I feel so helpless over it now. No one wants to be around me. I also just stop taking it abruptly no weening it’s terrible when will it end it’s kinda scary when having dizzy spells and I have to work like this please is their anything to get through this feeling?I have been on this Effexor since may 2016 & I took myself off of it with God Blessings, just a week ago. It can cause them. The only side effects (and I am now on day 4) I have felt is dizziness and a little bit of nausea. You need those, or even one person, that will stand beside you through this, someone you aren’t ashamed to tell all of your story to. I do need to get more active again. For twenty years, I have not created much of anything. Where you do a disservice to people like myself is you scare them and misinform them that this is all a big pharma conspiracy. Take care of yourself as you would care for a child as you stop taking this medicine. It just sucksIt’s been rough. If your doctor or anyone in the mental health services pescribes you this drug think twice. I also felt like I was “waking up” after being medicated for so long. I read that they have REHAB places for this! Does anyone have any thoughts or similar experiences? He said he never would prescribe this drug due to the side effects and difficulty getting off of it. I wish you ALL the bestHi everyone, I feel for all of you and thank you for sharing your stories. I take daily vitamins, fish oil, and B12 everyday. Today is Day 4. It is still gonna be tough but I want to come out better than I was not worse. I’m comming off the drug also. With these new vitamins I feel better almost all day. I have only experienced a small % of withdraws from reducing to these dosages so I can't really complain it has been good so far, taking the fish oil really helped however Ive been taking a number of specific vitamins to help with the functioning of my brain for 3 years, therefore I am feeling very well. I would definitely not recommend going from 150mg to 75mg. They get a kickback for handing out samples and prescribing these medications!So I recently went off Effexor XR cold turkey, I’ve been on it for about 8 years and I stopped cold turkey. The training of the providers and the pharmacist needs massive improvements! I am working to wean myself off of Effexor after just 2 years but I have gained an intolerable amount of weight, have lost ALL motivation, and can’t stop sleeping. But taking it slow and being mindful that these symptoms will pass. After that I was fine. I am TERRIFIED of getting off this medication !!! Than 2 days was head spinning around, but it stopped. I?m worried but know I have to do this. The brain sapping thing is horrible and no on seems to understand what I’m talking about. Hope you are doing well now. I have 8 pills left so I am going to try every other day, but will be calling my doctor on Monday to inform him and see if I can get some more 37.5 pills, or cut them in half and try taking the half on the off days. Since I was laid off in January, 2017, I decided this would be the best time to wean myself off Effexor since I’ve been on it for over 10 years. Glad to hear what is working for you. I also sweat like no other. i was at 225 mg at the highest dose. Good luck!I tried to get off from Alventa (Venflaxine) june-dec- everything was ok til 10 mg per day. ?Often times this weight gain happens regardless of diet and exercise. But be that as it may, I STILL don't wanna stay on the Effexor XR, cuz it'll save me $10 a month, and I don't feel it's doing me any good at such a low dosage anyhow, and I don't wanna increase the dosage either. I plan to stay at each dosage for 3 weeks so it will probably take me about 33 weeks to finish the medication. Symptoms are still there but not as bad. By that time my nervousness increased, vertigo and dizziness was bad. I ruminate too and have to tell myself to buck up so I think all the feelings I had when really badly depressed remain. It can lead to “permanent disability” (whatever that means) & can even cause death! I don’t suggest that. After 16 yrs I’ve cut down from 300mg to 225mg .How long will these withdrawals continue after stopping the 37.5mg .Jane – how are you? My doctor had me go down to 3x37.5 a day for 7 days, then 2x37.5 for 7 days, then 1x37.5 for 7 days and then to stop. I am proof of that. Better yet look up "weaning off Effexor with the help of natural herbs" on the Internet. I can do this for as long as I like, until I feel confident to reduce more. My back pain is so severe that I go to pain management and am on daily narcotics, muscle relaxants, and Ambien/ativan just to survive and sleep. I got online and after some search I found out that indeed it is listed as one of the severe side effects you can get. That's utter nonsense. .Chillis chick Let us know how you get on. I don't know if my leg is cramping or paining I cant sleep at all I have never felt such pain but I am still holding on I will never go back. I’ll deal with my stress, thank you.I really need help i’ve been on Effexor XR for 15 years right now am on 225mg I’m ready to get off!! I took an Alleve and the headache went away almost immediately. I think being on the lowest dosage has helped me, but I also believe it was my circumstance. I would have told them anything but this. I refuse to. I'm currently trying CBD pills 20mg with the oil as well, and can't seem to get past every other day taking my Effexor, and even that's a uncomfortable stretch.