Well about a couple of months ago, I posted here and said I was going to start weaning off the effexor. My original dose was 150 mg. and I went down to 75. I did that for about 3 weeks and then I decreased more (about 37 mg.). Well, let me tell you I started to get the brain zaps, brain fogging and just felt awful. I was physically sick, so I decided to just stop taking it. I know that it was a risky thing to do and I went through hell. I feel better now not on it. I have more energy and the scary thing is I am starting to feel things again. Last year was a horrific year for me and I needed the effexor to feel numb.

In the past couple of weeks I have had a huge fight w/my daughter. She was diag. w/schizophrenia last year and my husband and I took care of her son. She has him back now, but I don't support some of the decisions she is making. She has told me to shut up and fu too many times.

My husband was diagnosed w/ transverse myelitis last year and some of his symptoms are starting to come back. He is stubborn and won't go to the doctor's. I told him that if he didn't go to the doctor's to get some intervention then I didn't know how I would feel with him in a wheel chair for the rest of his life. He was in a wheel chair last summer and he did manage to get out of the chair and is walking w/a slight limp. I told him that I would feel different if he did go see the doctor and if there was nothing they could do, then I would stick by him and we would deal w/it. He finally made an appt.

My mom passed away last August 18th. It was my husband's and my anniversary.

I have kept things inside for so long that now I just feel like I have so much anger built up. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced the anger thing. Is this is a normal thing after going off the anti-depressant? I will not go back on another depressant. It's been hell.

Thanks for reading

Judy

Hi Judy ..

I can SO relate to some of what you're saying(luckily for me though, I have 2 wonderfull grown daughters) but my mom passed away also, 2 and a half years ago on the 18 anniversary of my brothers death from cancer.My brother died 6 mos after I lost my Dad. After my mom died I started fighting with my one remaining brother .We had a lot of issues that came to a head after mom died. Also was on the verge of divorce , and my daughter and small granddaughters, who were the light in my life,and the only ones that made me feel joy, moved to another state.So for me it was just too much ,which is why i went on effexor. Things have settled down now for me so I started weaning off the effexor over 2 months ago. (I was only at 75 mg at my highest.) I took my last dose almost 2 weeks ago. I also rushed it at the end and started having the terrible side effects everyone talks about. But now i'm not feeling too bad physically,but oh my gosh...i'm on an emotional roller coaster. I didn't realize just how much the effexor blunted my emotions. it's not bad though. In fact I like being able to feel things so deeply again. Certain songs now will make me cry ,and i'm really excited about the good things in my life again. Of course i know I will feel the bad emotions again. For one thing I have to finish mourning my mom I think. But that's okay. I can handle it now,and i'm ready for it.
I'm sorry about your husbund......MEN...what is it with them and Dr's?. I hope you can talk him into seeing someone.
Yeah...I also feel that i'm a lot quicker to anger these days. I used to be much more patient ,and now watch out. I hope that will even out with time. I think we forgot how to really feel for so long that every emotion is right on the surface. I find that taking 5HTP helps even me out . Also reg exercise is a must ,and a healthy diet. It feels good to take control of my emotional health instead of being controlled by the antidepressant. Hang in there. You made the right decision. Good luck to you ,and take care....:) Kat.

Hi Judy,

I have been off Effexor for some time now -- it will be 2 years in September. After coming off of it, I had an incredible amount of anger. A surprising and somewhat alarming amount....

It has increasingly gotten better, but I am still an angrier person than I used to be. I still think that my system and my brain are trying to get back to normal, and eventually I will regain my full health/normalcy, but for now I am dealing with anger. It's a drag.

Take care.

SOE

I took Effexor for almost 7 years, just stopped it last November. The weaning off was terrible. I didn't notice a huge increase in anger, but I did notice that while I was on Effexor, it had made my emotions flat. No lows, but no highs either. It was no way to live. I definitely think you could suddenly be experiencing more anger as you wean off it.

hi,
I'm weaning off Effexor. Been weaning for about 6 months. Many "anger attacks" . Learning how to cope/hide these emotions but they are definitely there.
Hang in...

Thank you all for replying. I feel now that it is part of the effexor and not that I am going insane. It really stinks that we have to experience these terrible side effects to start feeling "normal" (whatever that may be) again.

Hang in there and we will get through this together!

Judy