I took Seroxat (Paxil) a few years ago for about a year. I was told under no circumstances should I just stop taking it.

I had to gradually reduce the dose over a period of a couple of months, from 20mg a day to 20mg one day then 10mg the next for two weeks, followed by 10mg per day for the next two weeks, then 10/5, 5/5 then 5/0 until I was finally able to stop taking it altogether.

Talk to your doctor.

I have nothing of value to offer but my best wishes, deborah.

It's not a good idea to go off Effexor cold turkey, and it can be dangerous. Most doctors will have you taper off, over a period of at least 2 weeks (or more, at higher dosages), and may switch you to Wellbutrin or another SSRI during that time, to control mood issues.

I suggest you get in touch with your doctor immediately, who will probably want you back on the drug, and to discuss reasons why you want to quit.

I was diagnosed as bipolar several years ago, and was put on Effexor at first. The very first thing I can tell you is NOT to go off the stuff on your own, without your doctor's input. My symptoms were somewhat opposite of yours ... I went VERY manic, my blood pressure rose dangerously high, and I had several anxiety attacks where I passed out.

After a very stern warning from my doc, I went back on Effexor and then was weaned off of it by taking a very powerful anti-psychotic that dampened the withdrawal effects ... basically by putting me to sleep for 16 hours at a time.

I started experiencing withdrawal symptoms almost immediately (6-8 hours) after taking my last dose, and they quickly became severe within 24 hours.

Effexor is a very potent drug, especially if you're "chemically sensitive" as I am. I would strongly urge you to consult your doctor. If you don't like the med, get off of it under the doctor's supervision, and insist that you be put on another one. It can be very tricky finding the right meds for each individual, and the process can be grueling. I've been on a combination of Lexapro and clonodine for about 2.5 years now and feel great. Best of luck to you dear!

Don't quit cold turkey!

Ahem, I take klonopin, a benzodiazepine, my mom takes clonodine, a blood pressure medication. It's confusing.

I second or third the not going cold turkey! Talk to your doctor ASAP.

Yeah, ditching Effexor is really hard from what I have heard, and cold turkey ain't the way to do it.

(Sending hugs as I too am on meds and have done the cold turkey before on a different AD.)

I researched Effexor quite deeply and what you describe are (most probably) withdrawal symptoms, and the reason I told my shrink that I did not want to have anything to do with it. Apparently, even tapering off Effexor is bad enough, and doing so cold turkey is asking for major trouble according to both the shrinks and prior users.

Call around and see if anyone has samples to get you through.

I'm going to get my prescription refilled tonight. My prescription is for another month and I'll have to see the doc at that time and will discuss it with him.

paulsc: thanks for that link. I "knew" that people had problems going off of Effexor and similar drugs but had no idea it could be quite so awful. I feel lucky my withdrawal symptoms are as mild as they are. I was hoping it would just be a few days of feeling icky and then I'd be okay. I guess that ain't gonna happen.

I won't try cold-turkeying again. I promise. :^)

Thanks for all your posts, bunnies. You really are the bestest.

Feel better, sweet Deborah. And if it's time to wean yourself off, blessing to you on that process.

*whuffle*

Hugs to you, sweetheart!

Hang in there Deborah. Best wishes for smooth sailing.

Y'all are going to make my cry again, but in a good way.

≡ Click to see image ≡

I haven't read the responses because I wanted to make sure I reached out to you. My very best friend in the worlds decided to go off Effexor cold turkey and ended up slicing her wrists.

She is okay. I mention this because it is an example of quitting these medications cold turkey.

I forget the class that Effexor falls in...I think it is a Norepinephrin but please be careful. Call your doctor.

Also, not saying don't go off it but get medical advice so they can ween you off it.

Also, should have said "it is an example of the dangers of quitting..."

Anyway, sounds like everyone gave you good advice and you got it covered. Sorry for my hypersensitive reaction.

Just scares me.

No apologies necessary, Lola. I've survived two fairly serious suicide attempts and endless ideation. It is a concern of mine and one of the main reasons I'm not going to fuck around with the pills any more.

Wow, Deborah.

I'm glad you're going to talk to your doctor. Altering your brain chemistry can be a very helpful thing (believe me, I know) but guidance is good. We want happy, healthy bunnies! Nothing sad or scary. Yes.

*more whuffles given to Deborah*

deborah,

DON'T
Quit taking your meds.

I understand maybe why you quit taking them, because you're feeling better and wanted to see if you can do without.


Crazy Meds.org is a great meds resource.

Type in effexor on the crazy meds site and more information will pop up, as well as a Forum.

You aren't alone and a good thing you can turn here for hugs and support.

I've got a mood disorder ]I don't think they call it bipolar anymore[, with a side of OCD ]obsessive compulsive disorder[.

I'm on 20mg/day of Paxil]paroxetene[ and after 52 years, I see what the trouble was all along looking back at patterns in my life and the 'why'. I was self medicating like a maniac all my life. Little did I know all I needed was Paxil, for starters. I'm not done yet though.

I'll be gong to therapy ]psychiatrist[ to get to the bottom of my restless mind. One shouldn't just take SSRI's dispensed without therapy. I'm switching psychiatrists, the last one enjoyed talking politics and all sorts of things too much with me ]it was the end of the day for her, I understand[ so the therapy process and understanding myself was a tad too slow for my liking. I had been going for a while and like a large oceanliner, it takes time to turn that sucker around. Meaning, the psychiatrist doesn't tell you anything what you should do or not, or what's wrong, but slowly you come to realize a few things on your own. Thank god for free healthcare.

No doubt I may need additional meds, but the Paxil slows things down for me now and I'm able to focus like never before.


I too once quit cold turkey, but obviously I've a 'mild' mood disorder, I didn't crash or do anything rash, but I understand now that I may very well have to take them forever. I have no problem with that.

I've escorted a few friends to the hospital who have had bad bouts of mania. They stopped their meds.

As my physician told me, it'll cost you a cup of coffee a day for the meds.


I also just finished an amazing book that opened a window into this for me. An Unquiet Mind, by Kay Redfield Jamison, a psychiatrist with a serious mood disorder, her story.

Run, don't walk and buy it. A wonderful read, very insightful from a practising psychiatrist.

Chin up, it's not untreatable, just getting the right combination of meds takes some time.

Oh, deborah, many hugs to you. I too have had many adventures with and without medication, and it is such a struggle. What finally got me considering it again was some advice from a close (bipolar) friend: 1) It's not the darkness that people like about you. It's not an integral part of your personality, and you don't have to live that way. 2) It takes many tries to find the medication that works for you. Don't hesitate to tell your doctor if a medication isn't working or is having nasty side effects; there are many out there, and it's still an inexact science.

Best of luck, deborah, and keep at it--it sounds like the right medication could be very helpful for you, though the trial-and-error process can be incredibly scary sometimes.

It's not the darkness that people like about you.

Oh, yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes. YES. It broke my heart to watch my ex descend into this line of reasoning, that his "dark side" or "neuroses" or "difficult side" or whatever he was calling it that day was the only reason I loved him, when it was in fact the largest stumbling block there was to loving him, and what eventually drove me away. It was so excruciatingly hard to watch him hold onto and almost nurture that part of himself.

I'm so sorry that any of y'all are going through this, and I'm so glad that you're getting help. Hang in there -- as hard as it was to watch, I can't imagine how hard it is to go through. I'm rooting for you. All of you! Yes, you!

Oh, and in the interest of truthiness, even after that it took a hospitalization for me to take it seriously, but I have finally found a medication (in my case, Celexa) that makes me feel like me, only without the blacks. Not a numb me, not a manic me, not a medicated me, just me. It is possible, and it is well worth the search. I still get blue, but since starting on that it has yet to get beyond where I can control it. It's a normal mood, in other words.

Another comment that helped me face my med fear, this time from my doc: "If you had epilepsy, you'd take your fucking medication. Clinical depression is not that different. It's not a character flaw, it's chemical and can be fixed. Take your fucking medication."

Well, here's one more anecdotal support for not going cold turkey: a friend ran out and she was a total mess, basically crying in a fetal position, within 24 hours. She got back on and tapered off without incident.

A weird side effect I've heard that effexor has: not being able to tell if things that happened in dreams were real or not. Simple things like talking to an old friend, not flying.

I took a pill last night and another one this morning and I'm feeling well seated on my rocker.

A few notes in response to the above posts:

- When looking for something that would help, I tried Lexapro and another drug (I can't remember which one) and neither one worked for me. Effexor was the third drug I tried and it works great. There were some sexual side-effects (surprise!) and I took Wellbutrin for a while to help with that. It seems to have worked itself out.

- I feel no stigma due to being depressed and taking drugs for it. I absolutely refuse to be ashamed of it. Funny bit: the first pharmacist to hand them over to me was all *hush hush* "and here's the anti-depressant", leaning really close so no one could hear him.

- I agree that it's similar to epilepsy, etc. - it's an illness and you take your drugs to control that illness. I'm diabetic, I take my diabetes drugs 'cause otherwise I have body parts falling off and I'm going blind. No thanks. I take the pills because the results of not doing so are unacceptable.

- However, taking one less pill would be nice. But then again, it is only one more pill.

- Darkness. Hm, apologies to the bunnies but I don't think most people are that observant. Or, alternatively, they only see what they want to see. I guess it's possible that I'm that good an actor, but I don't think so. In any case, the mister is the only person I can really feel comfortable in showing that side of me, yet I hide it from him because I don't want to burden him with it.

Which brings us to:

- Therapy. I'm well aware that it could and probably would do me a world of good to see a therapist. I know even just a few visits can help (which is all I could do because our insurance only covers 4 or 5 visits). I just can't bring myself to do it yet.

Bunnies, thanks again for all the hand-holding and shoulder-leaning support. You really are an amazing group of people.

Hand holding here is what it's all about, I'm guessing. That is a good thing.


Sexual side effects. LOL. No kidding, but guess what, it's 2007 and they have a drug to remedy that too ]for men[. So strange, like living in a sci fi era. I won't be nosey what it could be for women. Hey, maybe the same¿

My pharmacist OTOH, cracks jokes and I don't whisper, gimme my Paxil ]with cheese on it and a side of sauerkraut[. Hush hush pharmacist. Lordy.

"- I feel no stigma due to being depressed and taking drugs for it. I absolutely refuse to be ashamed of it."
"In any case, the mister is the only person I can really feel comfortable in showing that side of me, yet I hide it from him because I don't want to burden him with it."

Hold on a minute.....
Maybe not on the first date, but if you're calling him 'the mister', I'm guessing 3 dates or more ] :) [
Then, whazzup¿
I hear a contradiction.
You're right on the first statement.
Second statement says you aren't that comfortable with something.
the mister or yourself...

4-5 visits are better than no visits.
So go.
It's a total fireside chat. A stranger, so you'll get some objective input.
Believe me, nothing shocks them. Nothing.
Non judgmental, also.

You'll feel better for it. Take the 5/year. WTH. it's your life, damnit./ It's important, firstly to you.

Speaking of sexual side effects, during the years when I resisted taking anything, my doc would suggest another antidepressant with the proviso that "side effects include weight gain and loss of libido." To which I'd invariably respond, "so I'll be fat and not getting any but I won't mind? You're not sellin' me here."