Effexor XR and sleep

I have been on this horrific drug for just over two years and have wanted to be off of it since the six month mark...i am not on it for depression but for focus...FOCUS, i cannot begin to describe the memory problems that i have...i can be standing in front of a person i have known for years and i will not be able to come up with their name or how i know them...luckily it does not seem to cause problems with my actual work but it is rather embarrassing when your boss walks up and you have to think hard to figure out who they are...side effects...i have gone from being a so called gorgeous man to a frumpy 30 lbs heavier man, and i still run five to ten miles a day and i eat less than i ever have...try to explain that...it is almost like i am swollen...i have horrible dreams, i sweat, i panic, i shake and i have a constant feeling of having a heart attack...try and live thinking you are having a heart attack when you are not but then again do you really know...in other words what if i have been desensitized to thinking i am actually having a heart attack when i actually am, may i rest in peace if that is the case...

when i have actually tried to come off the pills i have been violent (i never have been before in life), irrational, can't sleep, double vision, electrical shocks just by moving my eyes, can't move and bruise to the point that i look like a junkie who has injected himself everywhere...

my doctor never warned me of any of this, nor can i find it on the wyeth website (with the exception of the memory issues, which was not there when i started taking the drug...

i am so very sad over all of this...don't become like me

my cholesterol went up 50 points to 245 in
just 1 year. My ldl was always good until
this year. my sister who is also on Effexor XR noticed her cholesterol also increased.
as a result I am being weaned off it.
I also have had sweating problems - my
sister's is worse & I heard on the news
that Effexor XR eliminates REM sleep,
which is why I am always tired. I have been
on Effexor XR for 3 years.

I too wanted to get off effexor xr and did in May. I went through 2 weeks of he@@. The worst of the side effects were the brain zaps,sometimes running down into my stomach. I felt like i was dying but I still worked and took care of my family. I quit cold turkey!! Just give it time the side effects will go away. I am so much happier now less the nightmares, wanting to sleep all the time. And a huge bonus, I have lost about 25 lbs. in 3 months!!
Any one wanting to take effexor xr.....DON"T!!!! I was on effexor for 7 years!!

I was first diagnosed with depression when i was 18 years old. For 9 years i was on all different types of medication but for a majority of the time i was on Effexor xr. I remember when i missed a dose, just feeling so bad i would just want to go to bed but when i took the next dose it wouldn't take long to get back to normal. My memory has been shocking. So bad that i have trouble remembering what happened when my children were babies. I don't know if this is because of the meds or the depression. My father committed suicide during the time i was on effexor and i just could not grieve. I felt that when i cried i was just forcing it. I just didn't feel many emotions at all. My life took a turn after that and i had so much going on that i either didn't have any trouble coming off it or i just don't remember what it was like.
At the start of this year my life was very full and happy and i was so busy until one day i just felt as though i was going to die. For a week i sat in the emergency department at the hospital certain i was going to die and leave my three children without a mother. I was finally diagnosed with a panic disorder. I didn't care what they did i just wanted them to make it stop.(the way i was feeling) I was put lexapro but had a bad reaction to that so they put me back on effexor xr. I can only say thank god! I have been on it now for almost six months and i have decided to come off it again as i feel my life is back in control. The main side effects i have had this time on this medication have been, a definite decrease in sexual function, deep sleep, vivid dreams and my pupils are dilating differently. I have over the last week decreased my dose from 75mls a day to 37.5. I really don't remember going through all these side effects last time. I was on a much higher dose before too. I have had the worst migraines, i am so tired, my eyes sting, i have what i guess others have described as shocks. When i move my head or blink my eyes it feels like i get a shock in my head. I feel like i am looking through a tunnel sometimes too. Although i had this same feeling when i was first put back on the meds. Yes it is tough coming off it this time but i still don't regret taking it in the first place. Without it i may still be feeling the worst feelings i have ever felt in my life and i wouldn't wish it on anyone. The effects i am getting now are not even a glimpse of what i went through before i started.

Oh boy! Side effects to coming off this med! UGH! I am going through them as I type! It is the most horrible way to feel! I have tried in the past on several occasions to get off this med...but never had accomplished the feat as it is nearly impossible to get through the day! At my highest dose I was taking 300 mg daily... the Dr. weaned me down slowly and now am trying just to get off of 75mg daily! I am on day 4 without Effexor xr... needless to say the side effects are getting worse instead of better!
I am experiencing: dizziness, tingly feeling in my whole body, night sweats, almost hard to do anything because I feel as if I have the flu!!!!
To anyone who is given the choice to take this med...DON"T!! Getting off of it is the hardest thing to do! In hindsight... when I am on it fully it is a great med. It helped me regain my life without panic, anxiety, depression etc... Idk... people don't understand the hell we go through with all these meds. My poor husband can't take my complaining anymore! Although either can I! I feel like going and getting a pill right now just to feel better!

This is my 4th day off effexor. For the past 3 nights, I have been almost asleep...when I am awakened by a 'shortness and uneven breathing'. This happened constantly..every time I would almost nod off...i would be awakened with a jolt as if I couldn't breathe. Last night this went on for a few hours, but I finally got some sleep. Has anyone else experienced this? I was on effexor for 8 months...the dr. increasing it gradually up to 300mg. per day. I have weaned off slowly, until 4 days ago, going from 75 to none. It has been 4 days of hell...with evil sick dreams, brain buzzing, migraine type issues, etc. I have never experienced anything like it. I would suggest anyone considering taking this drug...DON'T!!! I was on prozac for 14 years before this, and the symptoms were minimal. But i became immune to it. I have chosen to be none medicated from now on. I will deal with my anxiety and depression with exercise, and by the grace of God. Please Help if you have any suggestions to get me past the next few days...How long can I expect this awful withdrawal..I feel so sick it's almost to weird to describe. I heard taking benadryl helps. I have taken a few...but don't feel too different.
Looking forward to your help..Thanks in advance.

This medication was a life-saver for me when I first started taking it 7 years ago. Unfortunately, every so often it would stop being effective. My Dr. would up the dosage until I was on the highest and could go no future. So I set out to titrate off, which I did very slowly, but it was hell. The worst was when I was finally done. I felt like a junkie. I was shaking, having crazy brain zaps that made me feel like I was being shocked every time I'd close my eyes. I was sweating like a pig. My sleep was was filled with terrifying nightmares that left me screaming out in my sleep. I am 5 weeks off and still experiencing nightmares, and a few mind-zap things-but nothing like they were when I first started to come off. Yoga and meditation seemed to be the only things that helped. Each day I wanted to take it again just to feel normal. No one can believe that a common SSRI can have such horrible withdrawal effects, so I am on a quest to educated everyone I know.

I have been taking this drug 75mg everyday for 6 months. at first I was feeling so much better. This past winter I have been sick constantly. I almost never get sick and I have had every virus that has went around. now I am feeling so weird sleep disturbances weird dreams, not being able to sleep but being exhausted.. I have gained weight and want to eat all the time. I am going to the doctor in a few days and will be asking to be weaned off this drug.

I took 150 mg a day for a little more than five years. I was afraid to stop taking it due to the horrible way you feel just missing one dose! Yes, I gained approximately 30 lbs (and I go to the gym!), my cholesterol went way up, I had horrible nightmares, and right before I stopped taking it I started having bouts of double vision. I stopped taking it almost a year ago. I have lost some of the weight. I still, after all this time, am having brain zaps in the middle of the night, still don't sleep well, still have bad dreams and still have regular bouts of double vision. I have been to a neurologist who sent me for a brain mri (normal) and blood work (normal). He has recommended I get another doctor to look at me. In other words, there is no obvious reason for the bouts of double vision. I blame five years of Effexor XR for all of this! My doctor should have never allowed me to continue on this drug for so long!

I took Effexor XR for 6 months. The first week I couldn't sleep but that was the only side-effect, that is, until I quit. I decided to quit when I noticed that there was no difference in my mood and when I missed a day I would get a strange feeling. "Brain-shivers" is what they're described as. Almost like a drunk and wobbly feeling. After I stopped taking it the "shivers" lasted about 2 weeks and the first few days were the WORST! I went to the Dr. to get gradually get off but after taking the first one (37.5mg) and still felt the same - cold turkey is was! I wouldn't take it again. It didn't help and the withdrawal was terrible.

I have been taking Effexor XR for a year now. When I first started I was taking a 150MG now I am down to 75mg a day. I have experienced a lot of abnormal dreams and usually I am interacting in my dreams. I also have experienced different parts of my body jumping. I am coming off of this medications and work on my anxiety on my own. It is always best to do everything natural because no one knows what medication actually does to your body but I can tell you I have had some strange feelings.