Effexor

[brittd89]

I took Effexor for 15 years. Was on 225 for a while and was fine. I got off Effexor last year and couldn’t manage so I slowly went back on it. I have made my way back up to 225 because my anxiety was still there. I have days where I feel drugged or loopy. I can’t really put my finger on what it feels like. Weak feeling, but not light headed. Has anyone had this happen? I am having anxiety bc of this feeling. I don’t know it’s the meds but I don’t know what else it could be. It doesn’t seem to matter if I have eaten or not or slept well or not. I’m sure it’s made worse when the anxiety comes on. Any advice?

[run99]

Hi brittd89,I can't really give you advice and don't know how long you've been feeling like this on 225mg. Maybe after a short while it will get better or if not talk to your Doc about it.

I started Effexor in about 2002 can't remember exactly. It was the only one that helped me and ended up on 225mg. But made me put on 70 pounds in weight. I tried a couple of times to come off it over the years but when I reduced it too low my mood would drop and ended up increasing it again . But last year I was feeling good and thought I would try to come off it again,and hopefully lose some of my weight. I was on 150 mg's then. So I slowly over 6 months reduced it and all was good. I got down to 37.5 mg's twice a week but found it hard to go down to once a week. I'd get terrible brain zaps. I stretched it to 37.5 mg's every 5 days but I hadn't realised I was starting to stress more. And the beginning of last month while on a weeks annual leave from work had a huge mental health crash. So much worse than the other 2 times I tried to come off it. It started with me stressing about every little thing and the stress pain in my chest was awful, as was the insomnia. Being awake all night pacing around stressing and frustrated. So Doc upped my Effexor to 150 mg's and a short course of Diazapam, Diazapam helped but they wouldn't give me anymore. So gave me some Amitriptyline to help with my sleep. Only take 10Mg around 8PM and it does help to sleep but it seems to be deep sleep and I do feel drowsy or drugged the next morning. And very thirsty and headaches. The 150 mg's of Effexor has helped a bit over the last 6 weeks but not good enough, my mood is still on the low side and Anxiety is high so have been put back on 225 mg's today. I don't think I'll ever be able to stop it, my Doc has said before I'll probably be on it for life. I don't know if drinking plenty of water helps drowsiness.

Good look.

[brittd89 in reply to run99]

Thanks for the info. I firmly believe having Covid twice did something to my brain. I went 15+ on Effexor and had 0 anxiety on the 225 then I had Covid and I have struggled with my anxiety since. It’s been a year and half now. I feel like I will be on Effexor for life too. My anxiety can’t handle coming off of it again. Even with weekly therapy I was hardly making it day to day until I got back on it. I have been on the 225mlg 5 weeks as of today. Which kind of seems like would be the sweet spot for it kicking in. That’s the bad thing about having anxiety along with OCD and minor hypochondriac tendencies. My brain of course wants to think it’s blood sugar and/or anemia even though I have never had those issues before. Good luck to you as well. My anxiety is finally at a point I can function and not dread everyday. Holding out for one day where I won’t have any anxiety again.

[Dell12345 in reply to run99]

Thanks for posting this, I had a very similar experience so it was very interesting to read your post. X

[designguy]

One of the things that has helped me cope better with my anxiety besides meds was learning what anxiety really is and how to constructively deal with it. Anxiety is just our builtin warning system malfunctioning and we need to desensitize ourselves to the anxious feelings and accept that the anxious thoughts aren't real and are lies. It was designed to protect us but now as adults we no longer need protecting. It's very likely that your med change and the struggle you are having is magnified by your anxiety and is not just the meds. With anxiety we tend to not do well with uncertainty and blow it out of proportion. I suggest you check out the DARE Anxiety book and youtube videos and the youtube/website of Paige Pradko for how to deal with anxiety/panic. Knowledge about it can really help take away the fear.