Weaned myself off of effexor and have been feeling really off/weird. Looking for some advise!!

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I have been on effexor since december 2009 for anxiety. Most recent dose was 225. I started to wean off of it starting in January and was off by the beginning of April. I felt fine all of April, May, and the beginning of June, then had a few bad days where i had horrible anxiety, which didnt worry me too much, but the last few weeks I've been having some chest pains(I went to the dr and had some tests done which all came back good), fluttering in my chest, been feeling very uneasy and kind of restless, especially at night time. Also been having weird sensations in my head(not brain zaps tho). I tried looking it up on google and such and it keeps saying that it could just be general anxiety and what not, but its making me feel really nervous. So I'm just wondering if all this could just be symptoms of anxiety that im not use too or even maybe some symptoms of coming off the effexor? Not sure what to do so any advise would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks in advance!!

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3 Replies

  • Posted

    Hi Jenn, I too am in the process of weaning myself off Effexor. I feel you came off Efexor very quickly but with a return of symptoms maybe you need something to keep anxiety at bay.

    It is easy to feel so well that you don't need the medication when it's the medication that is keeping you well. This is obvious for people with diabetes for instance.

    I would be chatting honestly with your doctor. Book a double appointment so neither of you are feeling rushed and really talk.

    I am down to 150 mg after being on 450 mg for over 30 years. Symptoms are returning with a vengeance so I doubt I will be dropping any further. I may even to go up a tad. But I have achieved what I wanted, down from a seriously high dose to a more moderate dose.

  • Posted

    I am surprised to see two others on here that have been on Venlafaxine/Effexor. I have been on it for 10 years and am seeing my dr. next week about going off it. I had figured with being on it this long maybe it wasn't working the same after all this time. Plus I blame this drug for my not being able to lose weight. I have been taking 150ml. I would really like to read up on this and how long I should take to go off it. I also take Clonapen when needed so I thought if it got bad I could take one of them. I just don't know and the whole thing leaves me wondering after 10 years what I would be like without this drug.

     

  • Posted

    3 months remission followed by a return of symptoms, especially new symptoms point to a relapse and not withdrawal. If you are not managing to cope using non-medication approaches and symptoms continue to persist or escalate you should discuss with your doctor about reinstating Effexor. Rapid withdrawal increases the risk of serious relapses. You tapered too fast. After a few years of use a gradual taper is required and should never take less than 9 months. My final taper took 2 years. This was 4 years ago...

    Very slow does it best.

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