Within an hour, it was down to 189. My blood pressure was out of control. I knew about the other withdrawal symptoms of effexor XR (irritability, rage, tiredness, ect.)

From tears at simple things to wanting to eat way more then I'd wanted to in years. He said that he felt confident that he could help me. My final dose of effexor was the beginning of an extreme 2 week period in which I experienced significant suicidal ideation, anxiety, full body shakes, nausea, dizziness and headaches. I’d get up the next morning and take my Effexor XR pills, feel better, go to work, come home and start the entire painful evening all over again. for over 15 years. Looking back 7 years later I realise the stupidest decision I ever made was to continue taking a drug that I was unsure if I was gaining any benefit at all from.My successful withdrawal from Effexor took two and a half years as I went from 300mg a day to nothing.

One symptom I noticed was that my head itched at night but didn’t seem too bothersome. I had diahhrea first, which was followed by a panic attack, puking and nausea. I just believe everyone should be aware of effexor's withdrawal effects before they start treatment in order to make an informed decision.I quit both effexor 300 and depakine in a long weekend in 2003. I immediately took 25 mg of Effexor and within one hour my blood pressure had decreased from 189 to 154. What is even more frustrating is that if that emergency room doctor had just done 1 search on Google, he would have answered my questions.Physicians have been prescribing this powerful antidepressant to thousands of people for many years. It is difficult to withdraw from because of its strength and short half-life of the drug. Bottom line, withdrawal is a nightmare. Angelica Giron, MD answered this Effects Of Effexor Withdrawal . This tapering approach may take anywhere from a few weeks to several months. People constantly tell me these meds are evil and bad for us, but I would not be here without this med.But yes--getting off Effexor--OMG. For over a week I was a complete mess, wanting to die, exhausted, unable to cope with anything (my 2 kids included )....not fun. If you decide you want to no longer take this medication, you cannot just go off it cold-turkey. I took 2 weeks with each step down.I went to zero almost two weeks ago now and this has been the roughest yet, despite taking lots of supplements recommended by my naturopath, including fish oil. Had to get psych to put me on Prozac today. I went right back on after i fell into another depression. I didn't wake up one day and just feel 'better' again it was a slow process that probably went on for a few months before I felt that I could say I felt like 'me' again both physically and mentally.Looking back now my horrific effexor withdrawal experience seems like a bit of a blur. If you try, your body and mind could begin to feel the debilitating symptoms of withdrawal including but not limited to:Effexor XR is known to be one of the most difficult drugs to withdraw from, especially if you have taken it for a long period. I have the constant nightmares, the shakes, the foggy weird head and body feeling, terrible headaches and I cannot focus all of the time and the nausea, and dizziness along with the emotional roller coaster is overwhelming. They admitted me and took a million tests.

Please Try this !!!! Effexor withdrawal can be managed with the help of trained professionals. My maximum dose was 150 mg and I've been weaning off for the last two month, reducing by 37.5 mg at a time. The doctor barely asked me any questions. If you are an Effexor patient and become pregnant, do not stop taking your medication or adjust your treatment schedule before speaking with your doctor. It was insane and I never want to go through that again.I was on this Drug for 3 months. This times is 100% different so far.I made sure to have my life in order as much as possible to start. Couldn't even function very well. For 6 weeks I did 'bead counting', removing a couple of beads out of my extended release capsul every night. Horrific results. It's crazy to think I have gone 40 yrs without EVER being on any type of medication and since my daughter was born 18 months ago my health hasd never been the same. I decided that I did not want to take any chances and therefore I needed to be taken off this drug. Trying to get off this has taken its toll on me. If I had known how bad this med was to come off of I would never, ever of taken it. Effexor is typically weaned out of the body using a slow tapering of the dosage to manage and minimize withdrawal symptoms. It helps me tremendously. Therefore, I made an appointment for a deep tissue massage hoping that it could help relieve some of the pain. What worries me is that most people take effexor for their mood but the withdrawal itself made me so depressed.Ha ha, I can't believe you had an effexor sales ad when you read the hub.