Effexor....

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  • ShapeUpSidney
    ShapeUpSidney Posts: 1,092 Member

    I'm reading about more and more people actually having to be at an in-house rehab type of controlled environment to get off of it. Ridiculous....

    Wow. I'm wondering why anyone would prescribe something with a 5 hour half-life for anxiety? Is it a 3x daily pill? Celexa has a 36 hour half-life, and I had more problems with accidental missed doses on Cymbalta, which has a 12 hour half-life.

    If you can avoid it, don't take any SSRIs before bed. They can negatively impact your sleep and make you have WHACKED out dreams. I've had several sleep studies, where I have panic attack symptoms in my sleep, and never wake up or remember them.
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
    I think the very low dose may have a 5 hour half life? I believe a higher dose is 11hrs +/- 2... miss one dose and you feel it.

    Now I want Cymbalta :)
  • AnninStPaul
    AnninStPaul Posts: 1,372 Member
    Yes, I stopped taking it about 2 years ago after being on it for years. I didn't have any effects from stopping.
    Did you gradually taper off? If I miss it for more than two days, I'm incredibly dizzy and vomiting...
    No I just stopped taking it. YMMV though. I have also taken Paxil and Prozac and never had any trouble stopping either of them. Maybe I'm just weird.

    Prozac has a long half life, so few people have issues stopping. Paxil, on the other hand, is really fast, so people get rebound depression. Tapering over a week is usually advised -- longer if your dose was high.
  • Tree72
    Tree72 Posts: 942 Member
    I always had a low dosage and had to do about a month long taper off if I'm remembering correctly. In the end it was worse than not taking anything. It gave me terrible insomnia; I couldn't sleep for more than two hours at a stretch no matter how tired I was.

    And if I'd known then what I know now I never would have taken it. I still (about 8 years later) have some issues with language that I never had before. (Sometimes I'll lose words or have dyslexic-type issues with words or letters - they don't look different when I"m reading, they just come out of my head different than I intend.)

    Wishing you the best for being able to be drug-free.
  • godblessourhome
    godblessourhome Posts: 3,892 Member
    i started lexapro after my dad died and was able to wean off it fairly easily several months ago. i wish you the best getting off effexor and that your anxiety symptoms become more manageable.
  • OutOfBreath
    OutOfBreath Posts: 80 Member
    I went off it cold turkey about 2 months ago. It was NOT fun. I do NOT recommend it. EDIT to add, I was on it for about 2-3 years when I made this leap.
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