I've asked this before, but got kind of lousy answers?!
Question: I have been on 75 mg of Effexor XR for about 6 months now. So far, I love its effects. I really do feel like a new person. I usually take it around 2 or 3 in the afternoon everyday and I have never skipped a day. However, I took it rather late the other day at around 7:00pm and I got crazy side effects. I was shaking and I had head rushes that felt like I was tripping on drugs. I was nauseus. I couldn't even drive. It took about 4 hours after I took the pill until I felt normal again. It was just awful. My question is, will I ever be able to get off this stuff? Even weening off sounds bad. I didn't realize how powerful this stuff was. Also, how do you know that you're ready to get off antidepressants? I mean, they say when you feel better, but how do you know that you really do feel better or if it's just the medicine working?
Answers: I have been on 75 mg of Effexor XR for about 6 months now. So far, I love its effects. I really do feel like a new person. I usually take it around 2 or 3 in the afternoon everyday and I have never skipped a day. However, I took it rather late the other day at around 7:00pm and I got crazy side effects. I was shaking and I had head rushes that felt like I was tripping on drugs. I was nauseus. I couldn't even drive. It took about 4 hours after I took the pill until I felt normal again. It was just awful. My question is, will I ever be able to get off this stuff? Even weening off sounds bad. I didn't realize how powerful this stuff was. Also, how do you know that you're ready to get off antidepressants? I mean, they say when you feel better, but how do you know that you really do feel better or if it's just the medicine working?
I came off effexor three years ago...it was a long weening process which included me having to take something else while the effexor was coming out of my system. When I was finally off, I had to go through the weening process again. When it was all said and done i think it took nine months. My doctor was apprehensive about taking me off effexor but I was insistent and he agreed as long as I recognized if things were not going right I would agree to go back to the effexor. I ended up getting some life coaching to understand the thoughts and what to do with them. i am not drug clean and take nothing. Your symptoms you describe sound like the withdrawal of Effexor that is why weening is so important. God luck to you and i hope you got better answers this time
Better contact Doc.
Honestly, this is a question best discussed with your doctor.
Some people NEED medication for life - some only for a while... your doctor knows the details of your care and the reasons for needing the medication.
That said, perhaps your dosage needs to be adjusted?
Wishing you luck and encouraging you to call your doctor to make a well informed decision about your medication.
If you have only had that effect once when you took it at a different time, switch back to your normal time. I hear most doctors recommend to take this med at bedtime with a snack and a drink. I had to when I took it for a few weeks, b/c I did get rather sick to my stomach with it. I stopped taking it b/c of other side effects, but when you feel that you need to get off the med, you need to do it with the help and advice of the doctor who put you on it.
This drug needs to be tapered, for example take every other day for a week or two, then every 2 days, etc...
Typically it is the medication that is working, and bless you if you feel a difference, I have tried many antidepressants and still have not found one to work for me. Most people need to be on one long term, but eventually will begin to taper off and monitor the results.
Good Luck and take care.
Yes medical advice is best to sort this out. If western meds are not your preference, there are natural health pros who understand how to shift of drugs and get your body into proper balance with various methods.
The highest cure rate for depression is when the patient gets BOTH good effective cognitive or behavioral counseling and medication support.
You will know when you have improved to the point of needing to go off meds if you start to have symptoms of serotonin overdose.
Depends why you were depressed to start with. Some people have a chemical imbalance and need to always take antidepressants while others have an incident that causes depression like a death, pregnancy, accident, stressful situations with others. When this period has passed and you feel u have a grip on things it may be time to ween off.
They weaned me off a little at a time. you just have to work with your doctor. I did not do it but I hear they can sub something else milder till your off , then weed you off that. It did wonders for me too, anxiety wise.
Maybe you need an alarm on your watch to remind you when to take it or have you go down to the 37.5, a little at a time.
Most courses of anti depressants are for at least six months to be effective. If this is your first bout of depression and you want to try going without you need the Dr. that perscribed it to you to stairstep you. This medicine can mess you up if you try to go cold turkey, like you said, it is very strong medicine and can produce some bad withdrawal side effects.
if you start having problems with depression again then your Dr. can always step you back up until you are ready to go off of it. Let your Dr. help you through all this and don't just go off it. The Dr can also help you know what symptoms are due to weaning because you will have some.
You have questions that should be answered best by a doctor, not readers of Yahoo answers. Seriously, I mean we don't really know that the symptoms you felt that day WAS related to the Effexor. Only a doctor knows if you should wean off when you are done and your doctor can help you with when you should or could get off the meds. Good luck!
I am also on effexor 35.5 mg, I have been on it for over a year now. The only time I had a bad side effect is when I forgot that I took it at 5 and took another one at around 8 pm. Are you sure you did not take it twice that day? As far as weening off or getting off that drug I would suggest that you talk to you doctor first. He or she can help. I don't think you should hurry to get off. Relapse are worst than side effects. Hope this help you. Good luck!
My standard post follows, but, if you are young, antidepressants are unsuitable for young people. See depression treatments, at ezy build, below, in section 2, and consult a doctor, to eliminate thyroid problems, etc. as possible contributing factors: also seek a referral to a therapist using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy. It is your decision, and yours alone, as to whether to take any antidepressants offered, but, before you do, read section 1, and check medications out at www.drugs.com so you will be on the lookout for side effects, like sexual dysfunction. My strong recommendation, however, is to follow the advice of my doctor, his associate, Nathanial S Lehrmann, MD, Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP, and Dr. Mercola, at www.mercola.com and many others: avoid antidepressants (pages 2V, and 2Z refer, & antidepressant websites: page 2). The reasons why we all share the same view on this are explained in full, as you will find, if you read the whole section. All of their advice, (except prayer, because many people are not religious) I have incorporated into the "core treatments" of the multidimensional approach to treating depression, including occupational therapy, relaxation techniques, and exercise, with others as options, such as the supplements: Inositol, or SAMe, or herbal remedies, like St. John's wort. If you are diagnosed with clinical (major) depression, antidepressants may be necessary for a while, which will give the treatments time to become effective. The antidepressants themselves need at least several days, or even weeks to begin becoming effective. It's a good idea to taper off them slowly, with medical advice, after several months, say, to a couple of years, at most, because they are only effective in the long term for about 30% of people. Because of this, you would be well advised to begin the treatments immediately, and maintain them. I'd just thank your mental health care provider, and pocket the prescription, trying the treatments for a few months, to see if they are sufficient for you, before considering filling it (unless clinically depressed, and having great difficulty functioning, or suicidal, in which case I'd take them). If the amount of daylight you have been exposed to recently has reduced, perhaps due to the change of seasons, see Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) in section 2, at http://www.ezy-build.net.nz/~shaneris and, instead of taking 4 Omega 3 fish oil supplements, daily; replace 2 of them with cod liver oil supplements for the winter months only! (or, as probably a better alternative to the 2 cod liver oil supplements: 1 teaspoonful of cod liver oil, with a little butter, to ensure its use; I take mine on sourdough rye bread, or toast, covered with fishpaste, and pepper, to mask the strong taste). Consider having your doctor test your vitamin D levels, using the 25 Hydroxyvitamin D test. Optimal levels are 50 - 55 ng/ml (115 - 125 nmol/l. It should be above 32 ng/ml. Those people who receive adequate exposure to sunlight, daily, won't need the vitamin D from cod liver oil, but many people, particularly those in latitudes far from the equator, find this difficult, to achieve. Topics from section 1:WITHDRAWING SAFELY WITHDRAWING FROM PSYCHIATRIC MEDICATIONS
MEDICATIONS. DIFFICULTY STOPPING PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS.
ANTIDEPRESSANTS. MORE ABOUT ANTIDEPRESSANTS. Once you start feeling better, irrespective of the reason, it's time to start tapering off, gradually, as advised in section 2, and with medical advice as to how long. In the meantime, I'd start the above treatments, and Omega 3, and possibly the Inositol, or SAMe, but not the St. John's wort, for a few weeks: ask your doctor.
I also take effexor XR 125mg a day. i know how you feel. i have missed taking it for a day and it feels horrible. i would assume that because you are on it you are regularly seeing a psychiatrist, if not it is important to do so. make sure you you are honest with them in the questions they ask you. they can help you determine when you are ready to come off the medicine. i have been taking it for 3 years. sometimes i wonder if they are just leaving me on it to make money. if you feel you are ready to try and stop taking effexor talk to your doc they will slowy step down the dosage and monitor your progress adjusting dosage accordingly.
First of all, it is very important not to mess with the dosage of powerful meds like effexor by yourself. That said, it could have been the medication having a more dramatic effect on you, but it seems unlikely. Weening yourself off meds in any context is NEVER a good idea. It can kill you, and effexor is a dangerous medication to play around with. If you are feeling good, and it is working, go with it!! Do you know how many people do not get to where you are now with their antidepressant medications?? You are one of the fortunate few!! As for getting off it......when you and your doctor alk about it and you both feel like it is time to try it, go for it. But if you begin to feel like crud again, go back!! It is better to extend a hand and ask for help when you need it than to suffer in silence.