username Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 A couple of times I ran out of Effexor and had to go a couple of days without. As expected the "brain zaps" kicked in, but I also noticed that I went back into a state of SEVERE depression. This depression lifted completely upon taking my dose (I'm on 300mg), but I am confused as to why I reverted back to this state in the first place. ADs take time to be effective, and one might assume that they take time to stop working. The change that I experienced was so rapid, on both occasions, that I ask myself if the change in mood was more due to withdrawl from the drug. I also experienced something similar on Zoloft, where I became very emotional afer a skipped dose. What do you guys make of this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perpetual Fatigue Posted July 9, 2005 Share Posted July 9, 2005 Hey Username, I know exactly what your talking about, and yeah I think it's definitely a withdrawal effect. I just finished tapering off it, and this was the worst side-effect for me. The depression would descend very rapidly on certain days, and they were the worst bouts I'd ever experienced and I've lived with depression all my life. I had anxiety attacks in the same manner just not as extreme as the depression. I've been Effexor free for 12 days now and my mood has settled considerably (thank God), I still have passing depression episodes but only mild in comparison. Be careful with venlafaxine, try really hard not to miss a dose, your body gets addicted to it and has a fit when it's taken away. I had a good GP who used to give me lots of sample packs, that I could stow in places for emergencies - like in my car, at work, at my parents place, at my best friends, in my purse. So if I ran out or forgot to take it I had some backups. Take care PF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenyflower Posted July 9, 2005 Share Posted July 9, 2005 Username, I had scary bad rebound depression during Effexor withdrawal. I chose to believe it was a discontinuation effect. It was easier to live through that way. Greeny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Elvis Posted July 9, 2005 Share Posted July 9, 2005 You need to taper of pretty much any drug that has a substantial effect on 5HT reuptake if you want to avoid rebound depression. The drugs reduce the active number of 5HT recepters in a sort of homeostatic reaction to the medication. It take some time for the receptors to return to their former numbers. This goes into a bit more depth about how this works without being totaly written in Greek: http://www.australianprescriber.com/magazi...perimental1.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psyche78 Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 I tapered off about one month ago, and it was not fun - I felt nauseated a lot and my mood was (okay still is) low. If the depression happens very soon after missed doses/tapering, it's probably discontinuation and will hopefully go away. If it doesn't, it's time to consider going back on the med. Relapse sucks ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaespence Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 Same thing happened to me; as a result I will not allow myself to make that mistake again. It is due to the withdrawal of the drug. You can go about 1 day w/out side effects and then BOOM! I felt like my world was flattening out. That would be the reason why you ween yourself SLOWLY off of the drug; as well, I believe there are other things you take/can take at the time to counter the side effects. I had the side effect of feeling suicidal when my dose was too low as well. A couple of times I ran out of Effexor and had to go a couple of days without. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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