Effexor and dizziness

I have been on Effexor since December 13th. I am finding that this drug is not very helpul at all. I am experiencing headaches, nausea, my depression does not seem to be any better over the past 3 months. My dizziness is what is really bothering me I feel like my head is in the clouds all the time with a constant tightening feelin my head and neck. I wake up every night with a feeling on hotness and shaky eyes. I am trying to get off of this drug but find the side effects are so hard to deal with. I feel some days like I am going crazy and it takes every ounce of energy I have to not loose control. After trying 3 other antidepressants Effexor has been the most difficult to come off of and the the drug with the most side effects.
Anyone with any helpful tips to help deal with this horrible time in my life would be very much appreciated.

I know there are times when people need medication to help them with depression, anxiety, etc. but I really think there are better anti depressants out there. I found effexor HORRIBLE! it was a b**** to get used to, and i was so dizzy, tired, anxious and just felt horrible for a while.
After my body got used to it, it was alright, but trying to get OFF effexor was even worse! i have never experienced anythign like that. I felt SO depressed and anxious and DIZZY and this carried on for about two weeks. I felt trapped. I even took some work off while getting off it because I couldnt' function properly at all. Also, my sex drive went down to zero. I'd defintely reccommend trying out a different anti-depressant than this one.

Nausea, dizziness, pounding headaches, the inability to do anything but sit here and get thru these wretched side effects from a drug that I was told was non-addictive!
What a joke!
How can a drug that makes me feel this bad piossiblity be non-addictive!
Ive gone cold turkey and this is day 17 that ive been off the effexor. Mind you I had only been taking it for barly 3 months and at a relatively small dosage (1x75mg nightly), and I cant beleive how much trouble Im having trying to come off it.
How long does this drug remain in ones body?

I was on effexor for a year to treat dysthimic depression and general anxiety disorder. My dose started low but was upped every few months until I was on 150 mg.

The side effects I experienced were:

- Dizziness
- Inability to sleep soundly at night (I would wake several times and have difficulty falling asleep again)
- Inability to stay awake during the day (probably as a result of the previous side-effect. this was so bad that i even fell asleep once while i was standing up!)
- A "fuzzy" mental state; everything looked cloudy, I had no concentration, poor attention span
- Frequent vivid nightmares
- This weird sensation that happened every couple of minutes. It wasn't quite like dizziness...it was more like my brain was doing a flip-flop in my head.
- I was ALWAYS exhausted
- My libido disappeared

The withdrawl affects of the drug were similar but also accompanied by twitching, nausea, increased dizziness, more frequent "brain flips", and occasional fainting or blacking out.

Worse was that I had to take the drug at the same time every day, or else I'd enter withdrawl almost immediately. If I took the drug at 7:00 AM every morning before school, and then slept in until 10:00 AM on the weekend, I would wake up in withdrawl, even though i was only a few hours late!

When I tapered off the drug, the withdrawl affects were almost unbearable for a couple of weeks, but eventually I returned almost to a normal state, except that it took over a year for my libido to return, and even though I've been free of the drug for a couple of years, I still have difficulties in that area sometimes.

Hello! I went off of Effexor 75mg @5 days ago. The withdrawl symptoms came back with a vengeance. I have tried 3 other times to get off of this drug with no success. Not because of depression, but the physical withdrawl sypmtoms were terrible. I immediately experienced dizziness, "zapping" in my head, nausea, extreme fatigue; all the very next day. I had tried in the past to taper off, same effects as quitting cold turkey. This is day 6 and still have the same syptoms. It's very hard to function at my job and driving is a chore also. I am determined to "not" go back on this or any other drug like this ever again (Lexapro, Celexa, etc) I will say I felt fine while on it, but I'm sick of not being able to lose the 30 lbs I gained while taking it. I want to be able to handle lifes curve balls as they come without any drugs. I will keep you all posted as to how long this goes on. Take care all, and we have to hang in there!!!!!

Well, just wanting everyone to know that I stop taking this medication cold turkey 3 day's ago because of the evil side effect's. For those who just started on this med just wait until u miss a day are two or been on it long enough u will experience something's u will not like trust us u will be trying to get off this evil drug!!! I've been on it for 2 year's and at first I didn't experience anything I thought it was great it worked for the hot flashes immediately but after my body got use to taking it the hot flashes came back along with virtigo more and more just wait and see!!! it wont be long, but anyway I quiet 3 day's ago and I feel great!!! the side of effect of dizzyness and me not being able to walk straight are there but the energy & me feeling myself again feels GREAT!!! Im not tired anymore for the first time Im up early like I use to get up, and last night I wasn't sleepy early I stayed up with my husband he couldn't believe it! I actually feel good about myself. If u ask me this medication need's to be revisited because it doesn't help after awhile I wouldn't want to take something that if I were in a situation were I didn't have this med I would be close to death without it, Im off cold turkey and going to hang in there until the side effect's go away and it's out of my system for good! I pray for u all whose on this med because it's insane and not good. Oh I forgot to mention that it get's worse for the first time I over slept and was so,so,so tired friday night I couldn't go to work this drug after awhile draines u and makes u so sleepy and wore out it make u feel like you've been drinking all night and have a hangover trust me this is real.

At first I was convinced that venlafaxine was a godsend after so many other anti-depressants failed to help me. However, i soon came to realise that i was becoming increasingly dependant on the drug as the side effects after missing a tablet were completely unbearable. not only does my depression come back with avengence, the dizziness and blurred eyesight has an immense effect on my day to day life. An hour after taking the drug again, however, I'm fine. being this dependant on such a drug will never help me overcome my depression, it just masks it. i want and need off this drug, it's pure evil.

-I have been on Effexor XR for almost 1 year @ 150mg.

When I was first on the drug I would feel the dizziness, brain shock, etc, side affects if I went roughly 2 days without taking the drug (on accident). In the past few months I start getting severe withdrawl side affects (dizziness, brain shocks, etc.) as soon as it hit 24 hours from my last dose (If I took a pill at 2pm on one day, by 3pm on the next day I was having severe side affects).

What seemed to be unrelated at first was the fact that in the past 2-3 months I started to have severe sleeping problems. I got extremely worse in the past 2 months as no matter what time I went to bed it became extremely difficult for me to wake up before 10am - 11am (which obviously affected my work). It was the hardest thing in the world to drag myself out of bed, no matter what time it was (it was almost impossible for me to get out of bed before 8am). I would then work for a few hours and come home and take a nap. I went to my Doctor (same one that prescribed me the Effexor XR) and he sent me to a sleep study thinking that I might have Sleep Apneia. Immediately after that a friend recommended trying to get off of the Effexor XR and as soon as I started weening down my doseage, my sleep went back to normal. In any regard, I was able to ween myself down to 37.5 MG for a couple of weeks and have now been off of it or 3 days and it has sucked. I've tried getting off before and have many horror stories as other people (the following horror story is one that happened about 2-3 months ago when I tried to quit cold turkey once from full 150 mg a day doseage, not a good idea!).

This is somewhat funny & scary...I had gone about 2-3 days at one point in trying to cut cold turkey from 150 mg a day(I was also out of pills) and was suffering from severe withdrawl affects and decided to drive to my pharmacy to have it refilled because I could not take it anymore. My pharmacy is one that is in a large grocery store...so while it was being refilled I tried to find some granola bars so I would have something to eat to take with the medication. I was so dizzy and confused that I had to call my wife (fiance at the time) on my cell phone. I had to ask her to help me find the granola bars (this was a store that I often shopped at) and was standing in the middle of an isle with tears streaming down my face begging her to help me over the phone. I'm a 30+ year old professional who is 6'2" and was (prior to my weight gain recently) a healthy 250 pds, and was reduced to tears in a grocery store trying to find granola bars. The storry is sad, true, scary, and slightly funny all at the same time.

I've also managed to put on about 25-30 pds in the last 2-3 weeks as well. One of the side effects I personally got when I went too long between doses (or now in trying to stop completely and was feeling after reducing doseage) is a weird nausea feeling (I suppose similar to the one others have felt too). If you've ever felt nausea from being overly hungry, this is the type of nausea feeling I get. I feel like my body needs some food to help it feel better, so I eat and eat, and it's a very temperal relief (unfortunately, even the temporal relief doesn't always come), then the nausea is back. Hence the 25-30 pounds in the last 2-3 weeks.

In closing, I think it is sad that most doctors probably do not fully understand the drug. I know the manufacturer states that the side affects occur in about 10% of those that use the drug. However, I wonder what the percentage of severe side affects is in those that try to come off of the drug? I'm sure it has to be very high as the only thing my doctor made clear was to talk to him when/if I want to ever come off of the drug. THESE SIDE AFFECTS FROM COMING OFF OF THE DRUG ABSOULTELY NEEDS TO BE MADE CLEAR TO PATIENTS BEFORE THEY START OUT ON THIS DRUG!
Thanks,
M

I have been on this drug for almost 3 years. I have had headaches, very vivid and realistic dreams, dizziness (especially when I skip a dose), severe weight loss (66 lbs) followed by severe weight gain (70 lbs), paranoia, leaking nipples (I am male), and breathing difficulties. I am thankful that this medication got me through a very difficult time in my life, but now I am going to try to get off of it.

I have been taking Effexor for a year after my GP became concerned that Serzone was causing liver damage. I haven't had any side effects except when I stopped taking it for only one day, I started to get a little dizzy. OK. I DIDN'T miss a dose this time and right now I am so dizzy and nauseous I actually broke a cardinal rule and went all blubbery on my husband. Talked to my doc about this last week and she said dizziness could be caused by menopause. NOT LIKE THIS!! I am almost afraid I have a brain tumor or something. How can I start to have these effects after a year? I am experiencing the brain shocks--when I turn my head it sounds like someone is rapidly shaking one of those plastic film canisters of rice by my ear. I also have light flashes in dark rooms (like at night). Is this Effexor?

I took efexor for only "two" days and 3 months later I still have bad dizziness and cant get rid of it. If anyone has any ideas of how to overcome this please feel free to send me an email on: ****** thanks....bye

I have been on Efexor capsules for 5 years, initialy on a very high dose then reduced over a two year period so that I am taking 75mg every two days. I am ready to come off them and have spoken to my doctor, but she say she is worried about the discontinuation side effects. She sugests that I should take them twice a week for a month and then quit. I felt fine about stopping (not worried about my depression returning) but now I feel anxious about the side effects. I have felt the brain shocks and dizzyness, before, when I was on a higher dose and I forgot to take them. I was wondering if anybody could tell me how long these withdrawal side effects last when the drug is stopped?

Having been on Venlafaxine for 2 years and feeling well, I am trying to "get off" them, have reduced from 37.5mg twice a day to a quarter of a tablet ever second day over 3 months and I thought it would be fine to stop now, one week on, I feel terrible, started with a terrible pain in the left side of my head and very bad pain in left side of neck, couldn't stand bright lights, during the week I have had weak arms, sore throat, pain in chest like being kicked, dreadfull dizziness, can't think properly, feel close to tears for no reason, head feels like i'm inside a box, sort of muffled. Dry mouth, waking very early in the mornings- about 5am. bad diaroea for two days, feel like I have jet lagg, now today on day 8, feel low mood and am terrified of depression coming back, think I will take a quarter of a tablet tonight as have a holiday coming up and job interviews, can't deal with this now, so may have to go back on them for while ? I was fine taking them, and felt completly well again although I have put on about 40lbs, am also on Lithium so could be that ? anyone out there having same problems with this drug, all advice appreciated.

I am one of those who take Effexor XR 150mg as part of a pain management regimen, as opposed to depression. I've had two major back surgeries that left me with arthritis and some internal scarring that causes acute, long-term back pain. Apparently, certain ani-depressants are also starting to be used to treat pain in combination with drugs like Vioxx and Ultram.

I have been on Effexor for nearly two years now. I never noticed any side effects until about a year ago when I thought I was coming down with the flu. My symptoms got steadily worse until I started to fear meningitis or even West Nile virus. I had terrible head and neck ache, neausea and dizzyness. It wasn't until I went to my pain management doctor that we figured out my symptoms started about the same time I had forgotten to take my Effexor and when I started taking over the counter cold medicine I had decided to stop taking some of my meds since I was unsure of the interactions. This turned out to be the wrong idea with the Effexor.

I was suffering from seratonin withdrawals and by the time I saw my doctor I was nearly passing out on the floor. They had neglected to tell me NOT to stop taking the Effexor. Now, I notice that if I miss a dose by even a couple of hours, I start to get dizzy and a headache.

Conversely, on a recent international trip, with jet lag I made a mistake in the time difference and took two doses within 12 hours of each other. Again, I had many of the same symptoms, but this time, even when I waited an entire 24 hours to let the extra drug exit my system, the symptoms pesisted for nearly a week before I stabilized again. Turns out the chemical(s) in Effexor have a half life of 7 days. Consequently, I had a hard time getting back on it without throwing everything out of balance.

I plan to have myself weaned off during my next visit with the doctor. I just feel fortunate that I have that option when so many others do not.

Hi. I was put on Efexor by my Doctor for DIZZINESS AND VERTIGO, not depression. I would be interested to hear from anyone else prescribed this for the same reason. I had non-stop dizziness and could do anything and this is the only drug that seemed to work. However I have all the worst side effects and would love to come off it.

Those discontinuing Effexor should ONLY proceed with doctor supervision. I weaned myself off Effexor after a five year therapy and I spent thirteen weeks with side effects which kept me home unable to do much at all. Some side effects are shocking sensations in the head, dizziness, agitation, moody or violent behavoir, among others.I still have some recurring problems after seven months, none of which are related to depression. In my opinion, this is a very dangerous drug for some patients.

I have been on Effexor Xr for about 2 years now,before that I was taking Zoloft, and Zoloft, while it may be great for some people, wasn't the right choice for me. Now (from 25 mg a day) to currently 300 mg a day I take Effexor Xr. Not only is it supposed to be treating my depression, but also my obsessive compulsive disorder. For the first few months it almost elimanted my OCD and greatly reduced my depression. But now I feel as if the drug isn't doing me much good. I am going back into my depression cycles where I have crying fits in which all I want to do is sit in the dark in the back of my closet and cry. Being at college, that is now harder to do, and harder to keep from my room mates noticing how big of a toll it takes on me. I have also been experiencing difficulty sleeping in which I wake up every couple of hours, even with sleeping pills I am not able to sleep a full night through. Although I am not sure if dizziness is a side effect of the drug, but when I stand, or even barely move sometimes my head just spins. And I didn't associate this before with the drug, but I heard other people say that they get itchy too. I have also been itching- weird itching not just one spot on my arm but like all over, legs, stomach, arms. I know Effexor Xr may be great for some people-but it is not for me. Although I don't want to jump off the drug because I have done that before (without my psychiatrist, therapist, or family doctor knowing) and I had a horrible time coming down off of that. I just wish that I could feel normal again- because I miss the way the feels!

I have been taking Effexor for about 6 months. I took zoloft for about 5 years and it worked great for my depression, but eventually caused my sex drive to be non-existent. My doctor then put me on Celexa which made me VERY tired and also gain weight. Now I am on Effexor, and it seems to work fine for my depression, but I too have noticed that if my dosage is even a little past 24hrs, I get very agitated about everything. If its more that a few hours past that time, I actually begin to feel physically ill, with stomach aches, dizziness, inability to concentrate. My doctor did not tell me about this effect of the drug, he actually told me that I would experience less dizziness when coming off this drug, as compared to other SSRIs such as zoloft. I now am deathly afraid to run out and I am sure to be at the pharmacy before I run out of pills due to how horrible I feel even after a few hours of a missed dose. I do not like being a slave to any medication, especially since I am a recovering addict. I feel I need something for my depression, but I am getting really tired of all the drugs and their side effects. I am afraid to go off them entirely but feel it can't be any worse than the withdrawls, which they don't tell you about when prescribing these drugs. They are advertised as being"not addicting" but I have found that they actually change the chemistry of your brain to the point where you cannot function normally without them, especially after years of taking these drugs...will try to slowly wean myself off of the 75 mg effexor and start from square one..anyone who has any tips for successful withdrawl from this drug, I am open to any suggestions, Thanks.