Effexor

Hi,
Please be very careful weaning off effexor. I was on it for years for depression (prior to bc diagnosis). I was on the highest dose and it wasnt really working anymore so i asked my dr to change to a new medication. I cut back soooo slowly and the withdrawal symptoms were horrendous. I took me about 3 months to finally get off it with side effects of vivid dreams, heart pulpitations, tremors, headache, nausea, the list went on and on. I told my dr i would never go on it again. There is currently a class action going on in America regarding not enough warnings on their withdrawal symptoms.
My Oncologist has told me I need to go on Tamoxifen however the only antidepressant you can use with it is effexor. I immediately said no way, i am never using that again so now i will need to have "Zoladex" monthly injections instead, which I'm a little bit worried about.
I don't want to scare anyone with my post I just want people to be informed about the side effects of withdrawing off Effexor.
Good luck all xo

Hi Jackie,
I was also prescribed Effexor in January for Hot Flushes, I tried on 2 different occasions to take them but was really ill, dizzy, trembling and nausea so I wasnt able to. 9 months on, I still get hot flushes but not to the severity I was. My daughter has just weaned off anti-depressants and I would think it is very similar as that is what Effexor is. She was on a tablet a day and cut to half a day until her script was finished took like a month. She has now finished completely but suffering side effects and withdrawals. Trembling, headaches, nausea, stomach pain, poor concentration, confusion and her moods are a bit all over the place. It takes about 2 weeks for symptoms to sort themselves out. I would wean off Effexor definitely, you could always ask your Oncologist your side effects but they really should subside within 2 weeks. Hugs Melinda xo