I tried effexor for 2-3 months, and found that it exacerbated my anxiety and depression. It also caused nausea. I have just begun to taper down from a 150 mg dose, and I already have a schedule from my psychologist. However, I am not simply feeling bad emotionally, but withdrawal seems to cause flu-like symptoms, such as fever, nausea, and bathroom trouble. I have personally read that these are possible side effects caused by withdrawal. This is particularly bad because I already have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. (cause unknown) Fortunately, I am a legal medical marijuana patient, but that relief only goes so far because I have a strong tolerance. My nausea is much worse now than before I began effexor. Are there any other ways to help me deal with these physical symptoms until the effexor is completely gone from my system and withdrawal is gone? I have also been experiencing mild bodily tremors. Does anyone know how to help relieve these symptoms? How have others withdrawing from effexor relieved their physical symptoms?
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BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards
Coming off of Effexor
- Thread starter CodeMan
- Start date
Sorry to hear about that man, it is amazing how anti depressants are viewed so innocently, and harmless, when they are far from it. Just a heads up, the mainstream anti depressants being pushed onto people (Zoloft, Celexa, Effexor, Cymbalta, Paxil etc etc) are all garbage, and generally cause more harm than good. Are you experiencing brain zaps? Effexor is downright notorious for that. As for your nausea, use pepto-bismol. It is great for nausea, and will really help with the upset stomach as well. Take a few tums with it, those do a great job as well.
Hope you feel better soon.
Edit: I really recommend talking to your psychologist about using a benzo short time for relief from the anxiety and tremors, you will most likely need something heavy duty like a benzo for relief from the Effexor W/D.
Hope you feel better soon.
Edit: I really recommend talking to your psychologist about using a benzo short time for relief from the anxiety and tremors, you will most likely need something heavy duty like a benzo for relief from the Effexor W/D.
150mg is a pretty high dose and it's no surprise. You could try tapering off more gradually, by opening and swallowing smaller portions of the XR pellets inside the capsule. Fwiw, I'm on 75mg/day (down from 112.5mg) and it's working pretty well for me depression-wise.
I haven't gotten brain zaps yet. Also, I am already prescribed .5 mg klonopin 3x daily for anxiety. Thanks for the concern. I have been trying multiple antidepressants the past few months. I took Lexapro for a few years and that seemed like it helped some, and with fewer side effects, but I switched because after a while it didn't seem to help anymore. I'm not sure they are all garbage, but I can definitely say that effexor is.
Please, please give this a read. It got me off the horrible anti depressant train that you are riding, and that I was riding for a while. None of them are worth it, one of three things always happens:
1) They stop working, and you must up dose, getting you deeper in the hole. Eventually they just stop working no matter what dose you take, and you must deal with coming off of them (horrible.)
2) The side effects are worse than the medication.
3) They just don't work and mess you up worse.
Here is the link I want you to read: http://www.naturalhealthweb.com/articles/Nelson4.html
It is no joke man, it improved my quality of life so much, so glad I am off the fucking anti depressants. The doctors make huge kickbacks for prescribing them, and there is LITTLE evidence to back up their effectiveness. Most studies that show them being effective were done by the companies themselves, and the negative studies are never published. The very fact they make many people suicidal says enough. New evidence is starting to suggest meds like the SSRIs might do more damage in the long run, as it quite possibly messes up your bodies ability to naturally produce serotonin, because it thinks it has enough. Do you want those meds having you by the balls for your whole life, and all the horrible consequences that come with using them?
As for your benzo script, up the dose for a while to give yourself some relief? I'd recommend asking for some Xanax if you're having any serious panic attacks and such, because it is great for QUICK relief.