Anxiety & Panic Community

This is a Success Story and Instructions on Beating Effexor Withdrawal. I spent hours reading these forums and found that there were many, many posts asking for help but precious few with any answers. I believe that this was largely because when people finally beat Effexor withdrawal, they simply didn't have reason to come back to the forums and therefore never reported their success and how they achieved it. I promised myself that if I found it, I would come back and share it with you.

I had some rough Effexor withdrawel and like each of you, I was in a very bad place. After having been on 150mg per day of Effexor XR for the better part of 12 years, I finally decided it was high time to stop. I weaned off as per my MD's instructions, over a period of about 6 weeks. Sure enough, after the final 37.5 mg, the withdrawal started.

I had daily "brain shivers." That is, when I turned my head, it felt like my head was turning in delayed waves, even after I completed the motion of the turn. This was, for me, the worst of the symptoms. I also had the "crying for no reason" symptoms and the "quick to anger" symptoms as well. I really feared that this would go on for months or even years.

Now I don't mean to be preachy, but I really believe that without the careful nutrition and exercise that I am about to outline, my success may not have happened, period. So I cannot say whether you will have success at all if you choose a different diet and exercise plan.

As a point of reference for the quantities that I am outlining, I am a male, 48 years old, about 5'8, 165lbs. I did the following and within about three weeks, I began to feel normal again. It has been two months now and I am feeling fine.

First, NO sugar, period. I love sweets and I love sugar. No sugar. That means no soda as well - drink water, a lot of water. You are flushing serious toxins out of your body, you don't need to add more crap like sugar to the problem.

Exercise every day, at least until you beat this withdrawal. I did a lot of elliptical exercise to get my heart rate up. It made me feel better and it lessened the "brain shivers"--my worst symptom. So walk fast, or run, or do whatever you can to get your heart rate up. At least 20 minutes worth.

Nutrition:

Every morning - Take a daily Detox supplement from a quality health food or supplement store. They will help you select it. This will pull the residual Effexor from your cells and allow you to excrete it.

Take strong Omega 3 capsules (fish oil), I used 1200 mg gel caps. I took four in the morning (and three more in the afternoon). Buy quality supplements from a quality health food store, again, they will help you select.

I also took 20,000 ml. Vitamin D3 drops. Again, get a quality product (in olive oil if possible).

Take a quality mulit-vitamin.

VERY IMPORTANT: This next step is what I personally believe was the main ingredient that made the withdrawal symptoms start to fade, and then completely fade: Fresh Ginger.

Put fresh Ginger root in a smoothie. That is, in a blender add 8 oz Almond or Coconut Milk (find it next to regular milk at the grocery store). Add fresh strawberries and blueberries or whatever HEALTHY ingredients you like so that it tastes good. Next, grate about two tablespoons (yes, a lot) of fresh ginger and add this to the blender. I truly believe that it is the Ginger which is the secret! It really made the "Brain Shivers" fade and then stop.

Afternoon - I took three more capsules of fish oil and three capsules of Ginger Root (you find this in the vitamin section). Eat healthy for lunch, period.

Dinner - Primarily, Eat Salmon, it is VERY high in Omega 3s, which you need a ton of right now. For sides, eat fresh vegetables. No junk food!

This worked for me and I am thankfully feeling fine now. But make no mistake, your body and mind are at war right now, so you MUST bite the bullet and do the hard work to beat your Effexor withdrawal.

Best of luck and God bless!

Rob P.