DAMN I'm trying to get off Effexor (an SSRI) and it sucks. Withdrawl is a bitch

Discussion in 'Pandora's Box' started by Stevie Ray Bong, Nov 11, 2009.

  1. What up to all my Pandora crackheads, I never thought I'd be making a withdrawl thread but here I am. I'm cold/hot, getting "brain zaps", sweating too much, and I'm lightheaded/nauseated as fuck. Does weed help with withdrawl? I've been trying to smoke some medical to take my mind off of the zaps but I'm not sure if it's helping. Sorry if this post sucks, I feel like I'm at about 10% thinking power right now.
     
  2. i've heard that cannabis has been shown to help with withdrawal symptoms but never had any experience with it. best of luck though.


    ps.

    were you prescribed effexor or were you using it recreationally? i didn't know it had a recreational value if that's the case.
     
  3. Have you tried to taper the dose until your off? Or are you stopping cold turkey?

    You need to taper the dose gradually until your off of it. I don't have the info in front of me right now, but ask your doctor and/or pharmacist how they would suggest you get off of it.
     
  4. Thanks for the replies.

    1. to light green, yes I was prescribed. You have to be stupid to use it recreationally, haha. It's really no fun.

    2. to questioneer, yeah I tapered down 37.5 mg per week for three weeks.
     
  5. the more i read into this drug, the more i regret startting "treatment" with effexor. I've been on it for a few months and I thinks it's fucking me up even more. I don't know what to do because I'm terrified of the withdrawls i keep reading about.
     
  6. Hope you're not getting that jaw clenching.

    Fuck, that's so painful.

    SSRIs are the motherfucking devil.
     
  7. wow do i ever hate effexor. i was on it for between 1 to 2 years, stuff is terrible. started me at the low dose and eventually put me at the highest they could. i didnt go through much withdrawal from it cause i went straight to wellbutrin, but still coming off it was awful. one of the worst periods of my depression.

    my mom is still on it, she tried stopping for awhile and went bat shit crazy. it was like she was chronically bipolar. which shes not just severly depressed like me and my dad
     
  8. Weed helped me alot when I was quitting opiates (OxyContin) Helped me alot. A guy I worked with was on them, and said the brain zaps were really bad. Hope this helps.
     
  9. GET OFF EFFEXOR! I have been off of it for exactly one week, and I just started feeling better yesterday. The sooner you get off of it, the better. There are new drugs like Pristiq (sp?) that are similar to Effexor without the shitty side effects.
     
  10. That sucks man. I herd Effexor can be especially rough. I w/d from 20mg daily of lexapro. For me the worst part was the brain zaps. It would actually "reset" my vision for a few seconds every time it happened. Weed helped all the other symptoms but actually made the zaps worse. It lasted about a week with the major symptoms. Good luck.
     
  11. i worked my way thru fuckin 100 different SSRI's to get to where i am now. ativan & klonopin. SSRI's are hell and did more harm than help. i can go longer without my benzos than i could with effexor.
     
  12. In regard to mj being beneficial for withdrawal symptoms: I'm bipolar and with the economy sucking as hard as it does, I lost my medical and was pretty much forced to get off all meds. I was tapering down off effexor xr (~115mg) and others and it was a whore. I realized quickly though that the right strain will combat most side effects. I'm completely off medication right now, after going through at least two dozen meds in 15 years. I still have trouble with a few things but I'm working through it with other herbs and supplements.

    It's so amazing to have it almost under control with the right mj strain. And it's a hell of alot cheaper with no side effects.... or bad ones anyway. lol

    Good luck and def try to stick with it. I had to try three times to actually get off the shit.
     
  13. i love me my zoloft i dont really have plans on stopping. i dont really have side effects. only ssri to treat me well.
     
  14. Pristiq is the new version of Effexor. Made by the same company and are processed by the same metabolite in your system. I dont see how switching to that would make a difference
     
  15. My mom went through this and it was hell for her. She tapered off as well very slowly (over 3 months) and had about 3 weeks of withdrawls from hell. Constant nausea, visual disturbances (flashing lights in her eyes and what not), constant head ache, ect. Shes allergic to tylenol and opiates/opiods (shit luck :( ) and the only thing that did help was weed, and it helped A LOT.

    Toke up man, it'll make it more bearable.
     

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