Member Describes "Brain Shivers"
Monday October 18, 2004
"When I miss a dosage of Effexor or start complete withrawal (which I am doing now) I get, what I have called, synaptic snaps. They feel like mild buzzes located in my temples and frontal lobe and I can mildly hear them. Their duration is 3 or 4 snaps inside of a second. They happen mainly when my eyes or head move suddenly. The are not painful, but are very uncomfortable and a nuisance. This site is the first I have read that addresses this withdrawal side effect. While it is great to have a peer consensus on this issue, I would love do know how long it will last until they stop or until the drug is out of my system."--MB
Comments
I’ve been on effexor for about 5 years now and i’ve been sober for about 2 years and i get real bad body numness.this didn’t start until after i stopped drinking. and the brain shivers,i don’t know if these are them but my seems like my whole head gets numb.
I did not know that the vertigo when turning my head or body was caused by Effexor was caused by Effexor. Thank you for the clarification. It is very annoying and confusing, but I’ve learned to control/avoid it. Mostly, for me, it’s when I ride in an automobile, which I almost never do. I take public transit (bus, light rail). When the auto driver turns or goes on a winding road, if I focus my eyes in the wrong place, I get such terrible vertigo that I start to pant, and almost scream, and the driver has to pull over by the side of the road until my head straightens out again.
Yes, it’s like my brain gets “left” someplace and my skull has moved past it. It’s very frightening.
Anyone who h as ever gotten vertigo while trying to somersault, esp, in water, knows this feeling well.
glad to have found out that what im experiencing is not unique. but still laeves the question- what to do next? my dr has said iv to have 10 days free of effexor then start on 20mg of fluoxetine daily. im not so sure. will the same thing happen when im finally better and its time to come off the fluoxetine?
Jane,
The good news is that fluoxetine has a long half-life. What this means is that it will clear out of your body slowly enough that you shouldn’t experience all the nasty discontinuation symptoms.
Hello there all my fellow depression- ists, well as a former internationalist athlete from the U.K age 35 i am glad to read about these brain shivers and also my memory too struggles… maybe im just lazy in the head but i am trying to learn another langauge and most days i just seem to forget everything its so dam upsetting is there help for me out there.
I started my slow tapering of Effexor about a month ago at my dr’s OK. I am only 4 days free from it and was hoping what others describe as brain shivers would not last that long. I have had them pretty much the whole time I was on Effexor. I was one point upto 425 mg (3 of the pills). I have insominia pretty much the whole time as well. I was laid off and wanted to see what life would be like without them while I was not working. I just hope the brain funkiness, and insominia end soon, but it sounds like I am just starting with the withdrawal. Has anyone else on the brain shivers while taking Effexor without missing a dose?
The vertigo and brain shivers are unreal. I found out it was my Effexor discontinuation because I was on the verge of submitting myself for emergency medical treatment for a stroke or other brain trauma/diseas and thankfully found out what the root was, but the only solution they offered was putting me back on, which worked but with the terrifying realization that I am bound to this medication like a heroin addict. I would have never agreed to use this had I known the truth otherwise. Wyeth-Ayerst should be made responsible for funding an exploration into treating discontinuation because of this horrendous medical negligence.
I’ve decided to stop Effexor because I didn’t think it was working for me anymore (after a couple of years). I kept decreasing my doses myself and my dr would decrease my prescription after-the-fact. I just stopped altogether recently and I’m right in the middle of withdrawals. Last night, I couldn’t sleep for the second night in a row. I became extremely angry and threw something. I felt maniacal and completely not like myself. The brain shivers people talk about, I have almost constantly. I can hear it. It’s almost like being able to hear your pulse. I have dizziness most of the time, pain in my back, EXTREMELY vivid dreams, and cold symptoms (possibly from my system breaking down due to lack of sleep). I’m hoping this will all go away in the next couple of weeks. I’ve experienced really bad withdrawal in the past when I missed one dose. I just don’t want to be controlled by this substance anymore. Does anyone know how long these symptoms last?
I was put on Effexor in January after being on Prozac that didn’t seem to be working any longer. I was never told of any of the potential severe withdrawal side effects from this medication and quite frankly I now want to get off of it as soon as possible. However, I know that I have to wean very very slowly. I am taking the capsules apart, and taking only 10 of the balls inside out and will decrease like that every week. I am also going to see my doctor Friday and print some of this and see what he plans to do for me. Keep the faith and also remember that I have read that Benadryl and Prozac do help with the withdrawal symptoms.
i have been through withdrawl of effexor and decided to start taking the drug again because the “brain shivers” were so bad. they really freaked me out. and i thought that taking the drug again (even though i dont want to anymore) would be better than feeling that way. my main question is…HOW LONG DO THE WITHDRAWL SYMPTOMS AND WEIRD BRAIN SHIVERS LAST?????????? please someone answer this question that has been asked more than once. because i’m afraid to stop taking effexor again and i need to!
Hi everyone-
I have been taking Effexor for about 3 years. I was taking 112.5 mg. I decided to stop taking it because I didn’t feel like I needed it anymore. I was tired of relying on drugs to feel better. Anyway, I had researched several websites and message boards about weaning myself. The comments left on the message boards scared me TO DEATH. So to wean myself I took 75 mg for a month and then 37.5 for about 3 1/2 weeks. Then when I had about four 37.5 capsules left, I opened them up and divided the granules in half and then took half of the capsule for about six days. Needless to say, I was completely paranoid about the withdrawal effects after I read so many negative comments about it. My message to everyone is that not everyone withdraws so terribly. Today is my 5th full day without it and I have been FINE. The first two days I had a little nausea, but as long as I kept my stomach full I was ok. I was a little dizzy, but not enough for me to change any plans I had made.
The biggest mistake I made was reading the message boards and all of the negative comments people made. I know that some people DO experience some nasty withdrawal, but not everyone does. Reading those comments made me feel worse than the actual effects! Emotionally I feel fine – I can actually feel stronger emotions now and my sex drive is back. I think the key to weaning yourself is just to have a positive attitude and realizing that it will get better. Don’t read any comments while you are weaning yourself. Hang in there and pray hard!
just a note regarding “brain shivers” – I first experienced them a few years before going onto Effexor. I described them at the time as little electric shocks going off in my brain and they tended to occur when I was coming off meta-amphetamines. I went on to Effexor (300mg/day taken roughly the same time each morning) about 18 months ago and experience these brain shocks or shivers whenever I’m a bit late with my dose. They’re exactly the same sensation so I’m reasoning they’re related to seretonin or dopamine levels.
I’ve been on 112.5mg of Effexor for over 2yrs now. The Dr. and I decided that because I have been doing really well, I should try to go off the medication. Over the past 2 months I have been tapering off it. While that has gone well non-depression wise, the side effects have not been so great.
My main complaint is the ‘electric shock/dizzy pusles’ I get. Basically they happen in my head, hands and feet. And as others have mentioned they aren’t particularly painful but just super annoying. I also experience nausea and diarrhea, while I don’t love this either I can handle it. After quite a bit of net research I have found all this is rather common.
I am now in my last week of going off and these shock things have only been getting worse. So much so that for the past two days they have been making me feel insane. I talked to the Dr. about it but it’s kinda one of those ‘wait it out’ things apparently.
While there seems to be alot of info on the fact that this can take place, I can’t find much about how to make it go away. The only think I have heard is taking Omega 3 could help. Does anyone have experience with that? I figure it probably doesn’t hurt to take that anyways so I’m gonna go out and get some. The only solution I’ve found on my own to help a bit is to take naps.
Thanks alot. Best of luck to everyone!
can effexor affect you for months after stopping it? My husband was taking zoloft and then switched to effexor but he only took it for about three months. He isn’t taking anything now and seems to have a lot of anxiety and gets angry very easily – these things were not apparent before he started taking these meds – he was put on meds for post traumatic stress. He had a lot of trouble on effexor and while he was weaning off of it he had a lot of reall bad thoughts and anger outbursts. I was thinking that some of it could be the effexor – I read that for some people it seems to never really leave you even after you stop taking it.
Can someone describe the brain shivers they get.Ive been on effexor for a few months and get electric-shock type pains across the front left hand side of my head.Is anyone else forgetful? i dont know how i got somewhere and cant recognise what house i am in.im so confused all the time,sometimes i see a friend but cant remember if i actually know them.is anyone else the same?
I took Effexor for about 3 years. I stopped because I did’nt think I needed it anymore and also because I would have the dizzy spells if I was just a few hours late. I think it was about a month or six weeks after stopping that the dizzy spells went away.
Now, a few years after getting off the drug I’m back on it again because I think I need it.
In other words, I found the benifits outway the discomfort of coming off the drug. The brain shivers are rough, but nothing I could’nt handle. Like someone else posted, don’t get yourself all worked up and worried about quiting effexor. The withdrawls suck but for me, it was’nt THAT bad or I would’nt have started takeing the drug again.
Obviously everyone is different, and to those finding the withdrawl unbearable, my advise is to just ride it out because the symptoms will go away. Oh yeah, laying down/sleeping when you can will make you feel much better. GOOD LUCK: YOU CAN HANDLE IT!
Btw, my Dr. was supprised and had no knowledge of the sickness of withdrawls from effexor until I told him about it.
i have found out i am pregnant and was takin off effexor because of the effects it will have on the baby.i am now on my fifth day without effexor. i have had all the withdrawl symptoms and i have not been able to function without help. as soon as i started tapering off the effexor the side affects were unbearable even then.the only thing i can do is sleep, my dreams are so vivid they are more like nightmares than dreams that they cause me to wake up.i think that the dr or the pharmacist should councel you on the possible affects of withdrawls before ever taking them.after this experience i don’t feel i will take another antideppressant again.
I was on Effexor 150 for just a few weeks and asked to be changed because of minor side effects. I had surgery and changed to the new prescription for Wellbutrin 150 a few days after my return home. After a few days I started having small bouts of dizziness. Not long after, I had such horrible stomach pain and cramps I ended up in the ER. They diagnosed me with Dyspepsia/Gastritis. It never occurred to me that these symptoms were related to my medication change. Now I am horribly miserable. I feel at times like I have the flu (right now), am dizzy most of the time and just now have been able to begin eating. This is the most horrible experience I have been through. My trip to the grocery store today was horror! I felt as if I needed to be helped around the store. I tried to reconcile my bank account and found that my brain can’t handle it. The worst part may be that I have to turn out Thanksgiving dinner the day after tomorrow and I’m not sure how I’ll do it. The doctor’s office told me to stop the Wellbutrin by one day off/then on for three days. How long will I have to live this way?
OK, so I lingered on Effexor for 6 months taking 37.5 mg after over twoyears of successful treatment at 150 mg. Brain shivers, which for me was like motion sickness but without cause, have affected me for about a week now. I am curiuous how long these persist, and if there is anything I can do to relieve the symptoms. The shivers are worse when I get tired and better when swimming … a little beer or wine also seem to diminish the intensity … crying also helped. Can anyone tell me how long these might last?
hello taking 150 mg of effexor xr for a couple years now and lost my insurance so noe footing the bill has necessitated getiing off, also experience brain shocks. Found that there are better natural supplements for treating the depression (see Dr. Burton Goldbergs site) but need help minimizing the withdrawals. Benedryl and Prozac weaning?
HOW LONG DO SHIVERS LAST AFTER OFF COMPLETELY (RANGE I KNOW WE’RE ALL DIFFERENT)
THANX
I am now trying to stop effoxor once again. The withdrawls have been so bad I always continue the drug. My Dr. never let me know all this stuff I have just read. I have two kids and a husband who works crazy hours. I want to sleep but can’t. So I always feel wacked..like my brain is moving and my head is being filled with air and I just want to reach inside my headand sqeeze my brain to make this stop. I have headaches, Flu like symptoms the point is I feel like crap. It is scary enough to go off an antidepressant–now I am trying to fight this insane feeling. I am now afraid it will never leave. Does it ever go away “Brain Shivers”? It has been almost 6 yrs now–I just want off!!
All …. I have great news. After suffering for 2 months trying to get off of this drug, I finally got my doc to do something. He did some thinking and some research and came up with the simplest thing that worked immediately.
Tranxene. This drug is also used for severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms, and for some reason it worked perfectly for me.
I started with Tranxene T, 10mg twice daily. By the 3rd day, the symptoms were gone … gone … no brain shocks, no brain shivers, no nausea, no nightmares .. back to normal. The regimen in 10mg twice daily for 1 week, then once daily for the 2nd week and thats it.
I am finally free of the Effexor withdrawal nightmare, and Tranxene is a cheap drug.
You gotta try this.
I’ve been scouring message boards on Effexor withdrawal because I am in the thick of it. I came off very slowly, was only on 75mg for two months and then 37.5 for one month and then tapered off the 37.5 by opening the capsules (not what my psych suggested).
By the third day off it entirely, I was a wreck. Four days later, still a wreck. All the usual symptoms everyone describes…can’t function at all, can’t drive, bursts of rage and crying (this has never been me, even in the worst bouts of depression and anxiety), and then of course intense dizziness/brain shocks, hot/cold feelings, jerky motions, etc.
I saw on the boards some people found success with Benadryl and Ativan — I tried both, no effect.
So I’ve just taken my first Tranxene (clorazepate) — will keep you all posted.
Mostly, I’m trying to figure out what to DO so that everyone is given better information about Effexor. In the UK, they have stronger rules, it seems, about when Effexor is prescribed — as a very last resort when at least two other anti-depressants have been given a real try. This stuff is DANGEROUS!
And the fine print doesn’t adequately warn people about the withdrawal effects.
Any ideas about how we might make our voices heard so some safer protocols are put into place? Also, it seems like we shouldn’t have to dig and dig and dig to find out that there’s one drug, Tranxene, that MIGHT help. Doesn’t it seem like the prescribing doctors should perhaps suggest this at the outset of going off effexor?
Take care everyone!
Hi, I’m a mom with a daughter,25 yrs. old. She has been on effexor 150mg. for 8 mos, since April 2006. She was weaned off by her dr. from December to January. First day after being weaned off she seemed fine. Well after the 2nd day not being on effexor she became extremely sick. Her symptoms were Nausea&vomiting, bad brain shivers,our of control, anger rages, crying nonstop, severe anxiety. She is attending college and this has been really difficult,to say the least. I’m a nurse and expressed my concern to her Dr. about what I read online. He said don’t read the computer, stay away from it, she’ll be fine! Well she’s not. She’s a wreck with high anxiety and didn’t know how much more she could take. I was scared and went to stay with her for a few days. I’m so saddened to see her go thru this hell and I can’t do anything aboutit. Today, March 8th, it’s been 5 wks. off this hellish drug. The brain shivers have subsided,and the nausea&vomiting, and diarrhea. She still has the high anxiety and cries alot but I pray that goes away soon. She’s 5′4″ tall and now weighs about 100 lbs. Please don’t start the drug! It’s horrific and dangerous and most drs. won’t take it too seriously. My prayers are with all of you. Hang in there, it does get better. I put my daughter on Super Vitamin B complex, a mult-vitamin from a vitamin store. Also she’s taking 3 fish oil omega 3 geltabs everyday. Soon, I pray the anxiety will leave. With our Lord’s help and reading her favorite scriptures, gives her strength to go on. I keep telling her God is bigger than this and He will watch over her. Thanks for listening and don’t give up! My prayers are with you! Judy
I am trying to wean myself off EffexorXR now. I was on 75mg for about 8 months. My doctor told me to skip a day, then take one, skip 2 days, etc. I work in the mental health field and just knew that was a terrible way to wean off a drug of this nature. It sickens me that my doctor so quickly prescribed this drug with no warning of how awful the side effects and withdrawal effects are…even after I called the day after starting the drug, crying because I was so sick and nauseous.
I am on day 3 without taking my effexorXR. It sucks! I thought I was losing my mind yesterday. I have the infamous ‘brain shivers’ all the time. The dizziness and nausea is enough to keep me in bed almost the entire day. I got on the drug for a very mild bout of depression and now regret the past 8 months of taking it.
I have read info about taking Prozac, Benedryl, and Tranxene to curb withdrawal symptoms but am afraid to put anything else into my body. Does anyone have experience with any of these drugs and does any of it help???
Has anyone had an urticaria (hives)reaction following cutting down on Effexor? I haven’t read about it anywhere, but can’t work out where it’s coming from !! I have been on 37.5mg for about 2 or 3 weeks, and can’t say I’ve had any major side effect so far apart from the hives (and feeling a bit irritable) but then again I don’t know if the skin condition can be related to the withdrawal at all….
So, I am now 2 weeks since my last dose of THE H”E”LL drug. My orginal dose was 150mg down to 75mg for 2 weeks and then 75mg every other day for 2 weeks and now I am so flippin dizzy it is unreal. 3 nights ago the dizziness was so bad that the vomiting started. I called my doctor and he has put me on Lexapro (for 2 weeks) to see if that will help with the withdrawls. I feel like I am on a really bad tilt-a-world ride. The vomiting has stopped but my head is still like a weeble wobble (at least I can sit up without falling over). I have missed 1 week of work so far. I was never offered any other type of anti-deps the doc went straight to “E”, after reading some of these comments and websites they make it sound like this is a last resort medication. I started it for GA and now coming off is about to flip me out. I think the maker of the drug needs to do more research of the withdrawls. IT’s not habbit forming…WHATEVER. Good Luck to everyone coming off and don’t recommend it. I am even thinking of talking to a lawyer about what can be done to get this stuff off the counter’s and out of doc’s offices.
I’m about to go off effexor (it’ll be my 3rd attempt) this time with the help of a psychiatrist rather than my regular doctor. The last time I was ramping up wellbutrin while going off effexor & still threw a chair through the wall. Anger/violence was not an issue before, btw. I’m currently on 225mg daily, we increased the dosage when I couldn’t get off of it last time. Any additional tips will be greatly appreciated. I had asked if I could be hospitalized & sedated for about 2 weeks or so but they didn’t go for that. LOL
Laugh to keep from crying, I suppose
I have been on Effexor XR for 7 years with several attempts to get off of it. I have never been able to explain or describe my withdrawl symptoms…but you’re describing exactly what i go through! today my doctor made me feel crazy because he said the withdraws don’t exist (despite all of my past doctors telling me they do). so I did some research…and learned I’m not alone!
FOR ELEVEN (11) LONG YEARS, Effexor has been good to me. The drug prevented me from killing myself numerous times and has pulled me through many a severe depressive episode. Now, 11 years later, I’m going through rather nasty withdrawal effects. Yes, there are brain ‘zaps’, (zzzttts) very similar to electric shocks that pass through the brain and the rest of the body, but I know it will soon be over and I’ll be drug free. Check out my book at www3.telus.net/lyttle. It’s all about trauma, depression, etc.
I stopped taking Effexor a few days ago ‘cold turkey’ (from a usual dose of 225 mg/day) — big mistake. I thought I would describe my brain shivers, in case it would help anyone else feel less alone, as reading others’ comments has done for me today.
Mine happen when I move my head too quickly, or even move my eyes too quickly. It is worse in the dark, and I came close to falling down last night when I was walking down the hallway. The shiver itself does give a disorienting or dizzy sensation. The feeling/sound I get inside my head is like when you’ve been running or exercising really hard and you can feel/hear your pulse all over your body. When I get zapped, it also feels like I have water trapped in my inner ear. It ruins my concentration, and I can’t carry on a normal conversation.
Because I have an infant to care for, I took my dose today because everyday my symptoms get worse instead of better. I’m making an appointment with my doctor so I can wean off this medication the right way, which from what I’ve read will take about six weeks. I can’t say I’m hopeful that these shivers won’t come back at some point during that process.
This drug is not worth the side-effects, at least for me. Effexor makes me want to sleep all the time, and makes me feel horrible if I miss even one dose. I feel like an addict. If you are considering this as a treatment option, I would seriously think about asking my doctor for other possible medications.
Good luck to us all!
I’ve been on 37.5 mg everyother day for about 6 months then decided to stop completely a week ago. It’s hell. All the symptons as desicribed above. This is about my third attempt to stop completely. I’m determined to be rid of it once and for all. My brain zaps are worse early in the morning and calm down during the day. I am going to try the Benedryl first and then the Tranxene. Will let you know how it works. I’m 60 and run a very successful business. I was watching American Idol last night and had to choked back the tears – a strange reaction for me. Once minute I’m calling everyone names and the next minute I want to bawl… Whew I hope my family and business associates survive me!
I am currently cutting back from 225 mg of Effexor. I’ve been on this dose for about 1.5 years. The point I really want to stress is that most GPs have no idea how their patients should be withdrawing from this drug. My Dr told me to cut back by 37.5 mg, but thanks to information from people who have tried this, I did not follow his advice. I am removing little pills from the capsules – I remove a few more every few days. Even with this method, I am experiencing some of the symptoms mentioned above, but most times they are bearable.
I went on Effexor in April, 06, after severe depression was diagnosed because of what I and my family went through in Katrina. My doctor is a specialist OBGYN, and never offered an alternative to E. She put me on 150 mg to start. When that didn’t seem to do the trick, she moved me up to 300 mg, and I felt more like myself. I asked to come off the drug by about 9 months, but she said I had to take it for at least a year. Finally, at my next office visit in May, 07, she started letting me wean at 300 mg every other day for 30 days, and then 300 mg every third day for 30 days. I followed her instructions to the “T”. I was never told about any possible side effects of withdrawal, or to come back if I had problems. I thought that Vertigo I had 20 years ago had returned with a vengeance. I went to my GP, who prescribed Meclizine (which will make you feel like you are losing your freaking mind anyway) and he gave me Butalbutol for Migraines. Finally I went to see an ENT Specialist, who diagnosed me with Myofascial Pain, Otosclerosis and Mild Conductional Hearing Loss, which are ALL symptoms of Effexor withdrawal! He gave me a muscle relaxer and Valium! Neither the GP or ENT would agree that weaning from E was the cause of my symptoms – which is everything described in this post. I called today to set up a consulatation with my OB, who started me on E, and they are “trying to work me in in the next couple of weeks.” It’s as if they don’t care, and they definitely don’t believe there are withdrawals. And, you know they are going to turn it around on me and say it’s my fault for not reading the fine print! Good luck to all!
I just stopped taking 150mg after being on it for a year. It worked great for depression/anxiety, I was pretty calm most of the time. When I originally went to the Dr a year ago I was complaining of severe episodes of anxiety and irritation due to being a single full time working parent. I actually asked for something to calm me down at night and he gave me Effexor because benzodiazapines were habit forming. After being off Effexor for 2 weeks, I think I would rather have had to kick a benzo habit than this! This is the first site I have seen about what people call brain shivers. I am just starting Wellbutrin while going through the withdrawl process….I was told to wean slowly, but not why, so I didn’t. From what I have been reading, it really doesn’t matter if you wean or go cold turkey! But I agree, I had the extreme anger and outbursts, which have subsided thanks to the Wellbutrin, but my head is constantly spinning with little bursts every 10 min or so. Its so hard to concentrate and work and be a parent all at the same time. I agree with everyone that the DRs and Pharms should really inform patients of the terrible withdrawl effects of this med. I can see a future class action suit in the near future…regardless of the benefits of this drug, I’m not sure the after effects are really worth it….and how long do the dizzy spells last?
Doctor’s should explain the side effects when you try to getoff the medicaton.They are awful. I will never take another antidepressant.Effexor was the one I was on.I still am not feeling well.My doctor weaned the mgs down but it is a hard road.I have had bowel problems ever since.Anyone else?
My son was on Effexor a couple of years ago and had the brain zaps and extreme anxiety trying to get off this medication. I think doctors should be more aware of the side effects of starting and/or trying to get off of these drugs. They seem to be clueless of how horrible these side effects can be.
Whenever I sleep in and am a few hours late taking my effexor, I am so dizzy and have these noises in my head when I move my eyes. I have to wait and not move my head or eyes much until the medication gets into my system again. This happened this morning and i am realy shakey and scared, dizzy, sick to my stomach, can’t really concentrate, can’t move my eyes from side to side quickly or the noise in my head is awful and I feel like throwing up.
after reading the above information, I now want to get off of this crap but am totally scared. I have to be able to function in my job and at home.
Oh my God, had I known any of this would be happening to me. I would have stopped after the Zoloft and NEVER would have touched Effexor.. A week off of it after weaning down from 75 mg/ day x’s 6mos to 37.5 a day for 2 wks to 37.5 every other day for a week. I can hardly contend w/ these “brain shivers”, joint aches,and emotional roller coaster that I thought was gone when I learned to deal w/ my depression and anxiety. My anxiety for the last couple of weeks, has been SHOCKING for me. I almost feel as if I am losing it. I am so elated to realize that I am not alone.When I describe the feelings of “electrical zaps” they think I’m crackers. What a relief.. I really wish this was more in the open, and there ought to be a law, or disclaimer in bold red letters in the little phamplet that comes w/ this stuff that mentions these “brain shivers” as more than just a passing fancy as the drug insert has now.
Wow, I never knew those “weird feelings” I was having were from withdrawals from Effexor. I could never explain what they were to my family, I said they felt like “body flashes”. I just recently started to realize that I got the “weird feelings” after missing a dose, then I ran out, totally out and my doctor would not authorize a refill until I saw her. Well I saw her today, 5 days after running out and she’s taking me off the “E”, she put me on 300mg of Wellbrutin XL, I was taking 150mg already. I was taking 75mg of Effexor.
I explained to my doctor what I was feeling and she told me right away “you are having withdrawals”. I wish she would’ve weaned me down or given me something for the withdrawals, she just upped the Wellbrutin. I have to work, drive and take care of my kids, I’m a single mom and this is terrible. I do notice getting very angry very fast, I have the “brain shivers” (finally, a name to it!) real bad and I feel nauseous all the time, my whole body hurts real bad. I guess I just have to wait and see what happens. I have to see my doc in 2 weeks if I don’t get any better. 2 weeks seems like an eternity right now.
There should be some kind of warning to this, or at least more sympathy/knowledge for your doctor.
I was on effexor 300 mg for a year and my np determined that it was failing me and tried to switch me over to lexapro without any sort of weaning. I even begged her for effexor as I had missed a few doses and already experienced w/d effects from that. She tried to reassure me that lexapro would prevent me from experiencing w/d effects.
2 days later I was in the ER because I told my boss I was so suicidal I didn’t care. For the last 2 + months I have been using FMLA because I could not tolerate the effects. I was initially able to get a doctor to re prescribe me Effexor and then i was able to use Camprol (an alcohol dependence drug) to assist with w/d. I had multiple intrusive SI, mood swings, parasthesia (brain shivers), difficulty with balance and almost committed suicide for the first time in my life. I have had suicidal ideation, never a suicide attempt though. The attempt was a real wake up call because suicide was always something I sickly dreamed of, yet never attempted.
The line between the two was crossed and I realize that my suicidal ideation, instability jumped leaps and bounds following W/D and lasted after I had managed to be all the way off.
My psychiatrist told me that, although rare, some people may experience parasthesia (brain shivers) for a couple months after finishing.
Anyways, I posted this so others will have one more source to read when they are going through their effexor w/d’s.
I am a Registered Nurse and really thought that these sort of side effects were limited to overuse/withdrawal from benzodiazepenes, opiods, or methadone. It was quite a shock to go from functioning caretaker to labile puddle of helpless goo. My silly NP and her MD didn’t help either. I believe there is a giant misunderstanding and that this drug should be used as a third line attempt.
Oh yah, I saw a commercial for Effexor and it made me sad that others may be treated with this medication FIRST vs the old try an older safe medication and then gradually find a med that works.
No mental health medication should start making u feel better after your first pill, as a Pharmacist put it to me, it was like taking a shotgun to my depression.
As I’d like to put it to my NP, taking me off cold turkey was like putting a shotgun to my life.
After taking Effexor 75 mg for three years, I finally decided to come off of it. My doctor gave me 37.5 mg and said to take for one week and then every other day until finished. I am now in my third week and still having the brain shivers, itching of the skin, nausea and crying. I had no idea this drug would be so hard to get off of. My dr never discussed this with me. I’m going to try the benadryl and if that doesn’t work, I’ll ask my doctor for the Tranxene. I am determined to get off this drug and NEVER take it again.
I too recently stopped taking my fluoxetine. I started feeling this strange sensation in my head, not quite a headache, not quite dizziness. My brain felt like it was made of rubberbands being stretched and snapped. It was a relief to finally find some kind of information about what i’m experiencing, apparently…brain shivers.
I had a really hard time finding information about these symptoms. (symptoms i was never told to expect to begin with!) I did find article on wikipedia that was quite helpful, so i’m including the link for anyone else seeking information about this anti-dep. withdrawal symptom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_zaps
take care all!
I wish all of you lived on my street sowe could hang out with eachother and have some group support meetings. Sounds odd coming from a 36 year old single mother of two who works full time( and then some) in a very prominent and high profile position. But, this is insane and I a scared to admit it to anyone around me. My kids think I am a monster lately. They get the brunt of my anger since the rest of my friends are mostly at work and I certainly don’t want to lose my job. I guess I will ask my doctor for a withdrawal med since I can’t do this too much longer. We should get a lawyer to give us something for this pain and sufferring. A few days of w/drawald is one thing but months? Suicide attempts and aggression in people who did not have this problem to begin with? I am going to look into a class action suit. Especially if I can’t function at work. My poor kids. I could cry just thinking of what I am putting them through. I went on E in the first place because I was being mean to them as I was going through a divorce. That was four years ago. No issues over the divorce and now I am worse than I ever was. The brain shivers and hearing them in my ears make me nuts. The crying, punching walls (never done that one before), the diarrhea, the DREAMS!!!!! I hate this!
I had been on effexor xr for 14 days. I never was told what a powerful drug this is and that I would suffer severe withdrawals if stopped or even tried to taper off. I started getting frequent heart palpitations, brain zaps & had become very constipated by 14th day (I was at 150mg) so I cut dose to 75 with dr’s ok. After 2 days at 75mg I stoppd taking the drug because my side effects were getting worse. I couldn’t get the dr’s ok because it was on the weekend and the clinic was closed. On the 2nd day of cold turkey, I was a basket case with crying fits and anxiety), and on the 3rd day thought I was going to die! I almost called 911 because I didn’t know what was happening to me and was very frightened! I don’t have insurance I was was confused about what to do. I was so verrry sick! That night of the 3rd day, at my sister’s suggestion, I opened up a 75mg capsule and took half the beads. I came to the realization at that time that I was in full blown withdrawals!! Here’s a list of my withdrawal symptoms: Dizziness, extreme nausea (have since gone thru much Pepto Bismal, Maalox, Alka Selzer,& saltine crackers), brain zaps, flu-like feelings, malaise, feeling like I’m going crazy, heart palpitations, now I have diarrhea instead of the constipation, stiff/sore neck, body aches, headaches, pain in eyes, intense ringing in my ears, paranoia, blurred vision, feeling my skin crawl, twitching, the most bizarre dreams, feeling hung over, bloating, gas, sweating, etc etc etc. The dr. & nurse at clinic said “I’m too sensitive to drugs & I shouldn’t have those side effects after only being on it such a short time. I can’t believe they said that! That just proves right there that these dr’s don’t know what’s going on with this effexor crap. They are not informed or they haven’t done their homework! The nurse in the dr’s office said there’s probably something else wrong with me, that I might really have the flu, and that I should go to my GP. I knew they were wrong. I know my own body and shame on them for not taking my complaints more seriously. I’ve emailed the FDA about my withdrawals and I feel something should be done to get effexor off the market. I feel like I have been poisoned and am pissed! I still feel all those withdrawal symptoms 11 days later but they’re not quite as intense. THANK GOD! Hang in there fellow sufferers. We have to get the message out there.
Seems like doctors should be much more cautious about prescribing Efexxor and monitoring patients who are coming off it. I am currently on my eighth day on half my usual dose (so 38.5mg), will continue that for another six days, and then will take a dose every forty eight hours for a further two weeks.
I am experiencing a drop in some of the side effects – ability to orgasm much better now, have much more energy, can concentrate better, feel less dissociated and ‘numbed’.
I have experienced very few withdrawal effects this time, but I am familiar with them from stopping abruptly in the past – migraine, nausea, electric shock sensations starting in my feet and travelling up my spine, uncontrollable crying, dizziness.
The electric shock sensations, which I have described to doctors, seemed to be news to them, and were dismissed.
Having read a bit about these side-effects and withdrawals it strikes me that they are not predictable – some people get them, some people don’t. What pisses me off is that doctors don’t monitor patients more closely, explain more fully what they might expect, or exercise more caution in prescribing this drug to people who already suffer from high anxiety and depression and can be assumed to have less ability to cope with such dramatic symptoms as they are likely to have to deal with. Having unexplained electric shocks certainly increases my anxiety, I don’t know about anyone else…
Hi. I stopped taking Prozac 20mg, which I was on for about 2yrs., due to lack of libido. I was put on Effexor 75mg. I loved that it really perked me up, but I was always bitchy on it. So, now I went straight from that to Prozac again & I’m fine. I feel so bad for all you guys out there w/all these side effects. I always go from pill to pill. I never wean. My dr. actually told me for Effexor, just immediately start taking Prozac again. I have anxiety, & I’m a total bitch on wheels w/out “something” in my system. Plus, I’m a mom of 3 & can’t be like that w/my kids. I finally gave up on the whole, ” I don’t need a pill to be happy” montra. I do, so if that’s what it takes! It’s not like it was when my parents were growing up in the 60’s. Times have changed & if that makes me a bad person for wanting to “feel” happier, so be it. Good luck to you all who are suffering. My prayers are w/you.
To Jane don’t beleive evreything that you read even if Fluvoxetine has a long half life it will still fuck your mind when your trying to come off of the drug, beleive you me I was on Prozac and Paxil and Zoloft for years right now Im tapering of off prozac the brain shivers are ridicoulus, to be honest with you Ive been completley of for a month and still having a bunch of fuckin side effects Like Insonmna severe depression brain shivers wich when Im trying to fucken fall asleep right before I go into sleep I hear some fuckin noise like a snor within my mind and it wakes me the fuck up and then Im right awake and the sleepiness goes away and Im wide awake trying to rest or my arms will jerk or some part of my body will move and distract me, also I have had memroy loss at its worst unable to concentrate panic atacks wich I never really had before but these are really friggen strange it gets you panic stricken you start hearig everything around you clearly start to notice every little noise feel like yor crazy and cant calm down like yorready to freak out, beleive e Ive bben thru alot of shit also dealing with this every day wares on you realistacly you dont know how much more you can take but you try to hang in there, also I hear my name mentioned from everywhere and no Im not Schizo, also when I type I type alot of shit backwards consistnley, anyone whos had anything even close reply or hit me at ezq2003@yahoo.com, would like to chat with anyone thats been thru a simialar situation.;
i have taken effexor 8 yrs., now, since my mom died. trying to get off and having terrible withdrawal. headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, crying spells, weakness, muscle aches, brain zaps, awful dreams, night sweats. i am on leave from work, unable to stand for even an hour right now. i agree, this drug should not be prescribed for anyone, and if i’d known this horrible wd was even possible, i’d never have taken that first one! it should be illegal for dr.s to give this to unsuspecting patients, then not take it seriously when they are so sick! my dr. has no idea how to wean me off! i’ve scared my poor husband to death, he has never seen me so sick. why is it that a dr. can prescribe this and not know what all it can do to a person? makes me so mad. i’ve lost time from work, so much money trying to get off this crap, and it is all my own fault? should be lawsuit against the co. making this crap and pushing on the public.
Finally after 4 years with Effexor xr, and trying for many times to get off it, with prayer and prayer I’m off. Before everytime I tryed I couldn’t because I was having this strange sensations in my eyes. Drs told me it was normal, but now, oh my! after weaning it for weeks my last one was Sunday. I was so happy I didn’t feel anything but Tuesday was the big bang.
This strange sensation is like everybody says about the brain shriver, but the only thing is that for me is not only the brain is my eyes. When I move my head to look there it happens, my eyes don’t catch up with my head. It feel horrible, I haven’t been able to drive and when I walk is wanting to have my eyes together with my head. Is like they are moving side to side for a fraction of a second. Well I started to take Omega3, Multivitamine with B6 & B12, Cranberry Juice, Antioxidant Juice and is helping me alot. It’s Friday and I feel pretty good, specially with God’s help. I’m praying like ever, and I really feel a lot better. So try it. It’s been only 4 days and I know tomorrow I will feel really good, because on Sunday I will be praising and dancing for the Lord.
I was on E 75 for 6-7 months and when i decided it was time i started cutting the d’am’n pills. During taking E i was feeling a bit dizzy at times but it was not that severe. even though i stopped taking them gradually but not as gradually as most i felt ok for a few days. After that and for at least a month i’ve been feeling extremely tired and sleepy, i have minor diahrea, nausia, a lot of dizziness, dry mouth especially in the morning and late afternoon, and 2 horrible days of vertigo. Noone informed me of the withdrawal symptoms and nothing can be done to help me… even vitamins do not work that much. I’m hanging on there while working 10 hours a day (can’t take some time off) and fighting with myself in order not to bee too late with the submission of my MBA assignments. I crave to relax but it seems impossible and i don’t know when all the symptoms will go away…
I quit cold turkey 150 effexor on Feb 17th. I switched to wellbutrin 150 the next day. I heard it was better for ADHD and I may lose some weight also. The first few days were very tough, I felt as if I had a very bad fever, vertigo, emotional, weakness. It has been 7 days now.
I am starting to feel better again, but far from 100% I am wondering if anyone has had good results going from Effexor to Wellbutrin
I was on Effexor for almost a year – however only on 75 mg. The withdrawal effects, because of the short half-life on these meds, can occur quite quickly if you don’t take your pill every 24 hours without fail. My recommendation to anyone on this medication is to be as consistent as humanly possible.
I have been weaned off this drug in the last couple of weeks, under the guidance of a psychiatrist (I would highly recommend talking to someone like this as they are more knowledgeable about these kinds of drugs than your PCP)
My withdrawal has been moderate. I definitely get the brain shivers and noises in my head that could only be chemically induced. I have been foggy, irritable, sensitive, and have been having hot flashes and lucid dreams. I expected it to be worse, amazingly enough. The worst part is the fogginess – it feels as if your synapses are misfiring and you’re going through a deep tunnel at times. If you can deal with the withdrawal, I would highly recommend going through it and finding another medication without such bizarre side-effects.
I don’t understand how this can be FDA approved – regardless of my moderate withdrawal! It may seem a bit conspiratorial but has anyone considered the idea that these effects are built into the drug to keep people on them?? I hear the latest drug side-effects for new meds these days and laugh. One of them listed “gambling” as a side-effect, and another as driving and/or eating while still being asleep. Come ON!!! Who is monitoring the FDA!? With Effexor, I think dependancy should be listed – this is an incredibly powerful drug, and it’s not for the faint of heart (or mind!). Do your research folks! Get a second opinion. You may not have depression – and if this is the case, anti-depressants might be problematic for you, especially if you can’t wean yourself off once you get on them.
I’ve been on Effexor for about 10 yrs. I just stopped taking it couple of days ago in hopes of temporarily getting it out of my system so when I take a urine test for job interviews, I won’t get a false positive PCP reading. EFFEXOR WILL CAUSE FALSE PCP RESULTS ON A URINE TEST!!!! Just wanted to tell everyone this cause I was stunned when it happened to me. Anyway, I am having the brain shivers/dizziness really bad and a yucky feeling in my stomach. Also seem to feel hungrier. Hopefully I can make it until I get a job.
PURE HELL is what my daughter(34)is going thru getting off this ridiculous drug. It has been 5 mos. since she started the withdrawal. Her life has been turned upside down. Nausea, nightmares, insommnia, headaches, major fatigue, many tears, depression just to name a few things that she has experienced. This drug should be yanked off the market immediately. Do NOT let your Dr. prescribe this drug for you. There are others that you can use. Just stay away from this one because it is horrible coming off of it. Hopefully the FDA will open their eyes before any tragedies happen to good people trying to get off this drug!! PLEASE do not start taking it!! Pray for the ones trying to come off…they will need it!!!
I was stopping my medication (Effexor)and I weening off of it like my doctor told me, but after 3 days I started getting these “brain shivers”. It was scarey. I thought I was having a stroke or something else. I went to a walk in clinic and he told me to take Ativan and even Gravol. I took the Ativan and it helped. Took about a week for the “shivers” to go away. I will make sure I tell my family doctor what happened and never take that stuff agein.
I’m so glad I’ve found this thread. All the people around me, who haven’t ever used these meds, think I’m NUTS when I try to describe that buzzing! I’ve tried to get off the Prozac several times, and for me the symptoms keet getting worse as the weeks went on. Week 4 is worse than week 1. And it is the same whether I “wean” off or “cold turkey”. Weaning just makes the symptoms slower, but in the end I HAVE to start taking it again. I also have rage and a HORRIBLE stiff neck. I get the stiff neck after just a couple of missed doses. Thank you all for sharing. I feel so much better knowing I’m not crazy (well, not much, anyway lol).
I went off Effexor a few years ago and changed to Celexa/Citalopram. I had the “brain shivers” (good name!) while going off Effexor. When I mentioned this to a psychiatrist, she said that I was experiencing a symptom of drug withdrawl. She had just been to a psychiatry conference where research had been presented that about 10% of the population has a shortage of CYP2D6–that’s the enzyme that metabolizes many drugs that we take. If you are a “low metabolizer,” you might be more sensitive to medications than other people are. And, getting off Effexor (or other drugs) might be more difficult for you and/or take longer. This is believed to be a heriditary condition, and I believe my father had it too. (Celexa/Citalopram is not metabolized by CYP2D6, and so it’s working much better for me with fewer side effects than Effexor.) Type CYP2D6 into a search engine and see what you find. It’s even in Wikipedia now! Best wishes to you!
I have been on Effexor going on 1.5 yrs. I have accidentally missed my daily dose and/or not gotten my RX in time and all the symptoms are paralyzing. Today, I am having the very same withdrawal symptoms, but I took my pills this morning. I am very concerned that I can feel the withdrawal symptoms and not withdrawing. (by the way, I am having trouble typing and concentrating). Has anyone experienced this?
I agree with all the other posts about Effexor. I had to get off because it started giving me severe migraines. Even worse, I had to get off abruptly. I had terrible gastro problems, an awful kind of anxiety I never experienced in my life, and terrible insomnia, which had never been a problem before. I became so sleep deprived and anxious I could not function anymore and ended up in the hospital. Now I am stuck on another medication which I can’t get off of either. I wish I had never seen an antidepressant!
5-HTP MAN,
Please don’t keep posting this information. What you are proposing is potentially dangerous due to the risk of serotonin syndrome. It also verges on practicing medicine without a license. I know you mean well, but I can’t allow the post to stay.
Nancy Schimelpfening
Depression Guide at About.com
email: depression.guide@about.com
Well, I am quite thankful to the people that posted the idea here about taking the capsules apart and swallowing a smaller amount of the little balls inside. At my highest point, about 2 years ago, I was on 300mg, then went down to 150, and about 8 months ago went down to 75. I told my doctor I thought I would just stop. He stopped his writing dead in his tracks and looked up at me as if I had lost my marbles and informed me that 75 to 0 was highly advised against. So he gave me a prescription for 2 weeks worth of 37.5, which I completed 2 days ago. Needless to say, this evening was the absolute worst I’ve felt, as if the emotional instability wasn’t bad enough…I nearly had several crying spells – yet didn’t feel sad at all – while in the grocery store today…that kinda stuff I can deal with pretty easily though. It definitely felt like it was just due to the drop in serotonin from being off, and having spent 2 years as a psychology major in college, I knew It wouldn’t be long before my brain compensated and restabilized…BUT, the physical effects have become debilitating, particularly this “brain shivers” phenomena, which in conjunction with the constant general dizziness, had finally led me to throwing up about a half hour ago. My persistence is strong and I refused to “crack” and take an Effexor (i still have some 75’s left from the last prescription I had gotten of those), and these awful physical symptoms only led me to get more pissed off and more determined…well, up until the point that I started throwing up, which was essentially my breaking point. But I hadn’t completely lost my determination, instead of taking an Effexor, I turned to the web for answers and was quite surprised to find so many people describing these exact symptoms. After reading the posts here about what a few other people had done by breaking the capsules they had left apart in an effort to continue tapering, I immediately found it to be an obvious and acceptable solution/compromise where I wouldn’t feel like I was “giving in”…Its only been 15 minutes since I tried this, and the symptoms have already weakened substantially.
Personally, I believe the FDA should do away with Effexor immediately and with urgency, and the makers of Effexor should face a class action lawsuit for not disclosing (based on my research) the severity of the withdrawal, at least in my experience…and the money that comes from that lawsuit should go toward getting anyone who is on it OFF in a way where they do not have to deal with what I just spent the last 2 days going through. Now I understand why my Doc was still so concerned even with me tapering off (he was not the one that originally put me on it and has hinted that there are “other” solutions that may be better).
In my opinion, having to deal with this from something that was supposed to bring relief in the first place is total crap, and I can’t help but wonder if the makers are no better than the tobacco companies in that the withdrawal is bad enough to keep those who try it hooked for life.
took 75 mg for several days .. felt like the beginning of an acid trip .. not unlike the euphorical aspects of cocaine too, especially after the four hour adsorption period
now on 19 mg in the morning only .. no getting high for this kid, dont want it anymore !
.. don’t want the high, but the advantages outweigh the disses, ’specially feeling rage and helpless.
of course a new girlfriend and my music career taking off and AA meetings help too!
I have been taking Efexor xl for about 3 years and had noticed that when I missed my dosage for a few days that I would start getting symptoms that have been described in all the other posts written here,my biggest problem was trying to describe them to people or even a pharmiscist,who could not help me at all!! I suppose describing the noise in my head to sounding like the doors on star trek did not help.Anyway I am still on efexor but have cut down to 150mg a day instead of 225mg and slowl will come down again.But the brain shivers as described are really frightning,and happens when sleeping,I think it has to do with the movement of the eyes and eyelids as I can hear this noise when I blink,I just wish there was more info on this or some more research into this problem.
TIPS FOR STOPPING: I was on Effexor for 2 years at 150mg. Yes 2 hours after a missed dose I would get the brain feezers, fuzz head, forgetful an my patience would drop to nil.Full on crapness. I’d get grumpy an stress that I was relient on a pill to get me thru the day. 3 weeks ago I dropped to 37.5mg.I did this by splitting my dose to morning an nite ; 75mg(one pill) in the morning, other 75mg at nite. 2 days latter I dropped to 37.5mg with only 1 bad day an a few with moderate symptoms )This was a big reduction but worked for me).I experienced the same feelings as missing a dose, but not no worse.Altho numb hands an feet, forgetfulness an knocking or accidently hurting my hands for 10 days did happen.3 days ago I STOPPED. Yes major brain shivers, motion sickness with no cause, hot flushes an really snappy an tired from warped dreams.Fingers,face an feet numb. Laying down helps heaps. Its way LESS stressful than missing a dose an not knowing what will happen. Its crappy an bad but not unbearable.It’s very easy to read all these comments an get down an too scared to start.We are on a drug, this is drug withdrawal.It doesnt last like that for ever! Give yourself a few days, then it evens out.If you have researched you will know that IT DOESNT MATTER IF YOU ARE ON 4 PILLS or HALF A PILL CUTTING DOWN EVEN A LITTLE WILL CAUSE WITHDRAW SYMPTOMS-.Im thinking of it like the flu, its got more intense but nothing more has happened. I already feel my grit for life coming back.Those pills made be too depersonalised, slowly sucked my grit for life away, too flipent an chilled. Things I should have been upset about an dealt I let slide.Not feeling like Im in control, active in life. For me I liken to been like a long term marijuana taker. Been ’stoned’is scariarly similar to beeen on venlafaxine.Its good time but with a nasty slow robber of a full life. Effexor is just legal.
Anyone else with HEARING LOSS while on Effexor?
I’ll post more later,
thnks,
AnneT
I was on Lexapro for 8 months then Cymbalta for 3 months. Now I’m coming off both of them and have experienced brain shivers. They sound much like everyone else’s, including the effect that when I turn my head (or even avert my eyes) suddenly it feels like someone gently shook a canister of dry oatmeal next to my ear – just a quick “shhh”. Doesn’t sound that bad but after the 100th time…. I read somewhere that Ativan (lorazepam) might help and since I already had a prescription I thought I’d try it. While it doesn’t make all symptoms go away, it sure cuts them way back and I feel much more functional. This is definitely an option to discuss with your doctor. The ativan also helpd with some of the nausea I was feeling and enabled me to go to yoga where the relaxing hour really made me feel much better, too.
One more thing, whatever you estimate the time will be thatit will take to wean yourself of the meds, you should probably double it. Don’t rush, take your time. It will get better.
I felt all of the same withdrawal symptoms from getting off effexor. I couldnt get out of bed yesterday and called my dr. She game me 20mg of prozac, which I took last night. I took another one this morning and felt so good today I almost feel normal! I have some bad flu like joint aches but sooooo much better than the last 2 weeks!
After years of Effexor I finally managed to solve the issue that was the underlying cause of my depression (that’s another story), so I subsequently took the plunge and went cold turkey from 75mg. I had all the symptoms as previously described and they were genuinely uncomfortable – you have to tough it out. If you want off this drug take a month off work, stop taking, and just hold the thought that you are not going insane – keep the faith at all costs as it will pass. The worst aspect though was the not knowing when the symptoms would reduce and finally end. For me the symptoms were very rapid in onset and peaked within 3 days, and that level of discomfort lasted for a period of about three weeks, which is a long time to feel so crook. I finally punched out into the good side about 4 weeks after commencing the cold turkey and I am now functioning very well. I still get a few brain zaps but they are definitely going and one day soon I suspect they just won’t be there. Incidentally I believe the brain zaps are some how related to tinitus. So there we have it. Take care people.
I started taking effexor xr 4 months ago to relieve migraines and boost my low blood pressure because it would bottom out and i would pass out. That symptom in itself was terrifying to go from normal to on the ground within 30 seconds and I had to do something. At first the effexor seemed to help the migraines and i havent passed out since i have been taking it. However, now i get frequent headaches and feel totally out of control of things at times. It is definetly not all the time that is what is so scary. Effexor has made me (a 26 year old) feel like it is in control of me. I missed a dose last night and today i have terrible stomach pain and diareha along with the terrible brain shivers, it is so so scary. I don’t know how doctors could prescribe this medicine knowing the “side effects”. Do you know that now i am depressed and never was before. What kind of shit is this? All i want is to stop taking it but i feel like a damn heroine addict, if i dont have it i am absouletly miserable. It must stop before it ruins more lives, if you are thinking about using this medicine please don’t. It hurts more than it helps.
After several years of taking 75mg daily I decided I no longer needed it. The nightmares were terrible and my memory seemed poor.. Tried several times to stop but within a few days I would experience bad dizziness. After consulting my doctor I went to one dose every other day for two weeks. Then every third day for two weeks. Then no more. The last few weeks were tuff with dizziness and nausea coming and going. Glad to be off the stuff, no more nightmares and my memory has returned. If you’re gogin to stop talk with you doctor for sure…
I have been taking Effexor for 18 months now for severe anxiety disorder and probably depression with it too, although I was in denial about the depression. I have to say that I have been extremely grateful for the benefit of taking the drug – it really helped me get back on my feet and think more rationally and with greater clarity. Of course I never felt that taking drugs was the answer long term and certainly never intended it to be long term. Once I felt strong enough emotionally I began weening off with my Dr.s advice, first I dropped from 150mg daily to 75mg daily for 3 months. Then I reduced from 75mg to 37.5 mg daily for about a month – at this point I had not experienced any side effects. Recently for 2 weeks I reduced the dose again to only taking 37.5mg every other day, after this I then began taking one every 3 days. I was still feeling strong and experiencing a little of the brain zaps you all describe so well. I decided that it was no longer necessary for me to continue taking effexor and am now in my 5th day without taking the drug. I have been experiencing a greater intensity in the brain zaps which I don’t like but tell myself it’s okay, I’m not going mad it’s just your brain rebalancing the chemicals. I don’t get them all the time, just if I move my head too quickly or bend down and stand up too quickly. Emotinally I feel fine thank goodness and hope that these “zaps” will shortly subside. I believed very strongly throughout taking the drug that I was in control and it was merely giving me a chance to regain perspective on things again. I don’t know if this attitude has helped me come off them so easily. All I can advise is that it will pass, unpleasant as it is, it is just your brain re-adjusting. Surely, if Effexor has a short life span then after a day or so it is already out of your system? To aid in weening off I have been swimming for 30 minutes each, taking fish oil tablets and drinking a couple of glasses of Barley Grass each day – tastes disgusting but apparently it is one of natures wonder foods and if it helps, I’ll drink it. Maybe that’s why I feel so good! I also have found the occasional glass of wine in the evening has helped too – don’t know why, maybe it relaxes me more. Not sleeping too well but it’s school holidays at the moment so I can spend the day resting. In fact, I do find the more active I am the less my brain “zaps” – perhaps it’s the distraction from thinking about it? I definitely feel the exercise is contributing hugely to my wellbeing – I feel so energised afterwards. Take it slowly and you’ll get there too, just one day at a time and try not to think about it too much.
I have had to live this from a second hand view as it was my husband who had to withdraw over the past 3 months. While it is not over yet … hope is returning as he is finally off effexor. A doctor first prescribed this drug 5 years ago for moderate anxiety and mild OCD tendencies. It worked like a charm! A year ago strange rashes started appearing on his hands and arms. After many specialist visits for all the usual reasons and even surgery, we finally came to the conslusion it had to be the Effexor. His NEW doctor was well versed in the withdrawal effects and made my husband go home and read online about all that could happen before preceeding to start reducing his dosage from 150 mg to 75mg first. He started on a Thursday night and within 2 days was unable to walk from the joint pain in back,legs and knees. Within a week, a rash covered his body from the neck to his feet. He had to work and barely managed with Benedryl and Motrin until the rash became infected on his back. The doctor prescribed a 6 day course of steroids, Atarax and antibiotic cream. The rash was under control after 3 days and since the cream was so expensive we had to go back to using regular OTC cortisone and Benedryl cream. The rash remained under control with Atarax and the cream. Because of family issues and fear, he did not reduce from 75 mg to 37.5 for almost a month, again the rash returned with a vengence. Another course of steroids and fights with the insurance company over the very expensive cream for the rashes. Rash was bought under control again with steroids and Atarax. Through this all I asked my husband about these brain shivers and he reported none and only slight dizziness on occasion but he was very irritable(steroids) and tired. Reducing from 37.5 to 18.5 (counting balls) bought the rash full force on again and this time his dr put him on low dose steroids until ?, along with more Atarax. The insurance company will only pay every 14 days so we have had to pay for his prescriptions on our own. Christmas Day he stopped taking this evil drug, rashes appeared immediately but we were prepared and just adjusted the steroid dose upward as dictated by his dr. The mental effects were almost unliveable (as the spouse). Totally irrational, kept saying we were yelling at him. Eventually had to hide the alcohol, the car keys and anything else I deemed inappropriate as he kept threatening to run away and hurt himself along with screaming at just about anyone. (Was off work for 5 days) and other than the rash only reported occassional “brain shivers” and mild flu-like symptoms. Finally I called dr at Day 3 and said “Help Me.” Dr prescribed Xanax at nightime when things usually got out of control. Worked like a charm! He did this for three days and the last 2 days (Day 8 )he seems more stable mentally along with the rash starting to go away. I am hopeful that in the next week, he can stop steroids after being on them for 50 days (which will be another crash) and perhaps reduce the Atarax which he has been taking every 4 hours for the last 2 months. This has been a trip that no one should ever have to do unless they are prepared for before ever starting this drug. It still will take some time to know how long this nightmare will finally end but after over a year I can say I see the light.
I’m anxious to see if there is any type of class action suit? I have a dear friend that has actually lost his life behind Effexor – he has began having the “brain zaps” and as a result can’t work and as time passes, he has been diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s. He is in no condition to research, etc., but I would certainly be interested in seeing how this drug can be take off the market – there’s more harm than good. newyou@hotmail.com
I posted a comment a couple of weeks ago about my husband who is withdrawing off of Effexor. An update … things seemed to be going well at that time but have definitely got worse since then. In 2 days it will be 3 weeks since his last dose. While he reports that only a couple of times has he reported to me that he thought her was going to wreck while commuting to work because of brain shivers along with an increase in flu symptoms, his rash is back with a vengence and his dr says he must come off the steroids in 5 days because he has been on them so long which means that the rash, which is controlled with steroids, will come back with a vengence, excruitating itching, bumps and costs for creams the insurance will not pay for. Along with another referal to a dermatologist (we have been through dermatologists, ENTs, allergists and hematology experts already last year). This time his dr says that medications to control rhuemetoid arthritis may be his only answer. He is currently on 4 antihistimes and steroids along with a “break glass” drug of “Zanax” which he has used about 7 days since stopping Effexor. Why o’ why did we stop this drug. Right now the benefits of stopping do not seem so clear. I do not have any clear indication of when this will stop nor does any dr he sees Truly a test of the spirit especially for him!
After reading all these posts…I know that I’m in for a ride. I’ve been on Effexxor for 10 years! After finding this site, and reading your posts, I realize…that Effexor may be responsible for abdominal pains I’ve experienced the whole while! Drs. took my gall bladder because of them…and the vertigo! And…that it might even be the culprit of the weight gain and constant back pain????? Does anyone else have shallow breathing? I’m hell bent to get off this drug, and I like all of you, was never given a clue about the withdrawal. In the past 4 yrs, I have taken myself off of 16 prescription drugs! I’m already feeling much better, and have a much better quality of life. I’ve finally awakened to the world of pharmaceuticals and synthetics, in time to save my life. Now, I have this one drug left to kick. I will try alternative treatments, like I do for everything else now…and they work! My dr. would give me one pill…it would cause side effects, then I’d get another pill for that symptom! Are any of you angry? I’m angry when I see what these drugs to us, and the dearly beloved FDA allows it……..and they all make a fortune! I may need help for depression when all this is said and done, but I will try everything and anything, before I will subject this dear body to another antidepressant! I hope that all of you consider the same……Pray for me….for I’ve just begun. Thanks
My observations with respect to ‘brain shivers’are that they are associated with eye movement. Keep your head still and move your eyes rapidly and you will find this also. They occur as short bursts of 1 -3 ’shivers’. I first experienced them after slowly coming off 300 mg effexor(over months) and it was not until I was off them altogether that I started experiencing ‘brain shivers’. They persisted for many months after I was drug free. I find this disturbing in terms of what effects this has had on my brain. Strangely, after I had occasion to go back on effexor I next experienced them immediately after I began to slowly scale back the dose having changed to a different antidepressant. I went back to full dose and tried again a week later by dropping the dose by 37 mg…so far so good.I have raised this with a couple of medicos to no avail. A disturbing fact which I have discovered to be true in this country (Australia), I don’t know about elsewhere, is that the pharmaceutical companies while they are compelled to provide information regards side effects of taking the drug are not required to provide the same information in relation to coming off the drug……hence the ignorance of medicos about the matter. It is my intention to pursue this via the Therapeutic Goods Authority here and will post any information on this forum.
I’ve been on Effexor for 2+ years – oddly, prescribed for hot flashes, not depression, but I responded so well my doctor and I figured I’d had low-level depression for years and never knew it. The dosage I’ve been on is 175 mg per day, taken in the morning.
The drug definitely helped with the hot flashes – I didn’t get any, in fact! And it helped even out my temper. But I noticed it also flattened out my emotional range: that is, my moods were steadier because I was less excitable, even when perhaps I *should* be excitable. To some extent the Effexor also made me physically lethargic – well, more lethargic than normal. So, what with one thing and another, I figured it would be a good idea to stop taking it, and after I quit my job this past week decided now was a good time to do so.
I totally have the brain zaps everyone here has mentioned – and, yes, like most of you I had been getting them all along if I was a couple hours late taking my daily pill. I called them the “swoopie woopies” because that was what it felt like, like the inside of my head was going swoop swoop. Plus the electrical shock sensations.
I also feel a little disorganized mentally, like I’ll start talking about a complex subject and either feel like I’m wandering off point or actually wandering off point.
I’m also very emotional, and have to avoid seeing or listening to anything sentimental because I’ll cry a lot.
These are, so far, minor problems – I’m not experiencing the more troublesome withdrawal effects, the tintinnitis, flu-like symptoms, rashes, or extreme paranoia/suicidal feelings; at least not so far – and compensated for by the increase in energy and enthusiasm.
But I’m concerned because I assumed things would settle down after a few days, and from what I’m reading here it can take up to a month for the withdrawal to finish. That’s a bit longer than I expected. Is there a way of ameliorating the effects? maybe take aspirin, Benedryl? Any advice?
Thanks!
I have been taking effexor for around 2 years and when i dont take it i get the electric shock thing which seems kind of common among people who take effexor i have allso noticed really vivid dreams and i dream every night they are usuALLy good dreams but i stop taking it after about the 3rd day of not taking it i have the worst nightmares like just before im about to sleep i have a shock and cant think of nice things its really scary does any body else have the same symptoms ?
i’ve been on Effexor 150xl for a few years now, mainly as i needed something tom help me cope with a traumatic period of my life. I noticed in the past that if i forgot to take my dose i would suffer the most vivid dreams imaginable, i would have problems getting out of bed, i suffered strange feelings along my forearms, it felt like the tendons were grinding, i became agitated and would over react at minor issues. The only way to feel better was to get back on the medication. I am now in the process of trying to get off Effexor permanently and have been to see my GP to help me. I at first started missing every 2nd day while using 150s, that went ok and i really started feeling so much better, i’m now on 75s and am finding that stretching to a day on day off is just too much, i suffer the same old symptoms, I really don’t know if I can stop these things due to how the withdrawal makes me feel, it is quite simply horrendous. Does anyone know of a method that I can use to help get me off these things?
Hearing Loss on Effexor. Anne T — trying to reach you – I also have significant hearing loss while on Effexor. email me at juliewalker331@comcast.net – thanks!
I’ve been o nthe XR version for eight years already. It’s nice to have organized thoughts and less anxiety. I am not only lactating, (producing and expressing breast milk) but have a super hard time with withdrawal. In the event I miss a dose. I’ll oversleep all alarms and have cold sweats like mad. I’m looking into a new drug.
Going off effexor after ten years on. Started antidepressants as a result of a hysterectomy 20 years ago. Ended up on Effexor when it came out. Effexor stopped my constant allergies so I just kept taking it….until it took me. I never ever planned to become an addict. Found the positive effects were outweighed by the negative and so the roller coaster ride has begun. Got myself down from 3 doses of 150 a day (IMAGINE!!) to 37 mills a day. Last two days none…using warm water with lemon in it as a a gentle detox. Using homeopathic help for anxiety as well. That seems to help. Snacking most all of the time to keep the nausea and rolling head away as much as possible. Am counting an hour of getting through it as a positive. Will NOT go back on. This is day three of nothing in my system and no, it is not fun. But it is an accomplishment! Am afraid my co-workers will really think I am crazy. Ok, afraid I AM crazy!! Typing words inside out…cannot handle the slightest irritation and oh so easily irritated. Work with the public all day..not a good place to be so irritable. Hard hard hard to do this. But I am and I will. My daughter is a homeopathic doctor and is talking me through this. Lost my husband and home because of this struggle a few years ago. Will continue to fight it all and pray my way through. Get every coping mechanism behind you..get ready for a continuous roller coaster ride and get off the stuff if possible. Roller coaster ride is the word. The feeling of a roller coaster taking a sudden dive..that describes the electrical brain surge perfectly in my case. I have many praying friends and will continue the fight. I am not afraid to surround myself with prayer. Day by day..even ten minutes by ten minutes. I will not give in. This struggle from a person who truly has never tried any recreational drugs ever!! 3:30 AM and I work all day with the public again today. It all is a hurdle but I WILL not ever take another Effexor! Please, give me back my allergies!! Goodby EFFEXOR!!
I have been off of Effexor for almost 2 months now. The brain shocks have stopped, as have the sounds (you know the sound that people make with their mouth when they pretend to rip paper? That’s it). I still get very very very emotional at the weirdest things. I cry at TV shows all the time, but not like sobbing crying, just misty. Songs on the radio still get me misty. Sometimes I’ll get really depressed for a day where everything still seems hopeless, but I’ll sleep and it is instantly better.
Has anyone experienced extreme decreased sexual desire? I have absolutely no desire to have sex and it worries me. When I get covered by insurance at work, I plan on seeing a doctor. I’ve just noticed it the last month or so. Actually, my boyfriend did, and I was wondering if it was the withdrawal.
Effexor: I started to take Effexor about 8 years ago. Before I went off of it my doctor told me it was something I could go off of, and it would not have side effects. That is BS if I ever heard it. I have tried several times to go off of it, but unable to due to “brain shivers.” Electric brain shock feelings and sick to my stomach, hives, etc. Effexor should be taken off the market!!!Effexor was given in doctors offices to hand out samples. People should read about it before taking it. I have NOT heard one person say anything good about it, If a class action suit comes out of it, I definately want to be informed,
It is tough too, when you are driving and get a electric shock and sick to your stomach when you are driving,
I am so happy I found this thread! I thought I was literally going crazy! I have been on Effexor almost three years and was at 150 mg dosage. A little over a month ago I ended up going to the emergency room because my Doctors office that had prescribed me the Effexor couldn’t see me. My symptoms included the “brain shivers” described here (this was even before going off the medication), severe headache, nausea and diaharea not to mention the sweating that goes along with it. I was so relieved when they did a cat scan and found nothing. They prescribed me an anti nausea and headache drug and sent me home. I now truly believe that my body was ready to crave more of the drug since it had been so long it needed a higher dosage. I had never experienced any strange side effects with the exception of a 40 lb weight gain and severe sweatiness. I couldn’t understand how I would run 15-20 miles a week, change my diet and still not lose a single pound!
My mom re read my side effects from the prescription and they were all the same as what I had described.
I too am in a high profile job so I can’t call in and say, “look can’t make it in today need a few days off to lie in bed until I feel well”
I decided and was determined to get off the medication. I dropped down to 75 mg with my doctors office ok but still was having the brain freeze side effects. I spoke with them again over the phone and told them I’d like to step down and they recommended me split the pill in half to the 37.5mg. I did that for a week still brain freezes and I decided to stop taking it. My last dose was Sunday night. Its’ been a roller coaster ride and I still have the brain freezes. I’ve tried running a few times but my head gets the better of me. I’m going to try the Omega 3 and Cranberry juice that have been recommended. I see my doctor again this upcoming Thursday but refuse to go back on the medication. I may actually engage a pyschiatrist as I’m traveling abroad in four weeks and getting married and do not want to feel this way anymore!
This is an absolutely Evil drug and the side effects appear akin to those of a recovering meth addict!
I live for the weekends when I can sleep as that seems to be the only thing that helps! will post in a week to let others that need help with this drug know whether or not my symptoms have improved!
Ah the weekend Day five without Effexor in my body- emotional, sweaty, brain shivers galore! After reading three hours of blogs about Effexor, made myself go out to do some errands but enjoyed a small chocolate shake….
Day six Worked out for an hour in the morning (ran/walk 5 miles). This helped to almost eliminate the brain shivers for the day. Still having the severe sweating however am determined. Not much of an appetite, heartburn and odd bowel movememts (fowl, loose and frequent).
Day six – got up and felt pretty well, worked out for 30 minutes to a Jillian Michaels video. Bit of nausea afterwards but brain shivers are much improved.
Don’t give up – my recommendation is to exercise even if you don’t feel up to it in the morning, this will help to replace some of what the drug was giving your brain naturally!
Wish me luck as I am back to work today!
Day seven – got up and ran two miles. Best day yet!
With the exception of choking up emotionally at a few sad things on tv almost felt completely back to normal
Day eight – up to work out with weights in the morning! my appetite is back and I’ve lost nearly five pounds! The evil hold of the effexor seems to be gone! No brain shivers for two days! Hooray!!!
Weened myself down to 37.5mg of Effexor, and after 3 days of taking it, I wasn’t doing badly, so decided to stop completely. I had no idea it would be my doom. I am getting the brain shivers all day, I am exhausted and want to sleep all the time to get through. Dreams are weird and vivid. Unable to function at work. I am moody and pissed off and feel like crying most of the time because it won’t stop and I hate the feeling.
Thank God for this blog. I knew it was hard to come off it, but had no idea of just how hard. Thank you Michelle for your excellent story, it has given me hope and I too had been running in the evening, and definitely felt a bit better.
I now can’t decide whether to start taking a small amount again such as opening up the capsule and taking the little small balls inside or asking my doctor for a prescripton of the Tranxene. I really want to just stick it out, but I need to work…and don’t think I can function at work right now, it is a very demanding, stressful place and I need to be on the ball.
I agree that we should have way more info out there about the negative side effects of Effexor…going on it as well as coming off….which is the worse thing I have ever experienced!
I first read this thread a few months ago when I was suffering teribbly from effexor withdrawal ( flu-like symptoms, brain shivers etc ) despite withdrawing slowly from the drug. What was more frightening was the lack of feedback from people who had successfully weaned off this drug. I found out that the withdrawal effects are due to the short half-life of effexor which means that instead of tapering off, you are actually going off and back on the drug repeatedly. Prosac can be substituted for effexor as it is in the same family but has a long half-life so doesn’t have the same withdrawal side-effects. Within 1 day of taking prosac all symptoms had gone except the brain shivers which had reduced tremendously. Within 2-3 days even the brain shivers had gone.
I am still on prosac because I feel I need to be and it has the least side-effects for me than any other of the many drugs I have tried. But I have been on prosac before and withdrawn from it with no side effects so I am not concerned about being able to do the same again.
So it is 2 months since coming off effexor and I still feel completely normal.
I just spent the past 15 minutes reading through everyone’s comments and I am glad that I have found other people I can relate to.
I have been on anti depressants since age 16. (I am now 26).
I was first prescribed Paxil by my family doctor. I was on the drug for approximately 4 years. I have to admit that the drug was a life saver for when I needed it most. I became somewhat arrogant with respect to depression and decided that it was finally gone and went to my doctor to set up a tapering regime to get off the drug.
Long story short, I was wrong. All the depression symptoms I had 4 years earlier had arrived back with vengeance.
I couldn’t cope with being so completely depressed. In the matter of two months I went from being happy, confident, alive to insecure, unable to even work, and suffering with extreme emotional anguish.
Nonetheless, I went back to my doctor who had this time around prescribed me 75mg of Effexor. I didn’t feel any better until he upped the dosage to 150mg. Once, he did that I was on top of the world again. For the next 4 years, I worked 2 jobs, had a girlfriend, travelled to Asia, etc. I felt great
However, in the past 2 years the medication just did not seem to be working anymore. If I became depressed it would be a more sever and longer lasting depression. Many times I felt like an over medicated, walking zombie. Fast forward 2 years and I am now withdrawling from effexor.
I tapered fairly slowly. Decreasing 37.5mg every 2 weeks until I was down to 37.5mg. Once down to 37.5mg, I split the pills in half counting out the minuscule beads so that I was consuming roughly 19mg for 2 weeks. Then finally I split 37.5mg into a quarter consuming roughly 9.5mg everyday for 2 weeks and then STOP.
So, I am now experiencing the horrendous side effects that everyone is all too familiar with.
1) Nausea and Diziness- I constantly feel on the edge on vomiting.
2) Brain Zaps Galore – Usually 3 really quick zaps per second, accompanied by a loudening in my ears. Its almost as if my head is decompressing from descending on a plane.
3) The most atrocious and agonizing nightmares I have ever experienced – Dreams about being chased by murderers, going to prison, friends contracting terminal illnesses, and the like
4) Sever Depression – My mood has hit the gutter. I cannot think of happy times of the past as it is tarnished by sudden bad memories that seem to overwhelm the good ones. I am unable to look forward to a bright future as the uncertain future scares me to think about being depressed like this for life. All I can do is live in the present, which seems to drag on for an eternity with horrible depression
I’m wondering how long the physical symptoms will last? Once those are under control, I have a plan of attack for the emotional part including heavy Organ Detoxing, Heavy Metal Detoxing, Candida Cleansing, followed by huge doses of Mood Lifting vitamin supplements from a company called True Hope and there product, EmpowerPlus.