• 💊 OTHER DRUGS 💊 Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Notable Threads 1 Notable Threads 2
    Dangerous Combos Addiction Support
    Emergency Services Benzo Guide v.1
    Addiction Stories Scary Case Studies
    Biology, Pharmacology & Drugs 101
  • Select Your Topic Then Scroll Down
    Alcohol Bupe Benzos
    Cocaine Heroin Opioids
    RCs Stimulants Misc
    Harm Reduction All Topics Gabapentinoids
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums

the effexor "shocks"

I tapered off of a 150mg dose of effexor. With absolutely zero side effects. I was on it for a total of 1 year and 4 months. When I decided to stop I used a taper guide provided to me by a friend of mine. Bluelighters know her as fairnymph. Anyways, My taper went like this....

1st week went 112mg/150mg alternating days.
2nd week went 112mg a day for the whole week.
3rd week went 112mg/75mg alternating days.
4th week went 75mg a day for the whole week.
5th week went 75mg/37mg alternating days.
6th week went 37mg a day for the whole week.
7th week went 37mg every other day.
8th week = Mission complete.

That taper is probably the best I've ever read about. And, I had a friend who used the same exact taper with the same results.

I seriously had zero with-drawls - Nothing at all.

Oh yeah, Also, When I was finally off of the effexor all my original symptoms had vanished. No more anxiety/paranoia/depression. Everything had vanished and I've been fine up until this day, Which is about a year and 3 months since I've been off of it.

Good luck.;)
 
My advice is get down to 37.5mg and start taking doses of 20mg of prozac, then quit the effexor, wait a week and taper off of the prozac. The 20mg tablets can be broken in half and in quarters very easily. It's a much milder withdrawal.

My personal experience is that Effexor withdrawal was much worse and vastly longer than quitting MSconitn cold turkey. Morphine withdrawal wasn't fun, but it was at least over in a few days, it was months before I felt right after getting off of Effexor. I had to quit it with very minimal taper & the headaches, shakes, shocks, nausea, sweating, erectile dysfunction, and everything else that came with it was very prolonged. Even after the nausea, erectile dysfunction, headaches, and shakes stopped I still had those shocks for awhile and had a very deep sense of apathy for 6 months that was no where near normal. I felt *worse* than the reason I started taking them in the first place.

Most of the folks who tell you they didn't get any withdrawal symptoms were either taking benzos, or switched to another SSRI during the process.
 
Tapering over twenty weeks still didn't avoid shocks. I had been on it for about three years though (150mg).
 
Last edited:
that's what i'm saying... i tapered over nearly a 6 month period, now i've been off it for a week and a half.. and oddly, whenever i get winded, stressed, etc. i can still feel some shocks...
 
I read the withdrawal for lexapro only lasted a week?

Opioids were cited as a bad idea for conquering depression by uumpaloompa due to physical dependance! Hah! I'd much rather go through morphine withdrawal than something on par with benzo withdrawal, or worse.

Question to those of you who've taken these anti-d's: Whilst taking and after finishing taking them did you feel as though they'd done anything for your depression? Did the positive effects outweigh the negative? Are they to be avoided if possible?

I've been skimming over some of the articles on antidepressantfacts... It just seems dangerous, doctors not explaining side effects, or worse, not even knowing them. I have to decide whether I want to mess around with my brain chemistry or not...
 
I took effexor (cant remember the dosage, maybe 150mg/day?) for about 6 months and then came off it cold turkey. I had to put up with those electric shocks for about the same period of time, if not longer.

Oddly enough I found that any time I got stressed out they become worse. They do go away though, not entirely .... but more or less for good.

I've said it before, but I'd rather die by my own hand than have to take another worthless AD ever again !
 
Kerrigan ask an interesting question...

For myself I wouldn't consider taking them ever again. In a pure time + cost benefits analysis, they were a dismal failure. Even if I eliminate cost from the equasion they were a dismal failure for me.

Out of several months using them I only got a few weeks of any kind of relief, the rest was just the doc ramping up the doses to get to the mythical effective dose, putting up with side effects, and depleting my savings. There really wasn't any positive gain from them at all.

I tried another briefly because the pain management people said it would help reduce the pain. It didn't, and we got off of it quickly. Again, no benefits, but at least I didn't suffer because of the 2nd use like I did with the first. (The 2nd time I used Prozac, the first Effexor).

In the case of Effexor, I was definitely worse off from the experience as discontinuation effects continued for more than 6 months after stopping and I felt worse than before I started taking them. Being on Effexor was no cup of tea, tons of side effects and it nearly made me manic as well as gave me a movement disorder that took a long time to heal (why we didn't taper off). For Prozac, I can't say it did much of anything either way. I maybe lost a month where I could have been trying something else along with my other pain medicines, but it didn't harm me other than some not normal mood swings while taking it.
 
i could always find out that i hadnt taken my dosage for the day.. cause around midnight those days i forgot i used to get electric shocks...
 
This has happened to me also but on Celexa. My shrink switched me to 60mg of Celexa to 75mg of Effexor XR.

It took two days since I got exactly the same same electric shock feelings. I ate 100mg Valium (diazepam), i mean ten blue ones, and it didn't help me the slghtest bit. I knew it was the drug but i had a major anxiety attack on top of that and had fear of dying that felt so real i wanna never feel it again.

The problem was solved by calling my shrink who immediately told took another 75mg capsule. Since then I was on 150mg, which was meant be upped to that.

Now I'm taking 225mg of Effexor XR/day, 72mg/day of Concerta for my ADHD and 4 x 10mg Valium/day for my anxiety.

It's cool to be on drugs all the time%) .
 
I just wouldnt be able to cope with it. I get fits from being on too many substances at once, colloquially speaking that is.
 
Adam X said:
In a nutshell, probably a significant loss of SERT function coupled with low to no serotonin synthesis. SSRIs (and mixed SRI/NRIs) cause SERTs to "die" in the same way that massive doses of MDMA does. SSRIs also bring the synthesis of serotonin to a near standstill. When you withdraw these drugs, especially the more rapidly eliminated drugs (like Paxil) your brain is still acting like they are there. It takes time (days, weeks, months, years?) for full serotonin function to return. If you want a smoother withdrawal switch to something with a long half-life (like Prozac) and taper off.
Click to expand...
Jesus.... :\ 8( 8o

Is that true?
 
its like someone grabs you by the bottom of your spine and jerks you upward. its really disorienting and it BLOWS.

if you taper off, taper off EXREMELY slowly. my doctors did it in less than a week, and it was fucking horrible.
 
I've experienced these shocks from Paxil as you guys described from Effexor.. So beware of Paxil too.
 
not planning to stop my effexor

i'm on 300mg/day.....my doc suggested that i stop it at one point...i started to feel crappy below 75mg/day...never got the electric shocks though

i stayed on this decreased dose of 75mg/day until an episode of reactive suicidality occured...i was bumped back to 300mg/day......and i have no plans to go down on this med for the near future.....i'm just much happier and better on it.....we both agree that i'm doing better on 300mg/day and that the attempt to stop was a failure

effexor rocks!!!=D
 
Adam X said:
Do you ever feel happy? I'm guessing the answer would be no. I'm thinking that real human emotions are a distant memory for you.


X
Click to expand...

It couldn't be more obvious you're just plain envyous of me. Go buy your self the latest cosmopolitan. And feel like a man.
 
I know this is a old thread but I had to dig it up instead of making a new one. I recently tappered off effexor- it took me 4 months to completely get off of it. Now I have the weird shock and I was wondering if anyone has figured out how long you have the shocks after you get off of them?? It's only been 2 week and they are pretty mild, but they still bug me. So if anyone knows or can relate please let me know.
Thanks!!
 
I have a friend who also experiences these shocks from Lexapro, but he calls them "Brain Shivers/freezes"
 
If you taper properly, you should NOT get more than very minor shocks at the most. But you do need to be good about taking yours meds on time and NOT speeding up the tapering process.

Shocks on Effexor are the worst of any of the ADs, but like I said, they can be avoided.

For people who want to go off Effexor more quickly or who can't tolerate even mild withdrawal symptoms, switching to prozac then tapering off the prozac is a great soluion.

It should NOT take 4 let alone 6 months to taper off! I tapered off in 6 weeks from a dose of 450 mg.

Glitter, not sure why you are still experiencing shocks if you tapered off. What was the max dose you were on and what taper did you do (what dose for how many days, etc). Going on 20 mg of prozac for a couple weeks is something to consider if you find the withdrawal is really bothering you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top