 8 months of constipation I decided that not having a BM was the worse of the 2 evils.  I was on half doses so hard to cut a half into 2 pieces.  I did the everyother day thing and then went cold turkey.  It was a rough weekend (I developed a terrible head cold at the same time) with the head zaps and such but I got through it and felt fine by Tuesday.  I am now on Clonideen(HBP meds..1.5) for my flashes.  It really helps...I still have a few of the hot flashes but they are not as severe.

I'm still having head zaps, and a few of the other withdrawl symptoms.  I am so ticked - I was on the XR's. I'm finding that if I avoid caffeine and take benedryl it helps.

I'm going to try to find a new doctor next week and will ask about the  clonidine.  I'm on Atenelol for HBPnow. 

My vision has gone to heck in a handbasket since this "party" started.  I haven't been sure if it's just age or one of the meds.  

This is a great post.  I have tried to get off zoloft many times. I started taking it years ago for anxiety.  Well, it did help but now my anxiety is mostly gone and if I get any anxiety I have klonipin to get me through.  I get the shakeness, and I feel like im flippng out feeling. when I cut pill in 1/2.  I hate my dr.  I need to find another one but its hard to change. I take tons of pills.  Blood pressure, arthritis med s asthma pills and inhalers.  Whats a woman to do.  I have terrible hotflashes and have had then 4 years. Even as a kid I remember wearing those underarm pads to soak up the sweat.  I only can wear cotton clothes and change my underwear 100 times a day.  I had a bilat and cannot wear those spongy prosthesis, but I am ok with that.  So now I know I need a prozac script to help me get thru the withdrawl.  Thanks 4 all the info and happy new year.