Weaning Off Effexor
Image via WikipediaI have just come through my next phase of weaning off Effexor. The bump as I decreased my dosage was a little bit of a smaller bump this time.
Thankfully.
I’m now down to 37.5mg which is what is generally used for getting people onto and off of Effexor. It was the dose I started on a few years back.
Here is a bit of an overview of my experiences so far:
225mg - 150mg
A reasonably low key change. I had about a week where I wasn’t quite feeling “myself” but nothing too significant.
150mg-75mg
This was the most noticable in terms of side effects with day 2 being the absolute worst. Overall I would say that the first 3 days are the worst and within the space of a week, I was actually feeling BETTER than before the dosage decrease.
75mg-37.5mg
I noticed a small amount of headiness for the first 3 days. I’ve also been fairly emotional since this decrease and I’m finding it difficult to determine if this is due to what has been happening around me or the dosage decrease.
My advice to anyone who is going through weaning off Effexor:
- Listen to your doctor. If you feel you can’t trust your doctor, find one you can. DON’T try to go it alone. I have read some horrible accounts of people withdrawing from Effexor cold turkey.
- DON’T panic. Some of the stuff I’ve read on the internet is down right SCARY. So far, any side effects I’ve had have been TEMPORARY.
- DO be kind to yourself. Your body is going through significant adjustments and it may need time and rest.
- DON’T try and make any significant decisions while you’re going through this process.
- DO find someone you can trust to support you through the process.
From what I’ve read, the bump from something (no matter how small) to nothing is the biggest bump. But I’ve come this far and I’m hopeful the final bump will be manageable. I’ll be on this dose for a few more weeks yet. That gives my body time to fully adjust and gives me a break from the withdrawal process.
Overall I seem to be coping pretty well and it is nice to be able to really FEEL again. I feel more like myself than I have in quite a number of years. Obviously, if my body wasn’t ready for this, things would be different.
(Sidenote: The word Effexor gets picked up by my spam filter when you try to leave a comment. If you get a message about moderation, don’t panic. If you click on ” Yes, post my comment”, your comment should go through fine. The automoted spam bots can’t read that message and therefore don’t know to click on “yes, post my comment”).
Interestingly enough, Zemanta has suggested a couple of my own posts as possible related articles for this one. That makes life easier than having to go looking for them myself. 
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After reading this post I think I know why your trainer has bumped up the action. Increasing your physical fitness level will help enormously with making you feel good about yourself AND help you sleep better, that’s always a plus. This way you may not notice quite so much the bump down in medication level.
Win-win, I say.
Wow! I admire your efforts to wean yourself off of this drug. I like to think, as I do with most drugs, that if you can live without it you are better off. But you are smart to do it slowly and to warn others not to do it cold turkey. I hope this is a sign of better health for you! I think I may have had some type of emotional or nervous breakdown myself in the past (never diagnosed though) so I feel I can sympathize with the feelings of your “emerging self.” I think your exercise is definitely going to help in that area too. It should help keep you from getting depressed. I’m looking into Zemanta now too, thanks to you! Oops - sorry for such a long comment - I tend to do that sometimes. Can’t help it.
This is all so helpful for me Lightening. I’ve been on the 37.5mg capsules for 2 weeks now, as Zoloft made me feel even worse than before.
Thank you for posting some true to life information - I for one, appreciate it
River - you could be right. She’s been an AMAZING support through this whole process and seems to have a good instinct for what I need and when.
Teeni - thanks. I get some search engine hits for this type of post and I know I’ve read some stuff that really freaked me out so I’m hoping this will help people rather than hurt them. Plus of course wanting to keep my readers up to date with what is happening. Glad you’re finding Zemanta useful.
Suze - Are you heading on or off Effexor at the moment? {{{HUGS}}} and hope you can find something that helps. It’s not a lot of fun I know but there is light at the end of the tunnel (even if you can’t see that light right now).
Well done on getting over another bump in the weaning process. And your trainer will probably up the training for a while which can only benefit you. I remember not that long ago when you were jogging that you used to push yourself if you had something on that you were dreading, to increase your serotonin levels. You know what you need to do for yourself cause you did it before. So, listen to your body and your trainer and you will be doing great things.
Hi,
Andraz from Zemanta here!
I am glad you find our service useful! We are also suggesting your stories to third parties, so from time to time your post also get linked from outside. That’s additional benefit from using Zemanta. Oh, and you could link to others too :).
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Gemisht - I think even spending time with her boosts my serotonin levels. She’s such a positive person. You’ll be pleased to hear she even talked me out of my netball funk. Unfortunately I’m not doing so great on the “personally motivated” front right now. Can’t even remember the last time I attempted to go for a jog (other than at netball training).
Congratulations on managing to stay so positive about the process, that’s half the battle. I find that people who worry about coming of the drug have the hardest time, perhaps they’re just not ready.
BTW in our shop we have found that boosting your vitamin B, though diet or by supplement, helps the process. ( it’s needed to make serotonin.)
Lightening - its great that she is so positive and that you feel that just being around her. And I’m glad she talked you out of the funk re netball.
And personal motivation - I think that I left mine somewhere. If you find it could you send it home for me???? I feel a bit in limbo at the moment waiting for the onslaught of the next semester for Uni - as nice as the break is I don’t want to loose the momentum.
You are such an inspiration and this will be so valuable for so many people, think I will digg and stumble it for you.
Even those of us who get depressed from time to time and aren’t on medication.
remember to celebrate your wins, each small step off the way.
I have another wonderful story somewhere on the hard drive i will find and send to you
love
Suzie
Good on you, keep smiling and remind yourself, every now and then, how far you’ve come
Andraz - thanks for stopping by. I’ve used the links in Zemanta before. And I regularly spot my own links popping up as suggestions. It’s a great product. I’m finding it really adds to my blogging experience.
Eve - Thanks. It is hard and scary. I definitely find a vitamin B supplement helps.
Gemisht - if I find it I may just keep it for MYSELF. Selfish being that I am. LOL.
Suzie - thank you. I really hope so.
Jayne - yes, I do tend to forget to look backward at the journey and it IS good to do so and celebrate the successes. Sometimes I get hyper-focused on what I HAVEN’T achieved or how far I HAVEN’T come. Thanks for the reminder.