Effexer : (

[klopi]

My depression was getting worse so my doctor upped my dose from 150 to 300 mg but I started having body tremors and sleeping for only a few hours every few days. Now I need to stop taking these pills, I started weaning myself off its my 3rd week and I am down to 50 mg but its getting really hard.

I started 5HTP, stopped eating meat and started juicing to do the all-natural thing, but it’s not really doing much. I really don’t want to take any more chemicals and I even get medical mj but it just makes me anxious and my mind races.

I don’t want to feel sad anymore its like you get to a point where you begin to except it and just let the depression take you with out fighting anymore.

 

[Lolie]

You shouldn't be trying to wean yourself off, it should be happening under a doctor's supervision. Effexor's notorious for shitty withdrawal symptoms and you're stepping down too fast.

What you've posted is suggestive of something more than typical depression so it's really important that you keep your doctor informed of things like being unable to sleep and racing thoughts.

 

[klopi]

You shouldn't be trying to wean yourself off, it should be happening under a doctor's supervision. Effexor's notorious for shitty withdrawal symptoms and you're stepping down too fast.

What you've posted is suggestive of something more than typical depression so it's really important that you keep your doctor informed of things like being unable to sleep and racing thoughts.

being unable to sleep happened after I upped my meds, its fine now.

I just feel depressed.. realy, realy depressed.

No flamming please - PA

 

[Lolie]

Has your doctor started you on an alternative antidepressant? It's pretty common to do that when you're tapering off one medication because of side effects. It definitely doesn't sound like you should be off medication altogether at this point but rather that your doctor should be looking at more effective alternatives.

 

[Bojangles69]

klopi don't feel bad about weening yourself off it as everytime I've ever stopped an anti-d in the past it has ALWAYS been on my own.

A doctor will always tell you to stay on longer, or "just give it some more time" and I never felt like I was being listened to when I would go in for our meetings. Some anti-ds merely don't work. If you're on a high dose and still depressed, I think what you're doing is common sense.
Lolie recommends not to because he/she is smart. Its generally not a good idea for patients to take themselves off what their drs prescribe them. But I also try to have more faith in people and expect that they would know if a med is not working for them if its not working for them.

How long have you been on the effexor? Did it ever help you at all?
What other anti-ds have you tried?

I can tell you genuinely from experience anytime I've ever felt "off" or "wrong" or like a med was making things worse, I always felt better after I was off it. Which is why I'm advocating what you're doing right now. Although lex was outstanding for a year and relieved all my depression, it threw me completely in the other direction making me too apathetic towards life in general.
I was happy, but I hated how I felt still. It was a real weird spot to be in. And when I got off I felt so much clearer headed and better all around.

Do what you got to do. But definitely DO NOT just give in to the depression. Accepting it is one thing but letting it take over your life is another, as one can have benefits and the other just consequences.

Theres also legal things out there you can try like kanna, which still works wonderfully for me and the best thing is I can take it as needed. Not to mention I find it stronger/cleaner all around than most anti-ds.

Do what you think will make you feel better but one thing specifically about effexor is TAKE IT SLOW. I mean real slow. You should aim to taper off it in no less than 4 weeks, and I think 8 would be ideal. You have to understand that effexor is right on top when it comes to nasty wds. Lexapro isn't like that and even a 4 week taper had me feeling a bit uncomfortable. So please taper yourself as slow as possibly. If it was me I'd shoot for 8 weeks personally just from some of the horror stories I've read with other people coming off it. And a lot of people on effexor also report terrible side effects ( you can find them on askapatient.com) which is just another reason I'm supporting your taper.

G/luck and please keep us updated. If at any minute you get depressed or just have any questions in general please feel free to ask. Noone should have to suffer from depression and there are things out there you can try other than effexor.

 

[klopi]

Has your doctor started you on an alternative antidepressant? It's pretty common to do that when you're tapering off one medication because of side effects. It definitely doesn't sound like you should be off medication altogether at this point but rather that your doctor should be looking at more effective alternatives.

I have tried many other meds, welbutrion made my hair all out and I spotted like I was on my period everyday. Prozac made me manic where I did not leave my bedroom for 3 days. With Effexer I went from 139 to 170 pounds, twitching in my hands and legs and not sleeping.

I am better now. No shakes and I can sleep but I am sick and dizzy from the withdrawals and my depression is still with me. Sometimes pills can’t help you.

Thank you or your input I am not trying to be dismissive, I just don’t think any pharmaceutical will help me.


Bojangles69 have you ever tryed 5htp?

 

[Lolie]

Bo's right about the recommended tapering schedule for Effexor - it's recommended that the dose be dropped by no more than 37.5mg a week and I'd take it even slower than that if there's no new med being introduced.

 

[Bojangles69]

I have tried many other meds, welbutrion made my hair all out and I spotted like I was on my period everyday. Prozac made me manic where I did not leave my bedroom for 3 days. With Effexer I went from 139 to 170 pounds, twitching in my hands and legs and not sleeping.

I am better now. No shakes and I can sleep but I am sick and dizzy from the withdrawals and my depression is still with me. Sometimes pills can’t help you.

Thank you or your input I am not trying to be dismissive, I just don’t think any pharmaceutical will help me.


Bojangles69 have you ever tryed 5htp?

Wow prozac did the SAME exact thing to me and I stopped it in less than week due to the mania.
Zoloft had me hyperstimulated and I wound up having panic attack 3-4 times a day untill I flushed them all in about 3 days.
Paxil helped a teensy weensy bit with anxiety, but never noticed it do much for my depression. I also put on a TON of weight, had lost a good deal of my short term memory, and towards the end of 2 years couldn't take it anymore.
Wellbutrin didn't do anything to me, I gave it 6 weeks and zilch, nada, nothing at all from it. I don't even remember any side affects although I'm sure I had a few I wasn't noticing.
Cymbalta DID make me a bit happier I give it that, but it had the same exact sides as paxil. My IQ dropped, my memory went out the window, I just looked/thought/and acted like a dumber person and began to hate it.

NOW, I want you to understand after going through all those meds I would have killed myself before EVER giving an anti-d another shot.
And you know what happened?

I went 3 years living with the depression and did exactly that, tried killing myself. It didn't work and I wound up in a psych ward. In the ward ALL THEY WANTED TO DO was put me on another anti-d. I was angry, resentful, I wanted to punch all the drs in the face. But they told me if I didn't cooperate it could be a longterm stay in the state hospital. I was basically coerced to take it and Lexapro saved my life.
I had NO side effects. NO weight gain, and it was so subtle in how it worked for me. It literally just made me happy. Out of nowhere for once in my life I was happy, my anxiety was low, and I was glad I had attempted suicide because it brought me to lexapro (as much as I utterly despised anti-ds).

Like I said I have a lot of good things to say about Lex and so do other people. I'd go right back on it today (if I needed to) but I was having 2 side effects that showed after a year that I couldn't deal with any longer. It was EXTREME apathy, and hypersomnia. I would have loved to stay on the lex but honestly once I stopped the oddest part was the depression never returned. I don't think I'll ever have to take an anti-d again and its a weird thing to say. I can't tell whether the Lex "cured" it. But I really think my depression must have been nearing its end and the Lex just got me through the last bit of it, who knows?

But 2 things I recommend. If you can't get over the resentfulness you may have towards these medicines now you really are doing yourself a disservice in the end. It can be somewhat traumatic going on and off all these meds but you need to sometimes treat it like an experiment, and if NONE ever work than so be it. But please don't go into one of those modes like I did where you'd rather die than try another one, it was really ignorance on my part. And there was no need for an attempted suicide to find the Lex, I could have just kept an open mind.

If you're contemplating ANY herbs I'm telling you kanna is really impressives stuff if you're able to find good leaf. I think its actually better to get some of the extracts they have on ebay as people tell me they're more consistent. But if you EVER get a working batch of kanna I literally believe its impossible to feel any kind of depression while you're on it. Nor does it have any side effects and its totally safe to take. Its really worth a try I suggest you look into it.

If that fails, then theres a lot of other things you can try, and I will gladly help as well as everyone else on this forum. But right now taking 5HTP is almost a total waste as something like kanna actually has powerful and NOTICEABLE antidepressant effects. I still take 100mg 5HTP everyday but I doubt it does anything for depression. Maybe it makes it better by a milimeter but its certaintly not a noticeable amount.

Let us know how it goes though w/e you wind up doing.

 

[Lolie]

^^^

One point Bo's post raises which is often forgotten is that while approximately 25% of people will suffer an episode of depression at some point in their lives, the vast majority of those people will not need to be on longterm medication. Even in people who have a tendency towards recurring depression, making significant life changes is just as important in preventing future episodes as medication.

 

[klopi]

I am glad you finally got better. Depression is a bitch.

I’ve never heard of kanna but it sounds very promising I will give it a go for sure.

I am getting the shakes, will try to eat something and lie down for a bit. sick

 

[Bojangles69]

Definitely try some.

And klopi I'm curious specifically about the shakes, what kind of "shakes" are they?
Cold shakes? Nervous/Anxious/Adrenaline shakes? I know you're tapering but I think at minimum tommorow go to a supermarket that has one of those blood pressure machines. If your blood pressure is high it almost always aggravates any type of shake I notice.

Do you smoke or drink coffee?

 

[Asclepius]

Klopi,
Like Lolie mentioned tell a decent GP/ Psychiatrist about your Symptoms and have them regulate use or the withdrawls. I get depression but am not interested in taking anything ATM because I've been on so many and don't know whether Im coming or going on them sometimes and it freaks me out. However, I try to keep an open mind and dont rule them out completely.
Dont go too Stringent on your diet this can have a negative impact, sometimes when your bodies accustomed to metabolising certain Foodgroups and you cut them out it goes under Stress(know this may sound Minor but in reality it's not).
Are you receiving any of the 'Talking' Therapies? Think this is really important if you have Depression, of course some can be of poor quality but not all.
Remember to take things Easy on yourself, and dont give up on looking for proper help/support.
Feel free to PM me.

 

[Missykins]

Lithium certainly has very good antidepressant qualities, but comes with its own problems. It's the only thing I respond well to, but I have a pretty good tremor from it, especially now that I am taking verapamil for a neurologic disorder. It's one big toxic soup.

 

[The Smoking Man]

Effexor is horrible, for both its effects (drug-induced bipolar-ness) and withdrawl symptoms.
Also, can you not find any indica strains at your medical MJ dispensary? That'd probably help with the anxiety and such rather than worsening it like the sativa I'm guessing you're getting.

 

[paranoid android]

Taper very slowly off effexor. If your getting symptoms such as brain shocks, tremors, nausea, fucked up vision, etc you are tapering too fast. I was only on it for maybe a month and a half and the max dose i went on was 150mg's a day i think. I didn't know that it caused physical dependence as this was back when it was new on the market, my doctor was too stupid to know and i didnt have the internet. I quit cold turkey and had the worst withdrawals ive ever had in my life or just about. Ive come off heavy opiate habits (morphine oral and IV, hydromorphone Snorted and IV, oxycodone oral) and ive come off alcohol as well. The only withdrawal i had that was maybe worse then it was unmedicated alcohol withdrawal. It was far worse then opiate withdrawal and lasted for a few weeks.

A few meds are supposed to help though and i found that cannabis and dimenhydrinate helped me. Diphenhydramine is supposed to help with the brain shocks in some people. Also some people find that tapering off with prozac once they reach a certain point helps because prozac has a very long half life and venlafaxine has a very short half life.

 

[MgmtBlue]

I feel like different drugs work for different people. I've been through a few anti-depressants and it's definitely a process to find one that works for you. I am on 75mg Effexor/day and it works. I don't have any side effects. If it ever stops working and I have to come off, it will be a bitch, but right now the positives far outweigh the negatives.

To the OP, I agree with those who said to try therapy. I laughed it off as worthless at first but it's been key in my treatment. Good luck.

 

[Zombartie]

Effexor is such a horrible drug IMO. Made my anxiety ten times worse. The not sleeping part was the worst. It felt like a horrible stimulant. I flushed it down the toilet after giving it a go for over a month.

Now I am on Klonopin and Lexapro. Best combo ever so far. I feel much more normal, but all those anti-depressants and other meds still just mask the anxiety and do not get rid of it completely.

I say give Lexapro a try if Effexor (or nightmare drug as I called it) doesn't work.

 

[unsettled]

I had high hopes for Effexor but it did the exact opposite of what I needed it to do, made me tired, it made my heart beat too fast, it gave me anxiety attacks and it didn't lift my mood one bit, it actually made it worse.

 

[panic in paradise]

ive never taken effexor, but know it is basically a "dinosaur drug" and there are many alternatives, i take lithium which literally had literally been around since before the dinosaurs!
but it made me do a 180 in my mind, and wonder a bit resentfuly why i had never been prescribed it before.
eventually i was though, after many many trial & errors; to put it lightly. it may take a a couple of decades, or the first med you try, but you have to go through a process if elimination, at your expense maybe, but to live out the rest of your years with out struggling.

now, what you are doing is crazier then you are... good for you trying, and knowing this med isnt working for you, and making it this far. i have crash landed in the same circumstances as you several times, and these drugs are different in their mechanism when leaving the body then street drugs/narcotics.
i beg of you to make an appointment asap with your prescriber, and tell them the details of your complaints about this drug, and the similarities that occurred taking others in the same class. some people are fine on certain drugs, i took seroquel twice and on the third dose i had 'neuroleptic malignant syndrome' symptoms for ~24 hours, my left forearm went numb, i was wide awake, fishing on the islands and totally refreshed feeling for three productive days straight, my arm stayed numb for eight more months...
some people take seroquel daily no problem.
but now it is in my medical file to keep D2 inhibiting drugs out of my body, as an allergy alert.
the other meds i couldn't put so nicely, or remember much of.
...horror.

if twice now the same class med has had an overwhelming negative and paradoxical effects, or none at all, this needs to be known; for many reasons, including "reverse" diagnostics if you will.


the the friends ive had who took effexor regularly, would all become very irritated and in a rage eventually if they didnt have their meds, and missed a dose.
you may think that you are out of the woods tapering because you feel fine, and its been a couple days, then your brains chems start trying to re route, start to fire improperly disorganized with out regulation proper pathways layed out and boom, out of nowhere, its meltdown time, in a blackout bad way.

if you doc is any kind of a professional, you should be able to call, and be seen very fast if you leave the message at "help with negative reaction", there isnt a whole lot that could be as urgent... even over the weekend you should be able to get some assistance.
stay at the dose you are now, DO NOT STOP TAKING IT.

there should nd be no problem with switching meds, i mean what's the point?! you are honestly accepting help, and doing what you can to help yourself.

oh buddy trust me, ive been doing this my entire life, the past two three for a disturbingly rare, painful, other disease mimicking, cancer causing, autoimmune disorder.
some, or rather lots of the meds ive tried for this, n/m schizoeffective-bipolar, have caused irreversible damage to my body. its a goddamn confusing evolving elusive prankster phantom.
but recently, just recently ive started taking some that actually help.


benzos and lithium are not the common combination for schizoeffective, but i was honest, aware and kept trying, until after 25 years of psych meds and alternative treatments/therapies, i finally found what helps.
it was worth the patience and fight, to know ill have more control over my thoughts, and more peace of mind for the rest of what may come, in what is to be the greater majority of my life.