Help! - I'm going cold turkey from Effexor XL (150mg). Does anyone have any advise on alleviating my severe "head shocks"??? I am desperate, today these constant electric shocks are almost incapacitating (typing this is unbelievably hard work).

Zero replies?!?! - guess that constitutes a big fat NO then! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/frown.gif
Anyone with experience? How long will there symptoms go on for?

oooooo, Why would you want to go cold turkey?

It's hard on your neurological system. Wean off and get your doctor to give you a prescription plan on dosages. 75, then 37.5...I don't know if you can split the capsule for a lesser dose, but taking it every second night at that point should work.

Hang in there.....but if you still are adament about doing it cold turkey, keep us posted on your symptoms.

I wish you success.
quincy

OK... firstly let me say, please do not follow my example, it is reckless, eminently un-sensible and I feel on reflection, quite dangerous. I almost don't want to post this message!.

There is however, so much bad stuff written about effexor withdrawl, here's some good news for a change. If you are on Effexor and are worried about withdrawal, or your doc has perscribed it but you dont want to take it because of the bad stuff you've heard, take heart...

It is Day 8 going cold turkey: it has been really really hard (still is) but the fever is gone and most importantly, the shocks are markedly lower in both intensity and frequency today! I'm getting there!

.. just wish I could remember why I did this!

Effexor is tough. I was on it for 8 months. When I felt like it was time to get off of it this is how I did it. (After much study)


Purchase some empty capsules. You can get them on the internet or drugstore.

Take current capsules and open them and remove about 10% of the "spheres" or "bb's" per week. Take that dose each day for a week.

I was on 37.5 mg which is about 100 spheres. I took out 10 spheres a week for 10 weeks. (had some withdrawal symptoms all through this time but they were moderate)

When I took my last dose of 10 spheres. I started on 2.5 mg of prozac every other day for three days and then stopped everything. You can do the same thing with the prozac capsules. Prozac is in a powdered form and you just divide a 10 mg capsule into four empty capsules. You can hold up the clear capsules up to a light and see that you are dividing it correctly or evenly.

Even after stopping the Prozac I still had some withdrawal symptoms. The most bothersome one was dizziness. Which lasted 4 full weeks. So please don't get discouraged. I probably could have taken prozac for a longer period which would have helped ith the dizziness. But I was ready to be drug free and didn't.

What helps to get through the withdrawal?

-Drinking lots of water
-Exercise (long walks)
-Good Multi-Vitamin and a vitamim B supplement
-Fresh Air (get outside as much as possible)
-Benedryl (helped with sleeping at night)
-Constant reassurance that this would pass. And thankfully it did.

Please don't skip a day of Effexor. It has a half-life of about 5 hours (which means it clears out of your body very quickly and this is the reason it is so hard to discontinue it...on the other hand Prozac has appoximate 3-5 day half life and leaves your body much slower with gives your brain more time to adjust) and you will be putting yourself in withdrawal every other day if you do that. To get off Effexor you must taper it each week and take it each day. And do the tapering very slowly. It is a powerful drug that your brain begins to depend upon. So please don't get in a hurry and give your brain plenty of time to adjust.

God Bless