I had the same thing happen to me coming off another med. Sometimes the drug company has stuff on they're website about coming off the drug. I found keeping busy with exercise helped some. Other than that you have to believe that your symptom s will get better. I k ow that's hard in this state of mind.

Keep your head held high and keep going day by day. That's all anyone can ask of you.

we're all different and react differently, but effexor was by far the least favourite drug i've ever taken. for me it got so bad i crossed the line into psychosis. i definitely had the electric jolts and leg spasms and crawling out of my skin anxiety.

it did seem to pass pretty quickly, maybe a few weeks.

if you feel the titration is too much, please clear it with your doctor to slow it down. i came off abilify 2mg. at a time.

also, a benzo might work for short-term, until the withdrawls stop. i was given 1 mg. clonazapam/ day (klonopin?), and it was fine.

sorry you're going through that. it is definitely the pits, :(

Tomorrow I take my last dose. So far the anxiety hasn't kicked in...just feeling unusually emotional, crying like a baby over love songs...that kind of stuff. My body feels like I have the flu and I'm light headed/dizzy.

Mojo...I was hoping she was gonna offer me some Xanax or something but she didn't. I don't have an abuse history and if she is worried she doesn't have to give refills. She just told me that it might be "rough" but I would get through it. I should have spoken up and asked for something.

Several months ago I lost my bottle Effexor and had to go 2 and a half days....it was horrible. I'm trying to think positive and maybe weaning off it won't be as bad as the 2.5 days cold turkey.

Hang tough CG. Maybe a hot epsom salt bath with some lavender to quell the body jitters. Dink lots of water. Just not bathwater. Hugs.

When I weaned off with at my docs instructions, we did it over 3 months. Gradually is best. I found it wise to make sure youre telling your doc how you feel during the process.

Thanks for the support. Tonight I took my last pill. Today wasn't too bad. No body aches. A little light headed but manageable. My mood was ok until the end of the day when I got a bit snarky with someone on the phone. She was failing to hear anything I was saying...LOL. I did wait until I hung up the phone before calling her a bad name. I haven't been on a med that truly helps with the anxiety but if it keeps me from opening a can of whoop ass on some poor unsuspecting soul I'll take it.
If things get worse by Friday I will call my doc. I will be starting on Paxil in a few days. I hope it does some thing for the anxiety.

This is the reason why I never allowed myself to go on meds. Get on one; get off one; trade one for another...

Hope you feel better soon!

It's great you have never needed medication. I do try to do without it but at the moment it is take meds or lose my job. It's not my job causing the issue, I love my job. It is my intermittent and unpredictable desire to cut someone and watch them bleed (only in my mind) It gets expressed in verbally inappropriate ways. But yeah..yay for you:-)

Oh, I don't applaud myself. Sometimes I wonder if the ones who take meds are the strong ones and I'm the scared, weak one...

Hello,

When I went off Effexor it wasn't at all that bad. It was quite effortless, in fact.

I suggest you ask your doctor to increase the prescription dosage and wean you off it more slowly. You shouldn't have to go through this.

Hi wetnoodle
I am finally off it and on paxil. I have never had a problem with any medication but this one. I almost passed out twice yesterday from the light headedness. Today seems better and I started the paxil. Hopefully it will work for the anxiety.

I hate effexor. Im still trying to lose the weight I gained just starting effexor. Didnt even provide any mental relief. Ugh!

Be kind to yourself.

Can your doctor give you something to help you deal with the withdrawal?

One of the medicines that I still take was given to me first inpatient. It was given to a lot of people there to help wean them off of benzo's theyd been described. Or if they were there with a drug problem it helps that, too. It's called Naltraxone. I have had great success with it for other reasons, but it is worth asking about at least.

Remember this feeling is temporary!!