Effexor withdrawl, getting off

I have been on it and want off. My fears are because if I miss a dose or more the side effects are awful. I am going to really do some research on this. I cannot imagine it is good to be on any medications for too long. I also think anti depressants are handed out to patients too easily. I will respond later with any good info I may find. Good luck.

This is not fun, that's for sure. When my doses ran low and I couldn't afford a refill right away I was miserable. I am still not free of Effexxor, but I was forced to switch to the new generic by my new insurance company, and since there is no slow release generic, I have to remember to take pills three times a day instead of just one. Of course, I sometimes forget a dose, but the good news is I have not felt the horrible side effects when missing a dose or two. I would bet that these generics would make it a lot easier to ween off the medicine totally. If you try it, let us all know how it goes! Good Luck!

I personally didn't taper off Effexor. I was on, hmm, let me try and remember, I want to say 350 of Effexor XR two times a day but it may have been 175 two times a day, I can't recall. Anyway, I was recently switched over to 90 milligrams of Cymbalta because the medicines are really similar and I am soooooo happy I did! If I didn't get my Effexor refilled in time or they didn't come in the mail in time, I had such harsh side effects. It was horrible. I had severe migraines and nausea from the withdrawal within about 36 hours. With the Cymbalta, if the same thing happens, I am pretty much alright. Not that it's ok to go off your meds cold turkey, but I get sick of it from time to time (I have to take a bunch) and go on pill strikes and then suffer. But most of the time I just forget to get them refilled or don't have the money to pay for the refills. I also had major issues tapering off of Paxil. That was probably worse because I got really bad vertigo. I was in college then and I could feel my head spinning when I was sitting still. At one point I asked one of my classmates who I knew well if I was moving because that was how bad the vertigo was. I had to go on a medicine for vertigo while I was getting off of that one. Regardless, be sure to work with your doctor when going off of the Effexor to be sure that you are doing it the right way and getting the correct dosages since they aren't pills you can just cut in half. Maybe there is something else out there. I personally am looking for some alternative therapies so I can totally get off of my meds, but until you would, it's still best to work with the doctors. It can be bad, but maybe you will be lucky and not have those bad effects. Good luck!

I am on 350 mg of effexor right now and I have a friend that tried to wean herself off, but she tried to do it too quickly and had a rough time. Apparently it takes quite awhile to get yourself weaned off, but if you do it slowly everything should be ok.

About a month ago I decided to go off all my meds (not all at once) I had on hand different strengths of effexor and over a period of 2-3 weeks went from 150 mg. to 37.5 to none. Well I really came apart after a couple of days. I was weepy all the time, (I cried when the toilet paper roll ran out). Though I did not get depressed. Too busy, crying. When my doc found out she said to go back on gradually. I started at the low dosage and I am still on that. Find that it is okay for me. By the way, Istarted taking the meds for fibromyalgia. I guess I can live with taking the low dose for now, after seeing the effects of going off.